The key to the DOL’s proposed MEP regulation is not so much the helpful and appropriate hemming in of the “commonality and control” requirements (those rules will apply only to group or association MEPs); nor is it that certain PEOs can generally be “employers” when acting indirectly on behalf of their clients in sponsoring a MEP; nor is it in the likewise helpful notion that participating employers are not co-sponsors (though they still retain certain…

One of the key  EBSA National Enforcement Projects (that is, a project driven by the national, not the regional, EBSA offices) is the “Plan Investment Conflicts Project.” You’ll hear DOL staff refer to it as the PIC project, and many of you have already run into it-maybe even without knowing it. It is the “next generation” of fiduciary compliance programs that the DOL has developed over the years, with this one building on those past…

As a reminder that retirement plans do not exist in an ERISA “bubble,” the SEC proposed Rule 30e-3 3 this past June which will fundamentally rework the manner in which mutual fund prospectuses, proxy material and other fund reports are delivered to shareholders. This proposed rule, if made final, would permit electronic delivery of these reports to be made the default-much in the same way as currently being proposed for the electronic delivery for required…

Effective January 1 of this year was the right of participants to an extended period to rollover their defaulted loan amount, if the default arose following unemployment or the termination of a plan. The statute has a fundamental flaw: it confuses the rules related to the taxation of the loan with the distribution rules related to defaulted loans. The practical effect of this confusion is that it is virtually impossible to effectively use. Making it…

Treasury and Labor both took significant steps in promoting lifetime income from defined contribution arrangements during Mark Iwry and Phylis Borzi’s tenures. The fiduciary rule at the DOL and staff reductions at the IRS seems to take their toll, as focus on this issue lessened dramatically-and then disappeared completely. The recent uptick in publications from the private sector focusing on lifetime income is now a welcome surprise, complete with studies showing that participants are now…

One of the continuing confusions in how 401(a) rules apply to 403(b) plan  involves the reporting rules related to the correction and reporting on the 5500 of one of the most common errors in any elective deferral plan: the late deposit of those deferrals into the plan.  Neither non-ERISA or ERISA 403(b) plans will ever file a Form 5330. Ever. Even when the VFCP program is being used to correct the late deposit. Adding to…

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s participant loan changes (which delays the account offset on loan defaults related to unemployment or plan termination) triggers something we would all rather not look at:  the “uncomfortable” manner in which ERISA’s fiduciary rules apply to loans and their administration. These changes should cause plan sponsors and recordkeepers to consider new choices about their handling of loan defaults, something they haven’t had to do in nearly 28 years. This…