By: Mark Casciari and Michael W. Stevens Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent Supreme Court decision on federal securities law may hold ramifications for ERISA practitioners by addressing whether disgorgement is an equitable remedy. ERISA’s civil enforcement provisions generally allow the federal courts to award appropriate “equitable” relief. A permissible equitable remedy is disgorgement, which, in the ERISA context, is restoration to the affected plan of fiduciary profits that were illegally earned with plan assets. Not much…

As we all are aware, the global pandemic is a force to be reckoned with. Life as we now know it looks completely different than what we had expected a mere few months ago. Nowhere is this more evident than in the financial fortunes of US companies and workers. In response, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) and the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor have…

Seyfarth Synopsis: Due to the significant economic impact of COVID-19 on businesses, many plan sponsors would like to reduce or suspend contributions to safe harbor 401(k) plans this year. Normally, mid-year changes to safe harbor contributions can only be made in narrow circumstances. In response to employer requests for relief, the IRS has issued Notice 2020-52. The Notice provides relief to plan sponsors who in 2020 want or need to make mid-year amendments that reduce…

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 23, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a proposed regulation amending the fiduciary regulations governing investment duties under the Employee Retirement Investment Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). This proposed regulation provides guidance for an ERISA fiduciary considering an investment or investment strategy based on “non-pecuniary” factors such as environmental, social or corporate governance (“ESG”) or sustainability factors. The DOL indicated that its proposal is in response to increasing interest in…

Seyfarth Synopsis: A key component of the SECURE Act, passed at the end of 2019, was the expansion of opportunities to combine the 401(k) plan assets of multiple unrelated employers. The SECURE Act relaxed the rules on multiple employer plan’s (“MEP”) and created a new vehicle, the pooled employer plan (“PEP”) to allow employers to come together under a single 401(k) plan. By providing additional pooling opportunities, Congress hoped to allow smaller employers to enjoy…

Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS recently issued proposed regulations providing guidance under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 4960, which provides for an excise tax on tax-exempt organizations that pay certain executives in excess of $1 million in annual compensation. The release of the proposed regulations comes at a time when executive pay, including at many tax-exempt hospital systems, has been in the limelight given the federal aid provided to these organizations to help them withstand the…

Seyfarth Synopsis: In response to immediate requests from participants for tax-favored coronavirus-related distributions (“CV Distributions”) and loans, as described in more detail in our prior post, and participants who want to begin pension benefits, the IRS has issued Notice 2020-42, which provides temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for any participant election that needs to be witnessed by a notary public or a plan representative. The Notice gives plans and participants greater flexibility…