"SECURE 2.0 included a number of provisions specific to ESOPs ... [1] allow limited application of tax deferral on a sale of stock to S corporation ESOPs ... [2] change the definition of 'publicly traded' for diversification requirements; [3] directing the [DOL] to create an Employee Ownership Initiative; and [4] directing the DOL to release formal guidance on ESOP valuation standards.... [ IR-2023-144 ] notes that [the IRS[ will undertake enforcement strategies to ensure compliance with tax law requirements, including valuation issues with employee stock, the prohibited allocation of shares to disqualified persons, and failures to follow requirements for ESOP loans[.]"   MORE >>

"The Fifth Circuit noted a circuit split on how to handle a 'disjuncture' between a named plaintiff's alleged injury and the injuries of unnamed class members.... The Fifth Circuit opted not to choose a side on the split, instead concluding that the plaintiffs' allegations were adequate to support standing under either approach.... [T]he named plaintiffs and their unnamed class members suffered from essentially the same injuries and had the exact same interest: 'the return of trust funds that each plaintiff would otherwise have been entitled to if [the defendants] had not violated ERISA.' " [ Chavez v. Plan Benefit Services, Inc., et al , No. 22-50368 (5th Cir. Aug. 11, 2023)]   MORE >>

"Two District Courts have reached conflicting decisions on the same day when ruling on substantially similar allegations that plan fiduciaries violated ERISA by paying too much for recordkeeping services, with one court dismissing the claims and the other court allowing the claims to move forward into the (often expensive) discovery phase of litigation." [ England v. Denso Int'l Am., Inc. , No. 22-11129 (E.D. Mich. July 28, 2023); McDonald v. Lab'y Corp. of Am. Holdings , No. 22-680 (M.D.N.C. July 28, 2023)]   MORE >>

"Almost every key Internal Revenue Code limit for qualified retirement plans will rise from 2023 to 2024, Mercer projects.... Only the catch-up contribution limit, which has a relatively large rounding value, is expected to stay the same next year."   MORE >>

"[A]verage 401(k) balances increased by $7,250 (9.6%) since the end of 2022.... The number of participants taking hardship distributions increased 36% year-over-year, following increases in Q1 this year. In addition, the percent of participants borrowing from their workplace plan in Q2 also increased (2.5%, up from 1.9% in Q1)."   MORE >>

17 presentation slides. "[T]he presence of company stock within 401(k) plans has steadily decreased over the past 10 years. In recent years [Fidelity has] seen decreased utilization for unitized stock funds and increased utilization of real-time trading. A growing number of employers are considering ESPPs as a way to make company stock available to employees."   MORE >>

"The proposal would update the PBGC's mortality table to be more current, update interest rate assumptions to better reflect current market conditions and simplify the administrative expense calculation."   MORE >>

"A second consecutive month of positive market performance during July 2023 increased the estimated funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans from 75.8% as of June 30, 2023, to 76.8% as of July 31, 2023 ... The July 31, 2023, funded status now sits at the highest ratio since May of last year (78.4% as of May 31)."   MORE >>

"[PBGC] has approved the application submitted ... by the Retirement Plan of the Retirement Fund of Local 305 CIO's Pension Fund. The plan, based in Mineola, New York, covers 918 participants in the service industry ... [and] will receive approximately $36.3 million in special financial assistance ... The plan was projected to become insolvent and run out of money in 2024."   MORE >>

"For income tax withholding and reporting purposes, [ Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum 202327014 ] concludes that the U.S. entity would report the wages attributable to the foreign corporation, and there would be no need to source income between the United States and the jurisdiction in which the controlled foreign corporation was located. However, the rules with respect to FICA wages are different, because employment for FICA purposes does not include services performed outside the United States for a non-U.S. employer."   MORE >>