"The total amount taken into account for an individual's matching contribution, including both loan repayments and elective deferrals, may not exceed the lesser of [1] the annual deferral limit in effect for the year (e.g., $23,000 for 2024) or [2] the employee's compensation. Employees must certify annually that a school loan repayment has been made. "   MORE >>

"[T]he Second Circuit rejected the Eighth and Ninth Circuits' literal construction of Section 406(a)(1)(C) ... [which] held that a plan fiduciary engages in a prohibited transaction if he compensates any outside entity providing any services to the plan.... [T]he Second Circuit instead sided with the Third, Tenth, and Seventh Circuits, which had held that the other courts' reading of Section 406(a)(1)(C) ... would prohibit fiduciaries from paying third parties to perform essential services in support of a plan, which could not have been what Congress intended." [ Cunningham v. Cornell Univ. , No. 21-0088 (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2023)]   MORE >>

8 pages. Topics include: [1] Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Report update; [2] PBGC coverage with retro amendments; [3] Final premium filing deadline for terminating plans; [4]  Technical Update 23-1 ; [5] Allocation of prior year contributions to spun-off plans; [6] Multiemployer plans: Benefit reductions and amount of SFA; Amounts eligible to be paid by SFA assets; and Lock-in application and census data.    MORE >>

9 pages. Topics include: [1] Full yield curve; [2] SECURE 2.0 correction provisions; [3] JBEA rules; [4] Ways to streamline funding method changes for spinoffs; [5] Proposed mortality regulations; [6] Section 420 transfers; [7] Allocation of prior year contributions to plans involved in a spinoff.   MORE >>

"T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, Principal, and Ascensus note ongoing system issues due to cybersecurity problem at US-based division of Infosys."   MORE >>

"As of year-end 2022, only 27% of plans were still using a 3% deferral default. In contrast, employers adopting at least a 6% deferral default has risen from 4% in 2006 to 39% today.... [Of] participants who were automatically enrolled in their employers' plans in 2022 ... only 5.4% opted out.... [T]he percentage who opted out was similar if the default was 3% or the default was ≥6% of wages."   MORE >>

"The extent to which the PEP will result in lower audit fees per employer than if they had an individual plan will depend on how homogeneous the plan provisions adopted by the member employers are, how many different payroll companies are involved, the level of integration between the recordkeepers and the payroll softwares, the relative significance of each employer’s assets, and the availability of SOC 1 reports for the relevant service providers."   MORE >>

Video of Nov. 7 hearing, including testimony by: [1]  The Honorable Preston Rutledge , Rutledge Policy Group, LLC; [2]  The Honorable Jason Isaac , Life:Powered; [3]  The Honorable Marlo Oaks , Utah State Treasurer; [4]  Mr. Mason Bolay , First Bank & Trust Company; and [5]  Mr. Brandon Rees , AFL-CIO.   MORE >>

"Given the divisive tone of the hearing, it was Mr. Rutledge's testimony that stood out as he tried to remove himself from the politics, and instead remind the Committee of how in his opinion the DOL has remained consistent in its views over the years."   MORE >>

"[T]he $44.6 billion surplus in the [PBGC's] single-employer insurance program, detailed in the agency's Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report , should lead Congress to reexamine the premiums paid by companies that sponsor defined benefit pension plans.... Congress should [also] eliminate arcane budget scoring rules that have permitted the use of premium increases to 'offset' spending proposals unrelated to the retirement system"   MORE >>