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98 Matching News Items
1.
DOL Finalizes Major Changes to Its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule
Thompson Hine
May 1, 2024
Thompson Hine
May 1, 2024
"The DOL refrained from providing special exceptions or exemptions to platform providers, pooled employer plans (and more specifically, pooled plan providers), and call center employees and instead reiterated that communications would be evaluated based on the general standards of the Final Rule. However, the DOL noted that platform providers that merely identify investment alternatives using objective third-party criteria without additional screening or recommendation would not be providing covered recommendations."
2.
Revisiting Plan Service Provider Agreements: To Provide or Not to Provide to Plan Participants
Thompson Hine
Apr. 19, 2024
Thompson Hine
Apr. 19, 2024
"The Zavislak decision is one of the most detailed analyses by a court on the scope of ERISA Section 104(b)(4). As such, it is likely that Zavislak will be cited by both litigants and courts in similar disputes involving participant requests for documents, including service provider agreements. Nevertheless, the legal issue of whether service provider agreements must be disclosed remains unsettled. Plan administrators who receive such requests should consider the extent to which agreements must be provided based on case law in the applicable jurisdiction." [Zavislak v. Netflix, Inc., No. 21-1811 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2024)]
3.
Corporate Transparency Act Compliance for Employee Stock Ownership Plans
Thompson Hine
Mar. 28, 2024
Thompson Hine
Mar. 28, 2024
"If no other exemption applies, then the ESOP-owned corporation will be required to report beneficial ownership (among other items) to FinCEN. Beneficial ownership analysis for purposes of the CTA must be conducted on a case-by-case basis ... [This article] attempts to provide some key considerations specific to ESOP-owned holding corporations"
4.
AT&T and Lockheed Martin Face Class Actions Over Pension Risk Transfers to Athene
Thompson Hine
Mar. 15, 2024
Thompson Hine
Mar. 15, 2024
"The lawsuits come at a time when plan sponsors, due to a range of factors including the relatively favorable interest rate environment, have an increased interest in de-risking activities ... [T]he industry awaits an overdue report from the [DOL] to Congress on existing guidance on fiduciary duties under [ERISA] when selecting an annuity provider that may preview changes to that guidance.... [T]he outcome of these cases and the report to Congress could have far-reaching implications for sponsors and plan fiduciaries engaging in PRTs." [Piercy v. AT&T Inc., No. 24-10608 (D. Mass. complaint filed Mar. 11, 2024); Konya et al. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., No. 24-0750 (D. Md. complaint filed Mar. 13, 2024)]
5.
SECURE 2.0 Provisions for Defined Benefit Plans
Thompson Hine LLP, via Bloomberg Law
Dec. 6, 2023
Thompson Hine LLP, via Bloomberg Law
Dec. 6, 2023
"SECURE 2.0 Changes in Effect Now.... [1] Increase in Required Beginning Date ... [2] Transfers to fund retiree benefits ... [3] Cash balance plan interest crediting rate ... [4]Plan corrections ... [5] Recovery of plan overpayments ... Preparing for 2024 & Beyond ... [1] Lower PBGC variable rate premiums ... [2] Pension de-risking & termination ... [3] Administrative changes."
6.
DOL Again Enters the Investment Advice Fray with Proposed Retirement Security Rule
Thompson Hine
Nov. 14, 2023
Thompson Hine
Nov. 14, 2023
"In expanding the types of recommendations covered, the Proposed Rule significantly alters certain requirements of the Five-Part Test that, in the DOL's view, have resulted in investment professionals avoiding fiduciary status in situations in which retirement investors would reasonably expect them to act in their best interests."
7.
DOL Greenlights Citibank's Diverse Asset Manager Program
Thompson Hine
Oct. 5, 2023
Thompson Hine
Oct. 5, 2023
"[DOL Advisory Opinion 2023-01A approves] Citibank's Diverse Asset Manager Program as it relates to plans subject to [ERISA]. The Opinion provides a road map primarily for pension and 401(k) plan sponsors who wish to increase the portion of plan assets that are invested with diverse investment managers without running afoul of ERISA's rules."
8.
New MHPAEA Guidance Released
Thompson Hine
Aug. 7, 2023
Thompson Hine
Aug. 7, 2023
"The DOL expects plans to have already performed and documented NQTL analyses.... Sponsors of self-insured health plans have been attempting to comply with this requirement by obtaining standard NQTL analyses prepared by their medical and prescription drug third-party administrators and care coordinators (TPAs). It is clear from this guidance that most (if not all) of these standard documents do not satisfy the DOL's expectations for an NQTL analysis."
9.
SECURE 2.0 Brings Numerous Retirement Plan Changes in 2023 and Beyond (PDF)
Thompson Hine
Jan. 5, 2023
Thompson Hine
Jan. 5, 2023
"Many of SECURE 2.0's provisions solely apply either to defined contribution plans.... or defined benefit plans ... There are also a handful of provisions that apply to both types of retirement plans. Brief summaries of select SECURE 2.0 provisions are set forth [in this 7-page article]."
10.
Path Out of the Pandemic: Considerations for Employers and Government Contractors
Thompson Hine
Sept. 13, 2021
Thompson Hine
Sept. 13, 2021
"An employer that provides or otherwise pays for vaccination or testing for employees will need to consider the following issues: Does paying for vaccination/testing create a group health benefit that is subject to ERISA, COBRA and HIPAA? If so, how will the employer comply with the plan documentation, employee disclosure, COBRA, HIPAA privacy and other compliance requirements applicable to group health plans? Will HIPAA require that the employer obtain an authorization from each employee to receive or use the vaccination or testing results for employment purposes?"
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