"[T]he DOL was concerned that the disclosure was not getting its job done, particularly when financial institutions added conditions and exceptions. So it modified the model language to be an affirmative statement that recommendations will be fiduciary advice. Some firms may worry that not all recommendations to retirement investors will necessarily be fiduciary in nature. However, the new language allows little wiggle room for adding caveats."  MORE >>

"Compliance with the fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code can be quite onerous for a hedge fund manager inexperienced in such matters. As a result, most hedge fund managers seek to keep the level of investments by Benefit Plan Investors in their funds below the ERISA 25% threshold at all times so as to avoid such obligations."  MORE >>

"[At oral argument, all three judges] were troubled by the 2022 Rule's 'tiebreaker' standard ... The panel questioned whether that authorization could be consistent with ERISA's fiduciary duty to focus only on a participant's financial or pecuniary benefit. Overall, the panel seemed inclined to remand the case because the district court 'plainly relied on Chevron.' " [Utah v. Su, No. 23-0016 (N.D. Tex. Sep. 21, 2023; on appeal to 5th Cir. No. 23-11097)]  MORE >>

"The White House announced on July 11 that Deva A. Kyle, has been nominated to be the new Director of the [PBGC].... As Acting Deputy Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring, Kyle helped lead the PBGC's single and multiemployer insurance programs.... Kyle has been Of Counsel for Cohen, Weiss, and Simon LLP, since 2022.... In 2015, at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Kyle and a team of experts ... developed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) program regulations and processes."  MORE >>

"A bill to kill the Biden Administration's new fiduciary rule is headed for a full vote in Congress after two committees this week resoundingly approved it. But the rule, intended to clarify when financial professionals must act in the best interest of their clients, may die regardless of what legislators decide, thanks to the Supreme Court."  MORE >>

"The [DOL report to Congress] seemed to acknowledge concerns from some stakeholders that EBSA needs to review 'derisking,' and address issues such as insurers' ownership structures, exposure to risky assets, non-traditional liabilities, and the use of affiliated and offshore reinsurers that might be out of regulatory reach. While some industry leaders believe the current bulletin [IB 95-1] covers those topics, EBSA said there's a need for further consideration."  MORE >>

"As of July 1, participation in Delaware EARNS is required by law for all employers, with five or more employees, who do not offer a qualified retirement plan.... Delaware EARNS, which already has about 12 employers enrolled as part of a pilot program, is a new state-run retirement savings program to help bridge the state's retirement savings gap."  MORE >>

"Even as insurers are fighting in court to keep the [DOL] from imposing a federal fiduciary standard on life insurers and agents involved with rollovers of retirement account assets into life and annuity products, state regulators are questioning how insurers are complying with the state standards."  MORE >>

"[T]he IRS assumes that taxable income from transactions like these occurs throughout the entire tax year. Thus, from the IRS’s perspective, the large fourth quarter Roth conversion occurred throughout the year and because the individual did not make estimated tax payments in the first three quarters, she owed a penalty. Fortunately, the client may be able to request a penalty waiver[.]"  MORE >>

"July 29 -- Summary of Material Modifications (SMM) ... July 31 -- Form 5500/Form 8955-SSA ... July 31 -- PCORI fee and Form 720 due."  MORE >>

"ERISA added numerous protections for workplace benefit plans and a regulatory structure for robust oversight that should be celebrated on ERISA’s 50th anniversary."  MORE >>

"When the Supreme Court suggests in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo that it is simply resetting the rules of the road ... by replacing Chevron deference with a different decision making hermeneutic, ERISA litigators know that they are doing a lot more than that, and instead are altering outcomes in future regulatory disputes in predictable ways, simply by changing the rules for judicial decision making."  MORE >>