INVESTMENT ADVICE FIDUCIARY RULE, ROUND THREE — Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary & Proposed Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02

YATINDRA PANDYA and ROBERT GOWER, November 30 2023 Introduction On October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL) released its proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) providing a draft new regulatory definition of an “investment advice fiduciary” under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The Proposed Rule breathes new life into the DOL’s […]

DOL Releases RFI on Possible Agency Actions to Protect Life Savings and Pensions from Threats of Climate-Related Financial Risk

YATINDRA PANDYA, May 26, 2022  On February 14, 2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), which is responsible for administering, regulating and enforcing the provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), published a Request for Information on Possible Agency Actions to Protect Life Savings […]

Final Rule on E-Disclosures: The DOL Provides Retirement Plans with an Additional Safe Harbor for Electronic Disclosure of Required Plan Notices Under ERISA

YATINDRA PANDYA, July 9, 2020   Background On May 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) published its final rule on electronic disclosures, creating an additional voluntary fiduciary safe harbor for electronically providing participant disclosures required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The effective date of this final rule is […]

IRS Issues Interim Guidance under Notice 2019-09 on Section 4960 Excise Tax for Tax-Exempt Organizations and Certain Governmental Entities

J. MARC FOSSE and YATINDRA PANDYA, June, 2019     The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued interim guidance in Notice 2019-09 (the “Notice”) regarding the application of section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). Code section 4960 imposes an excise tax on applicable tax-exempt organizations (ATEOs) that pay covered employees either compensation in […]

DOL Announces April 1, 2018 Applicability Date for Final Rule Amending Claims Procedure for Disability Benefits

YATINDRA PANDYA, February, 2018 On January 5, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced April 1, 2018, as the applicability date for the final rule which revises regulations governing disability benefit claims (the “Final Rule”). Published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2016, the Final Rule revised the claims regulations governing disability benefits provided […]

Disability Claims Regulations Delayed to April 1, 2018

YATINDRA PANDYA and JAHIZ NOEL AGARD, December, 2017 On November 24, 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) delayed the applicability of the final rule which revises the regulations governing disability benefit claims (the “Final Rule”) to April 1, 2018, from the original January 1, 2018, effective date. Published in the Federal Register on December 19, […]

Section 409A Relief for Tax Payments from Section 457A Plans

J. MARC FOSSE and YATINDRA PANDYA, December 20, 2017 On December 8, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) released Notice 2017-75 (the “Notice”), which provides limited relief from cer­tain penalties under section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) for tax payment distributions from a Code section 457A nonqualified deferred compensation arrangement (a […]