Seyfarth Synopsis: Retirement plans hold millions (sometimes, hundreds of millions) of dollars in assets, and participants’ personal information is increasingly maintained and accessible online. With such large amounts of...more
On December 20th, before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”) and the Bipartisan...more
9/10/2020
/ Automatic Enrollment ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Mining ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Planning ,
Vesting
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Tuesday, August 18, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released an interim final rule related to a new disclosure that will need to be provided as a part of...more
8/25/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SECURE Act
After a long process, which stretched on for over a decade, on May 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published final regulations regarding the electronic delivery of required disclosures under the Employee Retirement...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 9, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-23, extending federal tax filing deadlines and payment obligations to July 15, 2020 for certain items otherwise due to be performed from April 1, 2020 through...more
On October 22, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations providing guidance for retirement plan administrators using electronic delivery for required disclosures, including a new safe harbor....more
11/1/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safe Harbors
Synopsis: The Department of Labor (“DOL”) just issued proposed rule changes governing the disclosure of ERISA-required notices via an electronic format (e.g., emails, intranet sites, etc.). These proposed rules update final...more
In an unpublished decision dated May 16, 2019, the Ninth Circuit held that a plan administrator abused its discretion by denying surviving spouse benefits under an ERISA retirement benefit plan to a participant’s domestic...more
6/7/2019
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Annuities ,
DOMA ,
Domestic Partnership ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Life Insurance ,
Plan Administrators ,
Remand ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Survivor Benefits