FINRA’s continued focus on account recommendations and rollovers is evident in its 2025 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (the Report), Based on the Report, broker-dealers and their registered representatives...more
4/11/2025
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fees ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Regulation BI ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities Regulation
The effective date of the DOL’s new expansive fiduciary rule and the amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02 has been stayed pending the outcome of the lawsuits challenging the rule and the amended PTE....more
9/12/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
Two recent Texas court decisions stayed the fast-approaching September 23, 2024, effective date of the DOL’s new fiduciary rule (including both the new regulation re-defining “fiduciary” investment advice and the related...more
The DOL has proposed amendments to its regulation defining fiduciary advice so that, in most cases, a single recommendation to a retirement investor will be a fiduciary act. In addition, the DOL has proposed amendments to ...more
4/18/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Mitigation ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan
On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published an updated final version of prohibited transaction class exemption 84-14, also known as the qualified professional asset manager exemption (PTCE 84-14 or the QPAM...more
Broker-dealers and their registered representatives (advisors) providing services to private sector tax-qualified and ERISA-governed retirement plans, participants in those plans and IRA owners (collectively, Retirement...more
2/21/2024
/ Competition ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investors ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Proposed Amendments ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
Beneficiaries of qualified tuition programs under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code (“529 accounts”) will have a new opportunity starting January 1, 2024. Under SECURE Act 2.0 (the “Act”), 529 account beneficiaries...more
9/12/2023
/ 529 Plans ,
Beneficiaries ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning
The Department of Labor (the DOL) expanded its interpretation of fiduciary advice in its guidance issued in connection with Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02. As a result, many more broker-dealers and registered...more
3/23/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Florida ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Retirement Plan ,
State and Local Government
The current DOL fiduciary rule says that a broker-dealer and its registered representatives (advisors) are fiduciaries to a plan under ERISA if a functional 5-part test is satisfied. This same 5-part test applies to...more
2/22/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan
Registered investment advisers, including dual registrant broker-dealers (collectively “advisers”) who provide discretionary investment management services to individual retirement accounts (IRAs), are fiduciaries under the...more
1/17/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard of Care
The SEC and the DOL have separately issued guidance on rollover recommendations – however, a close examination indicates that the guidance by both agencies is very similar. The SEC’s guidance for broker-dealers is in...more
It may be a New Year, but 2022 is going to seem very familiar to Broker-Dealers (BD) and their Registered Representatives who advise retirement plans and IRAs: they are going to be spending a lot of time working to comply...more
1/11/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance in the form of an Information Letter describing the process that plan fiduciaries should undertake in determining whether an investment fund having a private equity...more
10/14/2020
/ 401k ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversification Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Information Letters ,
Investment ,
Liquidity ,
Oversight Duties ,
Private Equity ,
Retirement Plan ,
Valuation
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued final electronic disclosure rules for retirement plans on May 27, 2020 (2020 Safe Harbor). We are already fielding questions about these new rules and have provided answers here to some of...more
The IRS has announced the dollar limits for contributions and benefits in retirement plans and certain deferred compensation plans for 2020. We have compiled a chart summarizing the key limits below, including how they...more
11/8/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
ESOP ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Deferral