News & Analysis as of

Benefit Plan Sponsors Fiduciary Employee Benefits

Miller Canfield

ERISA in the Supreme Court: Implications of Cunningham v Cornell University

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On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Cunningham v Cornell University, addressing the pleading standard applicable to prohibited transaction claims under the Employee Retirement Income...more

McCarter & English, LLP

DOL Issues Guidance on Retirement Plan Treatment of Missing Participants with Small Balances

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-01 (the Bulletin), providing much-needed guidance to fiduciaries of retirement plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security...more

Williams Mullen

Annual Employee Benefits Compliance Checklists - Plan Administrators

Williams Mullen on

Plan administrators should review the following actions to be taken before the end of 2024 and focus on what to expect for 2025. The following checklist addresses plan amendments, notices, and other considerations for...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

DOL Updates Guidance on Pension and Health & Welfare Plan Cybersecurity Best Practices

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued 3 documents outlining guidance on cybersecurity practices for benefits plans, which we discussed in a blog post at the time. The DOL recently issued revised versions of the...more

Kaufman & Canoles

ESOPs, Benefits & Compensation Q2 2024 Client Update

Kaufman & Canoles on

On behalf of the ESOPs, Benefits & Compensation team, we hope your Summer is off to a great start. In the time of family vacations and out-of-office replies, the pace of employee benefits changes—both large and small—remains...more

Goodwin

The U.S. Department Of Labor’s New Definition of Fiduciary Investment Advice Is Finalized (Again)

Goodwin on

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new regulation defining fiduciary “investment advice” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended, and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of...more

Miller Canfield

DOL’s Latest Regulatory Package Expands Definition of Fiduciary

Miller Canfield on

The Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued a regulatory package that includes a final rule updating ERISA's definition of an investment advice fiduciary and amending certain related prohibited transaction exemptions...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

The Health Plan Fiduciary Maze: New Lawsuit Highlights Need to Navigate Carefully in the Era of Transparency

Bricker Graydon LLP on

Earlier this month, a Mayo Clinic employee filed a proposed class action against the clinic, arguing that the clinic’s employee health plan and its third-party administrator (TPA) Medica, underpaid for services performed by...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Five Habits of the Healthy Health Plan Fiduciary

As it is often said, “the only constant in the world is constant change,” so it is important for health plan fiduciaries to periodically review the fundamentals for consistency and compliance to avoid risk and costly...more

McAfee & Taft

Bitcoin ETFs and workplace retirement plans: DOL has ‘serious concerns’

McAfee & Taft on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved applications from large investment firms to offer spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Retail investors can now buy bitcoin ETFs on traditional...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

2023 Year-End Employee Benefits Updates

Quarles & Brady LLP on

This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

A Checklist for Your Retirement Plan Fiduciary Insurance Renewal

In response to the continued proliferation of lawsuits against retirement plan fiduciaries, fiduciary liability insurers are raising rates, limiting coverage, and expanding their due diligence of fiduciary processes...more

Foley Hoag LLP

DOL Eases Restrictions on Use of ESG Factors in Retirement Plan Investment Decisions

Foley Hoag LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final rule (the “Final Rule) addressing how ERISA fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governmental (ESG) factors in making investment decisions for retirement...more

Perkins Coie

2022 Cybersecurity Issues and Recommendations for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries

Perkins Coie on

New cybersecurity developments and observations, including those relating to U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) review of cybersecurity issues, warrant prompt consideration by plan sponsors and other fiduciaries of employee...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument: Are Allegations of Excessive Retirement Plan Fees Sufficient to State a Claim under ERISA?

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

On December 6, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Hughes v. Northwestern University. The question at issue is whether allegations that a defined-contribution retirement plan paid fees that substantially...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Lessons Learned from Recent Fiduciary Victories

There is nothing a plan sponsor or ERISA fiduciary can do to prevent allegations of fiduciary breach; however, there are many things they can do to be prepared to rebut such claims. Unfortunately, because of “headline news,”...more

Goodwin

ERISA Litigation Update - October 2021

Goodwin on

Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more

Fisher Phillips

6 Things Employers Need to Know Before Offering Cryptocurrency in 401(k)s

Fisher Phillips on

Cryptocurrencies are currently one of the hottest topics in the world, and for good reason. Bitcoin’s fluctuations over the past year – from $10,000 in July 2020 to $63,000 in April 2021 and now settled to around $41,000 –...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Forced Rollovers of Small Retirement Account Balances: What to Do with Missing Participants

When a participant experiences a distribution event (e.g., terminating service with the employer), and when the participant does not affirmatively elect to take the distribution, a plan document may require that an account...more

McDermott Will & Emery

[Webinar] Protecting Your Employee Benefits Plan from Cybersecurity Threats | What Does the US Department of Labor’s Guidance Mean...

McDermott Will & Emery invites you to a webinar for an in-depth discussion on the US Department of Labor’s initial cybersecurity guidance for retirement plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and what...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

DOL warns the ERISA fiduciary debate is far from over

In a troubling development, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced its expectation that it will proceed to propose yet another iteration of investment advice guidance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act...more

Goodwin

ERISA Litigation Update - April 2021

Goodwin on

Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Reminder: The SECURE Act’s Safe Harbor for Lifetime Annuity Options Opens New Possibilities for Defined Contribution Plan Sponsors...

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (“SECURE”) Act made a number of changes designed to increase the availability of lifetime income options in defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k)...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

The DOL’s Fiduciary Interpretation and Exemption: Impact on Rollover Recommendations

On December 18, 2020, the Department of Labor published its expansion of the fiduciary interpretation and exemption for conflicted advice in the Federal Register. (Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02, Improving...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Is Data the Next Frontier in ERISA Litigation?

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Health and retirement benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) have troves of personal information regarding plan participants and their beneficiaries - e.g., participants’ age, marital...more

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