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Benefit Plan Sponsors Prohibited Transactions Employee Benefits

Bricker Graydon LLP

Don’t Forget About the IRS When Correcting Delinquent Plan Contributions

Bricker Graydon LLP on

Employers that do not timely deposit participant deferrals and loan contributions to their employer sponsored retirement plans can be subject to Department of Labor (DOL) penalties for breaching their fiduciary duties....more

Carlton Fields

Considerations for Plan Sponsors in the Wake of Cunningham v. Cornell

Carlton Fields on

Excessive fee cases against plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have been on the rise for the last decade. ERISA litigation is expanding with novel theories such as forfeiture litigation....more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

SCOTUS Holds ERISA Requires No Additional Pleading Requirements beyond § 1106 Elements for Prohibited-Transaction Claims,...

Baker Botts L.L.P. on

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States clarified the pleading requirements to bring a prohibited-transaction claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) in Cunningham v....more

Littler

The Supreme Court Relieves ERISA Plaintiffs of a Pleading Requirement: What’s Next for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries?

Littler on

On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that dealt a blow to benefit plan fiduciaries nationwide. The Court unanimously held in Cunningham v. Cornell University that a plaintiff asserting that a plan and...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Supreme Court Decision Means Defense of ERISA Prohibited Transaction Claims Just Got More Difficult and More Protracted

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Cunningham v. Cornell University, unanimously holding that a plaintiff can state a valid claim under ERISA by merely alleging that a plan used “plan assets” to pay a service...more

Miller Canfield

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

Miller Canfield on

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

Venable LLP

Supreme Court Endorses Plaintiff-Friendly Prohibited Transaction Pleading Standard

Venable LLP on

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on the appropriate pleading standard for a specific type of prohibited transaction claim under ERISA. While that decision may sound dry and technical, the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Supreme Court Lowers Bar to Pleading Prohibited Transactions, Despite “Serious Concerns” of Meritless Litigation

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a unanimous decision reversing dismissal of prohibited transaction claims based on fees paid to defined contribution plan recordkeepers, the Supreme Court held that ERISA’s prohibited transaction exemptions are affirmative...more

Shipman & Goodwin LLP

Plan Forfeiture Litigation: A Trend to Watch

Shipman & Goodwin LLP on

The most recent wave of ERISA litigation is focused on the use of plan forfeitures in 401(k) plans, with the newest case, Armenta v. WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. being filed just last week. Although, for years, many...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Retirement Plan Update – Forfeitures are New Focus of Fiduciary Breach Litigation

Many employer-sponsored defined contributions plans, including 401(k) profit sharing plans and money purchase pension plans include a vesting schedule – a period over which a plan participant earns a nonforfeitable right to...more

Verrill

Novel 401(k) Plan Lawsuits Over the Use of Forfeitures—Swinging for the Fences or Plausible Claims?

Verrill on

In our December 7, 2023 post, we noted five class action lawsuits, all filed by the same law firm within two months, in which 401(k) plan participants allege plan fiduciaries violated ERISA by using plan forfeitures to offset...more

Morgan Lewis

DOL Publishes QPAM Exemption Amendments: Action Items and Considerations for QPAMS, Plan Sponsors

Morgan Lewis on

The US Department of Labor (DOL) published final amendments to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14, the so-called “QPAM Exemption,” in the Federal Register on April 3, 2024. The amendments are anticipated to affect...more

K&L Gates LLP

QPAM Exemption Amendment—Key Takeaways and Action Steps for Advisors and Other Stakeholders

K&L Gates LLP on

Executive Summary - Many investment advisers and other financial institutions rely on the Department of Labor’s QPAM Exemption when providing services to, and transacting with, employer-sponsored retirement plans, individual...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Assessing Your Health Plan’s Service Provider Compensation

Based on new ERISA disclosure rules, now is a good time to review the compensation paid to your health plan’s consultant and broker. ERISA Section 408(b)(2)(B) requires brokers and consultants expecting $1,000 or more in...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

The New DOL Fiduciary “Rule” For Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers and the December 20 Deadline: The Time to Act is Now

The DOL’s new fiduciary “rule” became effective on February 16, 2021. The rule is a combination of a new and expansive definition of fiduciary advice (and status) and an exemption from the prohibitions of ERISA and the...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Beware of that bribe

I have been a New York Giants football since the days of Ray Perkins, Brad Van Pelt, and Joe Danelo. 4 Super Bowl victories have been far more rewarding than my time as a Mets fan....more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Khan v. PTC, Inc.—Three Important Lessons From An Otherwise Unremarkable 401(k) Fee Case

According to Bloomberg Law, class actions challenging 401(k) plan fees are increasing at a record pace. The underlying claims in these class action suits fall into predictable categories that are all too familiar: excessive...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

2020 in review – ERISA guidance

In 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL), in its guidance issued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), remained principally focused on the development of its Fiduciary Rule 3.0 and...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule 3.0 - Exemption and investment advice fiduciary definition

On December 18, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL or Department) adopted with limited changes its Proposal 3.0 regarding ERISA fiduciary investment advice, focused on the fiduciary status of rollover advice and a “best...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

American Airlines 401(k) Plan Not Required To Offer Stable Value Fund

Among the many claims brought by plaintiffs challenging investment offerings in defined contribution plans is the claim that plans should offer stable value funds in lieu of more conservative capital preservation funds, such...more

Goodwin

U.S. Department of Labor Formalizes Reinstatement of “Five Part Test” For Fiduciary Investment Advice and Proposes Broad Principal...

Goodwin on

On June 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) formally reinstated its “five-part test” for determining what constitutes “investment advice” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

DOL Provides Guidance Regarding 401(k) Plans Offering Limited Exposure to Private Equity Within a Diversified Investment Option

Proskauer Rose LLP on

On June 3, 2020, the Department of Labor (the "DOL") published an Information Letter confirming that an investment option under a 401(k) plan (or other defined contribution plan) may include a limited allocation to private...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Recently Issued IRS Snapshot Provides Guidance for S Corporation ESOPs

Holland & Knight LLP on

• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released an "Issue Snapshot" on preventing the occurrence of a nonallocation year for S corporation employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) under Section 409(p) of the Internal Revenue...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Department of Labor Proposes New Fiduciary Regulation and Prohibited Transaction Exemption Relief for Investment Advice...

On April 20, 2015, more than three years after withdrawing a similar proposal that was staunchly opposed by the financial services industry, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published in the Federal Register a proposed...more

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