SkadBytes Podcast | Tech’s Shifting Landscape: Five Trends Shaping the Conversation
From Banks to FinTech: The Evolution of Small Business Lending — The Consumer Finance Podcast
From Banks to FinTech: The Evolution of Small Business Lending — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Podcast - Navigating the Updated SF-328 Form
Five Tips for a New Public Company Director
Doc Fees Decoded: The Price of Paperwork in Auto Sales — Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Gag Clause Prohibitions
Episode 371 -- DOJ's New Corporate Enforcement Program
Podcast - New Guidance on Complying with FTC Rule on Deceptive and Unfair Fees
Welcoming a New Payment Pro: Jason Cover Joins the Payments Pros Podcast — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Influencer Fail – ALO Yoga & Influencers Named in $150M Class Action Lawsuit for FTC Violations
The Briefing: Influencer Fail – ALO Yoga & Influencers Named in $150M Class Action Lawsuit for FTC Violations
Compliance into the Weeds: Leaving on a (Qatari) Jet Plane
LEGAL ALERT | NAD Finds Kevin Hart’s Social Media Disclosures Insufficient in Monitoring Decisions
Choosing Your LDA Reporting Path for 2025
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 305: Spotlight on Civil Procedure (Part 2 – Discovery)
Compliance Tip of the Day: Clarifying Compliance Mandates
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: How to Use the Restatement of Consumer Contracts - A Guide for Judges
Compliance Tip of the Day: Corporate Leaks and Compliance
Greenhushing: What It Is & Why It Matters
Following up on our recent blog post, SECURE 2.0’s Required Changes to Annual Funding Notice Become Effective in 2025, the Department of Labor released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02 on April 3, which addresses compliance...more
As explained in my last post, Things I Worry About (7), the DOL’s EBSA has a number of programs that can restore benefits to plans and participants. Those include: - Civil investigations. - Criminal investigations. -...more
They say the truth shall set you free, so that means a lot of 401(k) plan providers who tell sweet little lies in their sales pitch, are prisoners. There are many lies you might hear in a sales pitch, and these are the lies...more
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
ESG stands for “environmental, social, and governance.” Though often overlooked, two recent cases — Spence v. American Airlines and Exxon v. Arjuna Capital, LLC — focus on G’s place in the ESG initialism. Here, we break...more
On April 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) finalized a collection of regulatory changes in its ongoing quest to update the definition of a “fiduciary” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code...more
Clawback Rules. As previously discussed in last Winter’s Corporate Communicator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC") adopted final rules in October 2022 directing the NYSE and Nasdaq to adopt listing standards that...more
It’s that time of year again when calendar year 401(k) plans must send annual retirement plan notices. As you work with your service providers to make sure all notices are sent, now may be a good time to reacquaint yourself...more
The 7th edition of our SECURE 2.0 webinar series will focus on the bill’s provisions that cover investments, PEPs, pension risk transfers, disclosures, and a number of other topics that are relevant to fiduciaries....more
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), about 40% of 401(k) plan participants don’t fully understand the fees they are paying. Even with fee disclosure rules implemented in 2012, 41% of participants...more
The SECURE Act of 2019 made three statutory changes to ERISA regarding lifetime income benefit payments from defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing, and money purchase pension plans). This blog will...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an information letter in June 2020 indicating that, in limited circumstances, it will allow defined contribution retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans) to indirectly invest in private...more
Updated Safe Harbor Special Tax Notice (402(f) notice) & Lifetime Income Illustrations – Five Key Points for Plan Fiduciaries - The IRS has updated its safe harbor Special Tax Notice required to be provided to plan...more
On June 29, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced1 its new approach to the standards for financial institutions and investment professionals who provide investment advice on a nondiscretionary basis to 401(k) plans,...more
When fee disclosure regulations were promulgated in 2012, you could see the changes a mile away. While some chicken littles thought the sky was falling, I knew it would lead to a more competitive marketplace and there would...more
According to a report from Reuters, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is exploring a sale of its retirement services division, which has about $175 billion of assets under management and administration....more
When fee disclosure regulations were implemented, there were a few industry chicken littles that suggested that the disclosures would be a race to zero and only the cheapest providers would win out. History has proven that...more
The SEC has issued its final Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), Form CRS Rule, RIA Interpretation and Solely Incidental Interpretation. I am discussing the SEC’s guidance in a series of articles entitled “Best Interest...more
Yet again, the end of the year is rapidly approaching! To avoid costly penalties that can arise from inadvertent errors in the year-end crush, plan sponsors should begin talking with their service providers now about what...more
On June 4, 2019, the US Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari of the defendant fiduciaries in Retirement Plans Committee of IBM, et al. v. Larry W. Jander, No. 18-1165. The justices will review the Second...more
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancements (SECURE) Act of 2019. To become law, the bill still needs to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President....more
The US District Court for the District of Colorado granted partial summary judgment to 401(k) fiduciaries, holding that ERISA’s six-year statute of repose barred some claims and rejecting challenges to the plan’s fees....more
QUALIFIED PLANS - Student Loan Repayment Benefits - ? Qualified plan benefit tied to student loan debt repayment ? Special rules apply to these benefits when they are connected to the 401(k) plan ? IRS Private Letter...more
Seyfarth synopsis: The Second Circuit reversed dismissal of an ERISA stock drop class action finding plaintiff alleged enough to plausibly show that disclosure of alleged corporate problems would not have done more harm than...more
Editor's Overview - As we have observed on other occasions, the ERISA class action plaintiffs' bar has, for several years now, honed in on 401(k) plan fiduciaries and their decisions to select and retain investment options...more