T. KATURI KAYE, June 2017 On May 18, 2017, California State Treasurer John Chiang and Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) issued a press statement announcing that California remains on track to implement the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (“Secure Choice” or the “Program”), a state-sponsored program requiring employers that […]
Retirement Plans
NICHOLAS WHITE, ROBERT GOWER and ADRINE ADJEMIAN, May 2017 Following months of uncertainty stemming from a February 3, 2017, Presidential memorandum ordering the Secretary of Labor to conduct a review of the final fiduciary advice regulatory package (the “Final Rule”), including a 60-day delay in its applicability date, it seems all but certain the […]
BARBARA PLETCHER, February 2017 On December 28, 2016 (at the end of the Obama administration), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Interpretive Bulletin 2016-1 (IB 2016-1) to document DOL views regarding shareholder rights such as voting of proxies and shareholder activism/ engagement. This Interpretive Bulletin also addresses maintenance of and compliance with investment […]
FREEMAN L. LEVINRAD, January 2017 On January 18, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) broadening the definition of employer contributions that will qualify as qualified nonelective contributions (“QNECs”) and qualified matching contributions (“QMACs”). This broadened definition allows for the use of forfeitures to fund QNECs and QMACs. QNECs […]
CALLAN CARTER, January 2017 Plan governance is the administrative oversight that assists in ensuring you are managing an effective and compliant employee benefit plan. It provides the structure, authority and processes for implementing and operating benefit plans. Thus, proper plan governance is crucial to plan sponsor functions pertaining to plan design and amendment, as […]
SHANNON OLIVER and KEVIN E. NOLT, October 2016 The Internal Revenue Service has announced the annual cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for pension plans and other items for Tax Year 2017. Many of the pension plan limitations were increased, as the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory limits that initiate their adjustment. […]
KEVIN E. NOLT, October 2016 The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Revenue Procedure 2016-51 on September 29, 2016 which updates the current version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), effective January 1, 2017. The current EPCRS, issued in 2013 in Revenue Procedure 2013-12, had become outdated due to changes made to the program […]
GISUE MEHDI, September 2016 Background In general, when a distribution from an individual retirement arrangement (“IRA”) or a retirement plan is paid directly to an individual, the individual has 60 days from the date on which he or she receives the distribution to roll it over to another plan or IRA, in order to qualify […]
NICHOLAS J. WHITE, August 2016 — On August 25, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule on the circumstances in which state payroll deduction savings programs with an automatic enrollment feature would not give rise to the establishment of an employee benefit plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, […]
ROBERT R. GOWER, July 2016 Sponsors of calendar-year qualified plans working to complete the 2015 Form 5500 (Annual Return / Report of Employee Benefit Plan) by the extended filing deadline of October 15, 2016 may have noticed a handful of revisions to the Form 5500 for the 2015 plan year. These “compliance-focused” revisions indicate areas […]
T. KATURI KAYE, July 2016 — The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2016-37 on June 29, 2016, which provides much anticipated guidance on the elimination of the determination letter program for individually designed retirement plans effective January 1, 2017. The following is a summary of Revenue Procedure 2016-37 in order to assist plan sponsors with making […]
BARBARA PLETCHER, March 2016 – We are seeing a renewed interest in derisking of defined benefit pension plans by implementing a “lump sum window,” and wanted to share with you the employee communication below. For purposes of this article, a “lump sum window” is a limited period of time during which participants in a defined […]
T. KATURI KAYE, February 2016 – On January 29, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2016-6 (the “Notice”), providing important guidance on mid-year changes to safe harbor plans under Sections 401(k), 401(m) and 403(b) (collectively referred to as “safe harbor plans”) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). The Notice is welcome guidance […]
ADRINE ADJEMIAN, February 2016 On January 22, 2016, during a panel discussion (which included Brad Huss) at the Los Angeles Advanced Pension Conference, Elizabeth Hopkins, Counsel for Appellate and Special Litigation, Office of the Solicitor, Plan Benefits Security Division, United States Department of Labor (“DOL”), stated that the DOL has initiated an investigation into large […]
KEVIN E. NOLT, January 2016 On January 4, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2016-03, which provides that the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) and the IRS will issue guidance in anticipation of the elimination, effective January 1, 2017, of the five-year remedial amendment cycle system for individually designed retirement plans under the IRS […]
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