Bloomberg BNA's Pension & Benefits Blog is a special resource offered by Bloomberg BNA to provide commentary and insight on news and trends reported in our publications: Pension & Benefits Daily, Pension & Benefits Reporter, and the Benefits Practice Resource Center. The authors of the blog are members of our Pension & Benefits Publications Advisory Board.
The ideas presented here are those of individuals, and Bloomberg BNA bears no responsibility for the appropriateness or accuracy of the communications between group members. We reserve the right not to post comments that are abusive or otherwise objectionable.
Communications regarding the Pension & Benefits Blog may be directed to Dana Domone via e-mail to ddomone@bna.com.
February 24, 2012
by Greta E. Cowart
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro recently announced that the SEC is looking to curb high-frequency trading in stocks, a practice commonly referred to as day trading. The SEC previously attempted to address market timing or rapid trading in mutual funds when it issued amendments to rule 22c-2 in 2006. Rule 22c-2 permitted mutual funds to impose redemption fees for rapid trading or to stop rapid trades. While this rule has been in place for some time, plans may want to consider verifying how the record keepers for their plans and the mutual funds in their participant directed investment account plan are monitoring and complying with the restrictions imposed by the mutual funds and what redemption fees the mutual funds might impose for a violation not stopped by the record keeper or custodian of the funds.
August 16, 2011
by Rebecca J. Miller
The DOL’s recent proposed class exemption for the provision of investment advice has re-ignited the debate over the need for and the role of investment advice in participant directed plans. The proposal would strike a good balance between the need to offer investment advice to plan participants and the importance of participant safeguards.
June 27, 2011
by Andrew L. Oringer
Is CIGNA v. Amara (50 EBC 2569), the recent ERISA case from the U.S. Supreme Court, a major development? Notwithstanding the lack of surprise in the final result, the Court's rationale looks to be extremely important.
April 20, 2011
by Scott J. Macey
The contraction of defined benefit plans over the last 20 or so years has been dramatic and disappointing for those of us who believe that such plans are the best vehicle for providing retirement security. Some of the decline can be based on changes to the economy, the emergence of new companies and the decline of others, global competition, funding and financial reporting volatility, and other macro and micro economic factors.
April 14, 2011
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in George v. Kraft Foods Global Inc. earlier this week impacting fiduciaries to defined contribution retirement plans such as 401(k) plans and other defined contribution plans (see 70 PBD, 4/12/11).
February 3, 2011
Professionals and small business owners are often confronted with sales pitches on how they can put away large sums for retirement, get around the nondiscrimination rules and usually get a current deduction for amounts expended.
January 20, 2011
On June 25, 2010, after more than a year of delay due largely to the legislative gridlock so enjoyed by the last Congress, legislation popularly referred to as the Pension Relief Act of 2010 (HR 3962) was signed into law.
January 13, 2011
by David M. Certner
Many investors lack financial literacy. Others simply do not have (or want) to take the time to manage their accounts. One answer -- target date funds (TDF). Pick your retirement date, and forget it. Someone else will manage the plan for you.
October 18, 2010
The existence of a fiduciary duty to disclose information pertinent to plan investments, including employer stock, is again in the news. But the lead has been buried in a regulation that focuses attention on information about fees charged by typical 401(k) plan pooled investments.
October 2, 2010
With all the cases and articles swirling around the question of when there is a fiduciary duty to stop acquiring or to dispose of employer securities, and the recent oral arguments on the point before the Second Circuit, I'd like to set out a possible analytical framework, as follows:
October 1, 2010
If you stand back from the intricate legal and economic details of this year’s events and try to grasp what’s really happening to retirement security over the long run, it’s frightening.
May 25, 2010
The Supreme Court's decision in Hardt v. Reliance Standard should have been a reason to celebrate for participants and their lawyers (99 PBD, 5/25/10). The simple holding, that you don't have to be a prevailing party before a court can exercise its discretion to grant attorney's fees is unexceptionable. Their were no dissents. But the court seemed to be at pains to tie the decision to its facts. The participant was granted benefits by the plan on the remand. Did that matter?
May 5, 2010
Heart of my Hardt. I love that mel-o-dy.
April 26, 2010
"People make mistakes." Hand it to the Chief Justice, he's got an ear for a catch phrase. As BNA summarized the holding: "Employee Retirement Income Security Act plan administrators will not be stripped of deferential review by federal courts when they make a "single honest mistake" in administering and interpreting plans...." ( Conkright v. Frommert, U.S., No. 08-810, 4/21/10).
April 8, 2010
Since many ERISA plans are in the process of preparing their audited financials for the 2009 Form 5500, this is a good time to to reflect on the nature and responsibilities that the plan administrator has in connection with the audit process. (As chair of the Audit Subcommittee for the committee that is the plan sponsor and plan administrator of the Goodyear Retiree VEBA, I had to think through these issues for our plan.)
April 2, 2010
by Norman P. Stein
Congress has been considering extending funding relief to sponsors of defined benefit plans.There has been controversy about the conditions under which a sponsor will be eligible for relief.
March 1, 2010
Today's decision on the merits by the 9th Circuit in the Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. San Francisco case upholding the employer spending requirements of the San Francisco ordinance as not preempted by ERISA is a most interesting read.
December 1, 2009
by Karen W. Ferguson
In late October, the Government Accountability Office released a report on auto-pilot retirement practices and proposals. The report reviews data on 401(k) plans that have adopted automatic enrollment, and discusses the Obama administration’s budget proposal to mandate payroll deduction IRAs for firms with ten or more employees that lack other plan coverage.
November 20, 2009
The DOL has withdrawn its investment-advice regulation, culminating a process that began with a firestorm of objection regarding the DOL's attempt to implement the PPA's new investment-advice exemptions. The PPA's exemptions were controversial when passed, and became more controversial when the Department interpreted certain fee-leveling requirements in a manner that was perceived to be narrow.
November 16, 2009
September 22, 2009
by Robert J. Bach
One of the purposes of ERISA was to provide participants with access to information so they could understand their rights and obtain their benefits from their plans.
July 6, 2009
In 1973, just before ERISA, we worried about individual workers losing their defined benefits because of insufficient funding, no plan termination guarantees, and little or no vesting. Most of us did not worry about the whole system falling apart. There were just too many disappointed expectations under the previous system.
June 2, 2009
It is not being controversial to say that there is a trend in the states in favor of permitting same-sex marriage. Previously, a broad array of employers had begun provide benefits for their employees' domestic partners. See generally Libert, Oringer & Raskin, "Same-Sex Marriage and Employee Benefits: The Approaching Revolution," 63 Empl. Ben. Plan Rev. 22.
January 29, 2009
On January 16, 2009, the Department of Labor announced that it had finalized its work under Sections 408(b)(14) and 408(g) of ERISA, which set forth the PPA's new investment-advice exemptions.
December 12, 2008
The insolvency (whether or not in Chapter 11 reorganization) of the three automakers brings “legacy costs” back to the center stage of ERISA cutback negotiation and litigation.
October 28, 2008
The election is now only days away and will occur within the context of a financial markets meltdown. The effect on retirement security has been significant. Public policy considerations must be addressed asap.
October 2, 2008
September 8, 2008
While December is when most of us look back on the year coming to end and make plans and resolutions for the year about to begin, September is another one of those times for me. After all, it’s an important month in its own right—the start of the academic year (even if classes now begin in August), the official beginning of the race in election years like this one, the unofficial end of summer with Labor Day and lest we forget, the anniversary of ERISA’s passage.
September 2, 2008
A front page article in the August 4th edition of the Wall Street Journal outlines a method by which companies are transferring portions of their non-qualified deferred compensation obligations of senior executives into their qualified plans.
August 15, 2008
Section 404(a)(1) of ERISA generally requires a fiduciary to act in the interest of participants and beneficiaries and to act prudently. ERISA also requires, under Section 103(b)(3)(A), an annual report which includes a financial statement containing, among other things, a statement of assets and liabilities "valued at their current value." Current value is to be determined in good faith by a trustee or named fiduciary.
September 18, 2006
On the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits teleconference last Thursday, Bill Bortz from Treasury cleared up some issues that have been creating uncertainty under the newly-enacted Pension Protection Act of 2006.
IRS to Focus on Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans, Other Concerns Highlighted in Questionnaire
IRS Makes Employers’ Internal Controls a Priority in Employee Plan Audits
Implications of ASU 2011-4 for sponsors of ESOPs
FASB Issues Exposure Draft on ESOP Disclosures; Comment Period Open
Follow-Up Q&A From EBN Webinar