New Fiduciary Sought for Abandoned NYC Plan

The DOL recently filed a related lawsuit, Perez v. Council on Economic Priorities Inc. 403(b) Retirement Plan (docket number: 14-CV-1555), in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In the suit, the DOL asks that the court appoint an independent trustee and fiduciary to administer the Council on Economic Priorities Inc. 403(b) Retirement Plan and distribute its assets to its participants and beneficiaries.

The suit details that the plan was established in January 1993 by The Council on Economic Priorities Inc., also known as The Center for Responsibility in Business, which was also the plan’s administrator. The company, whose last known address was 30 Irving Place in Manhattan, went out of business in or around 1998 and exists without a trustee.

Since 1998, no individual or entity has come forward to assume fiduciary responsibility for the plan or to distribute its assets. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. is the plan’s custodian. According to the DOL, without a duly appointed trustee or fiduciary, the custodian cannot release the plan’s $115,538 in assets to its remaining 11 participants.

A copy of the lawsuit document can be downloaded here.