Happy Friday, readers! Regular readers of our newsletters will already know that 2019 is off to a busy start in terms of retirement plan litigation, regulation and legislation. An important decision has been handed down in a 403(b) lawsuit targeting a big-ticket U.S. university; the IRS has published a new revenue procedure; the PBGC has updated its table of penalties and fines; and more. Read the stories below to get caught up on the latest developments in Washington and the federal courts.
In a colorfully worded opinion, the district court judge chides plaintiffs for failing to acknowledge basic facts about the way annuities work and their well-established role in 403(b) plans.
Read more >
A new Revenue Procedure makes a change to Revenue Procedure 2018–4 Section 8.02 to add new section 3, “Other Circumstances,” to provide a new category for which determination letters can be requested.
Read more >
New maximum civil penalties for failure to provide certain notices or other material information and for failure to provide certain multiemployer plan notices have been announced.
Read more >
Representative Richard Neal has introduced a bill with bipartisan backers that would take several steps towards solving the union multiemployer pension funding crisis.
Read more >
The Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011 requires that, before the beginning of each taxable year, the PR Treasury provide notice of the applicable limits under Section 401(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which are incorporated by reference into the Puerto Rico Code limits.
Read more >
ERISA lawsuits very often lead to settlements or dismissals, but 2018 brought a series of important and potentially precedent-setting decisions in both district and appellate courts.
Read more >
A new lawsuit suggests the individual advisory program TIAA clients were rolled into was significantly more expensive and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for TIAA—without providing commensurate performance benefits.
Agency leaders say the principal idea of the new proposal is that climate change and other ESG factors can be financially material and, when they are, considering them will inevitably lead to better long-term risk-adjusted returns.
The important federal benefit increases when the cost of living rises, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the ‘CPI-W.’
Arguments in the new case closely resemble previous lawsuits filed against other firms citing the ERISA fiduciary duties of prudence and of monitoring fiduciaries.
