Tag: DoL

A Maryland business owner will serve one year and one day of imprisonment and pay more than $350,000 in restitution for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Form ADV includes a number of questions about the custody of client assets; these questions continue to be a source of widespread confusion and inconsistent interpretations in the asset management industry.

The president on Friday signed an executive order directing the Treasury Department to reassess required minimum distributions from 401(k) plans and ordering DOL staff to explore the possibility of allowing small businesses to join open multiple employer plans.

Mercer offers recommendations for retirement plan sponsors to search for missing participants.

In response to staff and client feedback, and in the wake of the defeat of the DOL fiduciary rule, the firm is taking steps to reintroduce use of commission-based products for retirement account clients.

Asked whether Wells Fargo Advisors will reconsider T shares if the DOL’s fiduciary rule is revisited or the SEC pushes through a conflict of interest rule, the firm simply said, “Although we could offer them in the future, we have no current plans to do so.”

The Department of Labor’s (DOL)’s Employee Benefit Security Administration’s (EBSA)’s Plan Investment Conflicts (PIC) project investigates issues related to fiduciary service provider compensation and conflicts of interest in relation to plan asset vehicles.

A court appointed an independent fiduciary to distribute assets to the remaining plan participants.

In addition, data on ESG investing is also inconsistent, assessing ESG could increase plan costs, and many investors incorrectly perceive that ESG investing can lower returns.

The court-ordered restitution includes $69,000 in employee and matching employer contributions, as well as lost earnings due to the 401(k) plan, and approximately $4.3 million for fraudulent loans and identity theft.

The letter also asks that until guidance is provided, for the DOL to stop issuing letters that allege an employer has committed a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the practices utilized to locate missing retirement plan participants.

With the judicial defeat of the Obama-era DOL fiduciary rule hanging in the air, individual states are moving to establish their own best interest regulations for the sale and service of investment products; attorneys warn that more piecemeal regulation is likely, as are lawsuits to test some complex ERISA preemption issues.

Over the last few years, all three federal agencies that regulate retirement plans have been focusing on missing participants; advisers have a key role to play when it comes to helping clients ensure compliance.

The settlement agreement resolves a civil suit brought by the DOL, alleging Cactus Feeders Inc. ESOP fiduciaries failed to fulfill their obligations under ERISA during a December 2010 stock transaction.

The compliance assistance program will increase awareness and understanding about basic fiduciary responsibilities when operating a retirement plan.

The plan sponsor advocacy organization says there have been “numerous reports of aggressive DOL enforcement activity, and sometimes inconsistent positions taken by DOL auditors, regarding how plan sponsors are handling missing participants.”