How Advisers Serving MEPs and PEPs Can Be Conflicted
The most obvious potential conflict of interest for advisers setting up or serving pooled employer plans is if their practice is affiliated with the investments being selected—but there are other potential pitfalls to acknowledge.
DOL Aims to Quickly Simplify Conflict of Interest Framework
The main theme of the new fiduciary rule proposal is alignment with other regulators—the SEC and FINRA in particular—but the agency is by no means surrendering its jurisdiction over tax-qualified retirement plans.
Attorneys Offer Closer Reading of DOL’s Open MEP RFI
Advisers and broker/dealers hoping to work with open multiple employer plans now have a short window to offer their perspectives to the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service.
Despite DOL’s Proposed Tightening, ESG Can Still Shine
It is not all doom and gloom for plan sponsors and participants who want these investments. Here’s what advisers should know about the new rules proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL).
With Another Rule Proposal, DOL’s Fiduciary Saga Continues
The Department of Labor has taken yet another step forward in what has been more than a decadelong effort to update the fiduciary duty applying to investment professionals serving workplace retirement plans.
DOL’s New Proposed Fiduciary Rule Aligns With Reg BI, NAIC Suitability
Multiple national-level conflict of interest rules are now aligned that will require financial professionals to act in the best interest of consumers.
DOL Proposes Stricter Rules About ESG Investing in Retirement Plans
Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia says employer-sponsored plans ‘are not vehicles for furthering social goals or policy objectives.’
Some Parties Question PE’s Role in DC Plans
It is common to hear that private equity (PE) has been the best performing asset class in recent years for institutional investors, but a new academic analysis challenges that idea.
EBSA’s E-Disclosure Rule Is Final
DOL Issues RFI on Prohibited Transactions, Open MEPs and SECURE Act
Responses to the request for information (RFI) will help the Department of Labor (DOL) evaluate the need for a proposal on new prohibited transaction exemptions related to pooled employer plans.
New ESG Regulation Expected Soon from DOL
Despite the frequent publication of regulatory guidance—or perhaps because of it—there remains a lot of confusion about how retirement plan fiduciaries should think about environmental and social justice issues while building investment lineups.
Close Coordination Expected Between New DOL Rule and SEC’s Reg BI
Such alignment would be consistent with what the Department of Labor leadership has been signaling for a number of years now.
DOL Issues Guidance About Private Equity Investments in DC Plans
An Information Letter addresses private equity investments as a component of a professionally managed asset allocation fund and outlines what plan fiduciaries should consider.
First Hints of Potential New DOL Fiduciary Rule Emerge
The Department of Labor has submitted a draft regulation to the Office of Management and Budget.
DOL’s EBSA Reveals Final Electronic Disclosure Rule
Compared with other regulatory efforts undertaken in recent years by the Department of Labor, this one enjoys near universal support among retirement plan industry stakeholders.
Assessing the State of Trump’s EBSA
Wilmington Trust to Pay $80 Million to Settle DOL Investigations
The DOL alleged Wilmington Trust caused losses to ESOPs when it authorized them to pay more than fair market value for privately held employer stock.
Retirement Plans Get Relief for Certain Requirements
The agency is relaxing timing rules for certain actions and notices if timing is affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
DOL Secretary Scalia Confirms EBSA Head Rutledge’s Departure
Rutledge will remain with the Department of Labor through the end of May, at which time he will have been in the post of assistant secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration for 2 1/2 years.
