DOL Releases Guidance on Investment Advice Exemption
This is meant to help retirement investors, employee benefit plans and investment advice providers.
Tag: EBSA
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Industry Issues Early Reactions to Walsh’s DOL Confirmation
Trade groups and advocacy organizations representing the retirement planning industry have reacted positively, if cautiously, to the confirmation of Marty Walsh as labor secretary.
Senate Confirms Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary
The full Senate voted Monday evening to approve the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to lead the U.S. Department of Labor at critical time for the U.S. economy and its workforce.
DOL Says It Won’t Enforce Final Rules on ESG and Proxy Voting
The department says it will not pursue enforcement actions against any plan fiduciary for failure to comply, and it plans to release further guidance on the issues.
The Importance of EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01
The prescheduled phase-out of the coronavirus disaster declaration had created a ‘compliance conundrum,’ which the DOL has now addressed by issuing additional guidance.
DOL Confirms Fiduciary Prohibited Transaction Exemption Will Stand, For Now
In the coming days, the agency will publish related guidance for retirement investors, employee benefit plans and investment advice providers.
Missing Participant Guidance Released by DOL
The guidance includes best practices for locating missing participants in addition to best practices for documenting efforts to do so.
Biden Administration to Nominate Marty Walsh as Secretary of Labor
The second-term mayor of Boston is known for fighting for a higher minimum wage and for being a long-term union member who is outspoken about the role of collective labor in the U.S. economy.
DOL’s Final ESG Rule Appears Slightly Softer Than Proposal
The final version of the regulation emphasizes the importance of using only ‘pecuniary’ factors in the assessment of investment options within tax-qualified retirement plans, rather than expressly limiting the use of environmental, social and governance themed investments.
Compliance
Retirement Industry Experts Concerned by ‘Prescriptive’ Income Projections
Creating a requirement for recordkeepers to provide lifetime income projections is a popular idea, but the EBSA’s proposed framework is seen by some as simplistic and potentially even misleading.
Compliance
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.
Compliance
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).
Compliance
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.’
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EBSA’s E-Disclosure Rule Is Final
The standard, letting employers opt for electronic vs. print reporting, is a highlight of the agency’s departed assistant secretary’s tenure.
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.
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
The Employee Benefits Security Administration is among the regulators with the most direct influence over the retirement planning industry. It gets a new leader at the end of the month.
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.
Ways to Make Default E-Delivery Even More Effective
Recordkeepers and other service providers have submitted generally positive comment letters to the Department of Labor regarding its proposed e-delivery default rule, but they also have some specific suggestions for improving the proposal.