Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has warned a federal appellate court that protections for plan participants could be harmed if it does not overturn a lower court ruling giving a directed trustee safe harbor protection against wrongdoing allegations.
The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), in coordination with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) and the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (PSCA), submitted comments to the Department of Labor (DoL) warning the agency to not undercut “generally accepted investment theories.”
Regulators might be cracking down on prohibited advice arrangements in retirement plans and broadening the scope of fiduciary status, suggested Jason C. Roberts, partner and co-chair of the Financial Services Practice Group at Reish & Reicher.
The Obama Administration on Monday released retirement
initiatives, including establishing
automatic individual retirement accounts (IRAs), simplifying and expanding the
Saver's Credit, and updating 401(k) regulations to increase transparency.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) today blasted the
decision by the Obama Administration to withdraw the final regulations
on investment advice.
The long saga of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DoL) hotly debated investment advice rule took another twist today when the DoL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced the controversial final rule is being withdrawn.
I am admittedly something of a pension (and regulatory) geek, but when the SunAmerica Opinion was published (December 2001), it was clear that something big had just happened.
Witnesses appearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and
Means Committee regarding the continuing debate of how retirement plan
advice should be delivered to millions of workers had a simple message
for lawmakers: Don’t break the current system.
The regulatory tone is shifting in Washington, and plan advisers and their clients should be ready for changes, asserted speakers at the PLANADVISER National Conference.
Schiff Hardin LLP has announced that former assistant secretary of
labor for employee benefits Bradford P. Campbell joined the firm’s
Washington, D.C., office in the Employee Benefits and Executive
Compensation and ERISA Litigation groups.