Headlines about "Ret plans - admin"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Official Guidance] Final PBGC Regs: Rules for Administrative Review of PBGC Decisions (PDF)
Excerpt: "Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is amending its regulation on Administrative Review of Agency Decisions to clarify that the agency's Appeals Board may refer certain categories of appeals to other PBGC departments for a written response and to remove determinations under section 4022A of [ERISA] from the scope of part 4003. The amendments also include minor clarifying and technical changes to the rules for administrative review of agency decisions. . . . Effective August 4, 2008." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

Listing of IRS Published Guidance for January - June 2008
The target page links to guidance published by the Service relating to retirement plans: Treasury Regulations; Revenue Rulings; Revenue Procedures; Notices; and, Announcements. (Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance] Text of IRS Revenue Ruling 2008-40: Transfers from Tax-qualified Plan to Nonqualified Foreign Trust or Puerto Rican Plan (PDF)
9 pages. Certain transition relief is provided; also discusses application of section 410(b) minimum coverage rules to employees in Puerto Rico and other possessions of the United States. Excerpt: "HOLDINGS: 1. A transfer of amounts from a trust under a plan qualified under § 401(a) to a nonqualified foreign trust is treated as a distribution from the transferor plan. 2. A transfer of assets and liabilities from a qualified plan to a plan that satisfies section 1165 of the Puerto Rico Code is also treated as a distribution from the transferor plan, even if the plan is described in section 1022(i)(1) of ERISA." (Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance] Text of PBGC Proposed Regs: Termination of Single-Employer Plan While Sponsor in Bankruptcy (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "This is a proposed rule to implement section 404 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Section 404 amended Title IV of ERISA to provide that when an underfunded, PBGC-covered, single-employer pension plan terminates while its contributing sponsor is in bankruptcy, sections 4022 and 4044(a)(3) of ERISA are to be applied by treating the date the sponsor's bankruptcy petition was filed as the termination date of the plan. . . .Thus, under the 2006 amendments, when a plan terminates while the sponsor is in bankruptcy, the amount of benefits guaranteed by PBGC and the amount of benefits in priority category 3 are fixed at the date of the bankruptcy filing rather than at the plan termination date. This will, in most cases, reduce the amount of guaranteed benefits and the amount of benefits in priority category 3." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

2008 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey
Excerpt: "[A] quick comparison of the providers in PLANSPONSOR's inaugural recordkeeping survey 10 years ago, with the listings that follow, attests. Most of those now 'missing,' like old soldiers, passed quietly (unless, of course, your plan had to find a new home in a hurry), and most that have chosen to do so, did so with grace." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Newsletter Identifies Common Electronic Record Retention Problems and Reviews Requirements
Excerpt: "Plan sponsors should routinely review their record retention policies, including service contract provisions, to ensure that they address record retention and retrieval. As the newsletter points out, changing service providers or failing to make adequate provision for IRS examination disclosures will not relieve taxpayers of their obligation to produce records." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

U.S. Chamber Sparks DOL Restraint on Union Pension Fund Abuse
Excerpt: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce obtained an Advisory Opinion Letter from the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Standards Administration (EBSA) restraining unions from leveraging their pension funds to pressure employers." (The FINANCIAL)

Retirement Income Focus of DC Growth
Excerpt: "That was a key conclusion of a new McKinsey & Company study on the DC market's future based on the consultant's interviews with 50 experts and its own modeling and analysis, a news release said. The study asserted that by 2015, the transformed DC market will provide a variety of asset accumulation products, a wide range of personalized advice models, transition planning from work to retirement, and retiree lifetime income solutions." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] IRS, DOL and PBGC Propose Guidance on PPA Changes for Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "The Pension Protection Act of 2006 included many provisions that significantly impact multiemployer pension funds. Three federal agencies have recently released guidance to help these funds comply with some of the PPA provisions as well as clarify other issues." (Buck Consultants)

[Opinion] Proposed Rule Would Create a 'Safe Harbor' for Participant Contributions Deposited Within Seven Business Days of Receipt or Withholding
Excerpt: "DoL's position, as stated in numerous Field Assistance Bulletins and Advisory Opinions, is that an employer impermissibly 'uses' plan assets if it fails to transmit partic­ipant contributions to the plan as soon as they are 'reasonably segregable' from the employer's general assets. This 'use of plan assets' is a potential prohibited transaction, subjecting the employer to remedies (e.g., making the plan whole), excise taxes, and penalties." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] DOL Webcast on Regulatory, Interpretive and Amicus Update, Sponsored by DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration
Excerpt: "This third in a series of webcasts will address guidance on a series of frequently asked questions raised since publication of the final regulation on qualified default investment alternatives; guidance on the responsibilities of plan fiduciaries and trustees with respect to monitoring and collecting delinquent employer and employee contributions owed to employee benefit plans; the participant contribution safe harbor proposal; and recent amicus participation in ERISA litigation.' (U.S. Department of Labor)

IRS's Employee Plans News, Summer 2008 (PDF)
14 pages. This edition includes the following articles: Steven T. Miller, TE/GE Commissioner, Speaks at Mid-Atlantic Benefits Conference; Form 5307 Has Been Revised; Forms & Pubs; Critical Priorities...With Monika Templeman; Maintaining Electronic Records for Employee Plans Team Audit (EPTA) Plans; Form 5500 Filing Tips - Are You a Multiemployer Plan?; Things to Remember - 2007 Forms 5500/5500EZ; Employee Plans Published Guidance; PBGC Insights; Calendar of EP Benefits Conferences. (Internal Revenue Service)

Audits of Outsourced Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "[T]he annually required, DOL-driven accounting audit of your plan by an independent certified public accountant is well positioned to do a lot more than just get its financial statements and IRS Forms 5500 prepared.' (HRO Today)

[Guidance Overview] Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, June 2008 (PDF)
2 pages. The newsletter provides a summary of the previous month's legislative, regulatory, and judicial information on employee benefits. (Milliman)

[Guidance Overview] Revisiting the Concept of Standing As a Defense to ERISA Actions After LaRue
Excerpt: "One of the less noticeable casualties of the LaRue decision may be the erstwhile vaunted role of standing as a predicate to ERISA actions. Wanberger provides a small hint of this possibility, but that decision does not necessarily measure the watermark of this influence at high tide. I say that because Wangberger involved a cashed out plan participant which was similar to the situation before the Court in LaRue." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

[Guidance Overview] Amara v. Cigna, ERISA Class Actions, and Fiduciary Misrepresentations About Retirement Benefits
Excerpt: "A few months ago, I reported on the District Court's decision in Amara v. CIGNA, an important class-action case on ERISA retirement benefits and on alleged misrepresentations made by the Company about retirement benefits. Over the last few months, then, the court was asked to consider the issue of what is appropriate relief from the decision." (Workplace Prof Blog)

[Guidance Overview] White House Calls for Regulations to Be Finalized by November 1, 2008
Excerpt: "On May 9, 2008, the White House issued a Memorandum to the Heads of Executive Offices and Agencies stating that, 'except in extraordinary circumstances, regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008.' It is not clear how this Memorandum will affect the many pending regulations relating to employee benefit plans, including those relating to the Pension Protection Act of 2006." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

Cashed-Out Participants Keep Legal Standing Under ERISA
Excerpt: "A federal appellate court ruled that employees don't lose the right to pursue individual claims when they cash out their plan balances. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision released Monday came in a consolidated action involving four lawsuits charging that employers violated their Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary duties by investing plan assets in mutual funds that permitted market timing." (planadvisor.com)

[Guidance Overview] Compliance Checklist 2008 - For Plans That Are Not Subject to ERISA (PDF)
14 pages. Excerpt: "The Checklist incorporates requirements for Governmental and Nonelecting Church Plans, Non-ERISA 403(b) Programs, 457 Plans, and Nonqualified Executive Benefit Plans, and provides information on the materials that you will need to file, filing due dates, and agencies to which the filings should be made." (Prudential Retirement)

[Guidance Overview] Compliance Checklist 2008 - For Plans That Are Subject to ERISA (PDF)
42 pages. Excerpt: "The Checklist incorporates Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution and ERISA 403(b) requirements and provides information on the materials that you will need to file, filing due dates, and agencies to which the filings should be made." (Prudential Retirement)

Law Firm Agrees to $4M San Diego Pension Mess Settlement
Excerpt: "A Houston law firm that was brought into San Diego's ongoing pension mess has agreed to a $4.35-million settlement with city officials." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Beneficiary Designation Form Not Valid When Participant Did Not Sign and Date It
Excerpt: "This case is another cautionary tale: ERISA administrators that fail to have procedures in place (or fail to follow those procedures to ensure that beneficiary designation forms are properly completed, signed, and dated before they are accepted) risk expensive and time-consuming lawsuits . . . ." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Guidance Overview] Section 404(c) Compliance Audit Checklist
9 pages. (Snell & Willmer, L.L.P.)

[Guidance Overview] PPA Testing Changes for 2008
Excerpt: "[There are three basic changes:] 1. GAP Period Income Eliminated on ADP and ACP Test Failure Refunds. 2. Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement plans will have 6-months after the plan year-end to make a refund for a failed ADP/ACP test without a 10% penalty to the employer versus 2½ months for 401(k) plans without automatic enrollment. 3. Corrective distributions for ADP/ACP will be taxable in the year distributed." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

[Guidance Overview] Off-Calendar-Year Plans
Excerpt: "Most of the compensation limitations are based on the limit in effect in the calendar year in which the plan year begins with a notable exception of the annual additions limit . . . ." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

[Guidance Overview] Getting Plan Terminations Right
Excerpt: "If a sponsor is no longer committed to the defined benefit (DB) system, if a decision has already been made to freeze or terminate the DB plan, what is the best way to wind things up? That issue – of DB 'exit strategy' – is more complicated than it sounds. In this article we review the exit strategy process and considerations plan sponsors should be aware of." (JPMorgan Chase & Co.)

[Guidance Overview] PBGC Premiums After PPA
Excerpt: "PPA not only overhauled the funding rules for DB plans, but also changed the way premiums are assessed for the mandatory benefit guaranty insurance coverage provided by the PBGC. In this article, we discuss the changes to the premium calculations and touch on funding strategies to minimize these premiums." (JPMorgan Chase & Co.)

As 401k Audit Season Starts, Sponsors Face Tougher Standards
Excerpt: "Auditors will be asking more questions and requesting more documentation because new, stricter audit standards, known as the 'risk assessment standards,' now are effective for employee benefit plan audits for periods beginning on or after Dec. 15, 2006. This year, auditors are required to look at the plan sponsor as well as the plan, and the audit process will last longer and demand more management time." (Business Wire via Human Resource Executive Online)

[Official Guidance] Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities Releases Seventh Report (PDF)
367 pages. Excerpt: "On June 11, 2008 the [committee] presented six recommendations to the IRS Commissioner and TE/GE." (Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Model Special Tax Notice is Out of Date
Excerpt: "The notice must explain the rollover rules, taxation consequences of a lump-sum distribution, direct rollover option (including automatic rollover), mandatory 20% withholding rules, and tax consequences and distribution restrictions applicable to rollovers to different types of plans." (SunGard Corbel LLC)

[Official Guidance] June 2008 Pension Funding Segment Rates
Generally for plan years beginning after 2007, the rates in the tables . . . apply for minimum funding requirements under section 430 of the Code. (Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance] IRS Composite Corporate Bond Rate Table Updated for June 2008
Corporate Bond Weighted Average Interest Rate = 6.02 for June 2008 (Internal Revenue Service)

[Opinion] What Fiduciaries Can Do About the Increasing Risk of Iitigation from Disgruntled Investors
Excerpt: "Regulatory scrutiny of fiduciaries is increasing. With changes to Internal Revenue Service Form 5500 for retirement plan reporting and proposed rules pertaining to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act Section of 1974, the Department of Labor is pressuring investment service providers to give better disclosures of compensation and conflicts of interest. These changes will make it easier for investors to identify fiduciary shortfalls." (Blaine F. Aikin via Investment News; free registration required)

Unsigned Form Throws Disputed 401(k) Assets to Participant's Son
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Florida has ruled that a deceased 401(k) plan participant's girlfriend is not entitled to half the approximately $450,000 in his account because he did not sign the designation form naming her a partial beneficiary." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Treasury Security Rate Set for Computing Current Plan Liability for June 2008
Excerpt: "For pension plan years beginning in June 2008, the IRS has released the corporate bond weighted average interest rate, the permissible range of interest rates used to calculate current plan liability and to determine the required contribution under Code Sec. 412(l) for plan years through 2008, and the current corporate bond yield curve and related segment rates for the purpose of establishing a plan's funding target under Code Sec. 430(h)(2)." (CCH Incorporated)

Periodic Audits of ERISA Plans and Employment Policies and Practices Can Prevent Costly Mistakes
Excerpt: "Self-Audits are reviews that companies usually undertake with the assistance of benefits counsel to identify legal compliance gaps in their plans, policies and/or operational procedures. The audit focuses on areas that could place the company at risk for governmental fines and penalties, as well as expose the company to an increased risk of lawsuits. These audits can be done for either or both a company's employment practices and employee benefits plans." (Aiken and Aiken)

Supreme Court Rejects AT&T Appeal in Pension Case
Excerpt: "At issue in the case is whether a pension plan administered by Ameritech, a local phone company, improperly reduced retirement benefits paid to an employee in 1999." (AP via Forbes.com)

[Guidance Overview] Breaking from a Long-Term 403(b) Provider
Excerpt: "A private college wanted to modernize its traditional retirement program, including moving away from its longstanding relationship with a bundled mutual fund/annuity provider. Upon notification of the transfer of recordkeeping and plan assets, the provider informed the college that both its 403(b) and 401(a) plans were covered under contracts between the provider and individual employees, although no copies of the contracts could be found. The employer knew this was the case for the 403(b) plan, but it was unexpected news about the employer-sponsored 401(a) plan." (Milliman)

ERISA Accounts Offer a 'New' Way of Offsetting Plan Costs
Excerpt: "Many advisers have failed to take advantage of a long-standing program in retirement plan regulations that enables some plans to gain a share of any excess revenue earned by their investment funds and use those dollars to pay for plan expenses or allocate the money directly to participants. Known as the ERISA budget, or ERISA account, the account captures revenue produced by investments that exceed recordkeepers' actual costs." (planadvisor.com)

[Opinion] Groom Law Group Weighs in on Supreme Court Debate over Conflict of Interest Case: MetLife Insurance Co. v. Glenn
Excerpt: "At issue is whether and how a court will consider the fact that the same entity that funds a benefit plan also decides a participant's claim for benefits under the plan. Some courts have viewed this dual role as a conflict of interest that requires a more heightened standard of review of the benefit claim decision than otherwise would be required. Why should retirement plan administrators care about this case? Under current law, if the entity that funds the plan also decides claims for benefits under the plan, the standard of review of a benefit claim will vary, even though the facts are the same, depending on the court that reviews the benefit claim. The Supreme Court's decision in this case should provide a more uniform standard throughout the country." (Business Wire)

Obtaining Quality Employee Benefit Plan Audit Services—The Request for Proposal
Excerpt: "Employee benefit plan sponsors and ­administrators can save time selecting an audit firm and evaluating the quality of its services by writing a thorough Request for Proposal (RFP)." (The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)

U.K. Pension Manager, Pension Corp., Buys Out Steel Products Group Delta's Pension Plan
Excerpt: "In exchange for taking on the liabilities of 10,200 members of Delta's pension plan who are already receiving their pensions, Pension Corp. will receive assets amounting to £451 million ($879 million)." (Business Insurance)

Naming a Defendant in an ERISA Action
Excerpt: "This article argues that courts should permit suit against any entity that played a role in denying the claim. This approach (1) is consistent with the plain language of ERISA, (2) is consistent with the legislative intent behind ERISA which was to protect employees from underfunded plans and from erroneous benefit denials, (3) is consistent with Supreme Court precedent permitting fiduciaries to be sued under ERISA, and (4) creates an incentive for entities making benefits determinations to make those determinations correctly." (Social Science Research Network)

[Guidance Overview] Trustees in United Kingdom Given Greater Oversight of Multiemployer Pension Plans (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Trustee boards of U.K. multiemployer defined benefit (DB) pension plans have been given more power over financial arrangements when an employer leaves the plan. Revised (amending) regulations that took effect April 6, 2008 are intended to ensure that departing employers do not avoid their pension liabilities, while at the same time enabling more flexible arrangements when the company is involved in a merger or other type of corporate transaction." (Towers Perrin)

[Guidance Overview] Employee Benefits Review, May 2008 (PDF)
8 pages. The newsletter covers select compliance deadlines and developments in retirement and health and welfare plans. (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)

Why Pricing of 403(b) Plan Services Can be Complex
Excerpt: "If one is looking for reasons why pricing of services for 403(b) plans is so complex and confusing, a starting point might be the reality that service platforms for these defined contribution plans are actually comprised of two separate and distinct businesses that service providers attempt to combine into a single business model. This may work well for branding, but is problematic when services are bundled together for pricing purposes." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Holding Your Third Party Administrator Accountable
Excerpt: "A good place to start is asking a TPA for their SAS 70 audit, which should highlight significant and relevant characteristics of their internal controls for ensuring an acceptable ERISA compliance plan is in place." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

OPM Halts Work on Retirement Calculator
Excerpt: "The Office of Personnel Management sent a 'stop work' letter to the contractor developing a software system to calculate retirement benefits for federal employees, officials said yesterday. The contractor, Hewitt Associates, was given 10 days to propose a remedy for flaws and defects uncovered by the OPM during tests of the benefits calculator. Only five of 61 functions worked as intended during recent testing." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] PPA: IRS Provides Guidance on 2008 Distribution Rules (PDF)
Excerpt: "The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) includes several provisions relating to payments made from various types of pension plans that became effective for distributions made on or after January 1, 2008. On March 5, 2008, the IRS released Notice 2008-30, providing guidance regarding the following provisions: Rollovers to Roth IRAs; Payment of gap period income on excess deferrals; Qualified Optional Survivor Annuities (QOSAs); and Calculation of lump sum benefits in defined benefit plans." (Prudential's Pension Analyst)

[Guidance Overview] White House Orders End-of-Term Reg Slowdown
Excerpt: "That loud shuffling noise you hear is the sound of federal regulators preparing proposed regulations for publication in the Federal Register in advance of a newly imposed June 1 deadline. . . . In the employee benefit space, this means that we could expect to see the Department of Labor's participant disclosure proposed regulations (submitted to OMB for review on May 1) very soon. It also means that the DOL will be pushing very hard to finalize its proposed 408(b)(2) regulations prior to the November 1 cut-off. Proposed regulations on investment advice (an issue that has been live since the Pension Protection Act was enacted in August 2006), however, have not been sent to OMB and therefore will likely have to wait until next year and a new administration." (Baker & Daniels)

International Update, May 2008: Recent Developments in Foreign Private And Public Pensions, Social Security, and Retirement
From SSA's Office of Policy. (U.S. Social Security Administration)

[Opinion] The Trouble With Estoppel in ERISA Cases
Excerpt: "Every now and then an estoppel case pops up under ERISA, and the law is twisted and mangled to make it fit." (BNA Pension & Benefits Blog)

Retirement News for Employers - Spring 2008 Edition from the IRS (PDF)
11 pages. This edition contains the following: EP Connections: Interview with Joyce Kahn - New Law...Help for the Small Employer; Desk Side Chat with Monika Templeman - What Do I Do if My Plan is Selected for an Examination? New on the Web; We're Glad You Asked! ERPA is Picking Up Speed; Product Profile - 401(k) Fix-It Guide - Online Resource; Written Plan Requirement for 403(b) Plans; This Way to the Forums; Recent Guidance; DOL News; Fixing Common Plan Mistakes - Hardship Distributions in a 401(k) Plan. (Internal Revenue Service)

Fiduciary Liability Claim Dismissed in US Airways Suit
Excerpt: "The U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia has determined the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) did not breach its fiduciary duty to former pilots of US Airways when it took over their terminated pension plan." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Former Judge Can Sue Individual Pension Board Members
Excerpt: "A federal district court has determined that an impeached Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice can sue individual state retirement board members for allegedly causing him to miss out on pension benefits he could have earned." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Opinion] State-Administered Retirement Plans for the Private Sector Is a Bad Idea
Excerpt: "Legislators throughout the country are proposing that states start to administer private sector retirement savings plans. While the details of these proposals vary from state to state, they all provide that the states should embark upon the business of managing private sector individual account arrangements." (Oxford University Press USA)

[Guidance Overview] In-Sevice Distributions
Excerpt: "In-service withdrawals prior to normal retirement age are only permitted under Profit Sharing, 401(k) and Stock Bonus Plans. A plan is not required to offer in-service withdrawals and can place restrictions on the availability of funds." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

[Guidance Overview] Late Guidance Creates Confusion Regarding Quarterly Pension Contributions
Excerpt: "On April 15, 2008, the IRS published proposed regulations in the Federal Register on calculating and paying minimum required contributions for defined benefit plans, and the penalties for failing to meet the requirements. The rules address required quarterly contributions and the use of credit balances." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Proposed Regulations on Notice Requirements Under PPA
Excerpt: "The IRS has proposed regulations regarding the notices defined benefit plan sponsors must provide as they comply with changes to funding rules enacted by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA)." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

[Opinion] PPA's Auto-Pilot Features Bound to Fail
Excerpt: "The trouble with automatic enrollment is that it necessitates a negative action associated with opting out of a plan rather than giving employees the chance to opt in, which is more ­positive and a better way for plan participants to embrace the retirement savings concept. It also places an undue strain on younger and lower-paid employees, and can be seen as embarrassing. As for the deferral amount, which rises incrementally until it hits 6% of earnings, savings might be adequate under a few fading scenarios." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

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