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Retirement plan sponsors that have agreements with service providers should be aware of a recent appellate court decision that absolved such providers of fiduciary duty — if a plan trustee exercised final control over the terms of their agreement. Background In Santomenno v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co., 2014 WL 4783665 (3rd Cir. Sept. 26, […]
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 agreed to hear a case that, if overruled, could make 401(k) fee lawsuits by participants in employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans much easier. The High Court granted plaintiffs’ petition for writ of certiorari in Tibble v. Edison International, (13-550), a case based on the cost and prudent selection […]
IRS issued final regulations requiring employer retirement plan sponsors or administrators that file at least 250 returns in a calendar year to submit Form 5500 annual reports and other plan-related documents electronically. The regulations are effective Sept. 29, and apply for plan years that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2014, and have a filing […]
Motorola Solutions Inc. will shift about $3.1 billion in pension obligations to around 30,000 retirees in its frozen defined benefit plan to Prudential Insurance Co. at the start of 2015. The risk transfer becomes the third-largest of its kind, after similar moves in recent years by General Motors Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. At the […]
Pension plan sponsors that offer to “cash out or annuitize benefits” for former employees would have to report this to the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the agency has proposed. In a routine information-collection change request to the Office of Management and Budget posted Sept. 23 (79 Fed. Reg. 56831), PBGC said it intends to […]
One of the most sensitive — and often misunderstood — aspects of being an executive of a company with a retirement plan is knowing when senior leaders are fiduciaries for the plan. A recent federal case added some clarity when it determined that a chief executive with signature authority over the company’s finances was indeed […]
A recent court decision reminds plan sponsors that mergers and acquisitions can trigger unexpected or complex changes to participant benefits that rely on careful plan language interpretation. In the case, some former employees of an Anheuser-Busch subsidiary were granted enhanced pension benefits as a result of the controlling company’s purchase by InBev because their employment […]
An appeals court decision coming on the heels of a recent Supreme Court stripping the presumption of prudence for fiduciaries may raise the stakes even higher for plan sponsors. A panel of judges in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals required that fiduciaries make a decision about company stock in their retirement plan based […]
The U.S. Department of Labor on Aug. 14 issued a new set of guidance for plan sponsors about tracking missing defined contribution retirement plan participants and distributing their assets. It takes into account vastly improved Internet search capabilities that have emerged in the decade since its last instructions about obligations to missing participants. Field Assistance […]
Fidelity Investments agreed to pay a class of its own employee 401(k) plan participants and beneficiaries $12 million to settle ERISA violation allegations of excessive fees and committing prohibited transactions with their retirement accounts. The settlement, filed July 3 with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ended two lawsuits brought by employees: […]