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17Jul

FLASHPOINT: MID-SUMMER UPDATE: MORE ABOUT REG BI AND PREVENTING MEP SPOILAGE FROM THE ONE BAD APPLE

By S. Derrin Watson, Of Counsel More About Reg BI: Identifying, Disclosing, Mitigating, and Eliminating Conflicts of Interest In our earlier Flash, “Regulation Best Interest and More,” we provided an overview of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) recently finalized Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”), which impacts transactions between broker-dealers and retail customers, including retirement […]
11Jun

FLASHPOINT: REGULATION BEST INTEREST AND MORE … A PRESENT TO INVESTORS FROM THE SEC

By S. Derrin Watson, Of Counsel The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published a package of rules and interpretations (“SEC Rule”) dealing with the duties broker-dealers and investment advisors owe to their customers, including individual plan participants. The SEC originally proposed the package in April 2018, weeks after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals […]
03May

FLASHPOINT: IRS DETERMINATION LETTER PROGRAM EXPANDED … TO A LIMITED EXTENT

The IRS has expanded the availability of determination letters on individually designed plans in two circumstances: temporarily for “statutory hybrid plans” and permanently for merged plans. The availability of IRS approval of plan documents should give sponsors in these situations an opportunity to be reassured that their plan documents are “up to snuff.” The Determination […]
23Apr

FLASHPOINT: CORRECTIONS MADE EASIER: THE IRS EXPANDS THE SELF-CORRECTION PROGRAM

Last year, the IRS modified its correction programs for qualification failures (the “Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System” or “EPCRS”) to significantly increase the fees for taking part in the Voluntary Compliance Program (“VCP”). (See our previous FlashPoint on this subject.) Since that occurred, the retirement plan community has responded with demands that the IRS expand its […]
04Apr

FLASHPOINT: THINGS ARE HAPPENING … FINALLY!

After a period of national quiet in relation to retirement plans, several things have occurred recently that are worth discussing. Sorry that this is a longer newsletter than we like, but we wanted to give you quick feedback on what’s finally going on. California’s State-Mandated Retirement Program Survives Preemption Challenge One of the interesting trends […]
11Dec

FLASHPOINT: THE INS AND OUTS OF 403(B) DEFERRALS – THE IRS SOLVES THE PROBLEM

The IRS has provided important transition relief for many 403(b) plans struggling with an apparent change in IRS positions on a critical issue: how should 403(b) plans treat part-time employees who sometimes work more than 20 hours a week and sometimes work fewer? Recently issued Notice 2018-95 clarifies that what the IRS is calling “the […]
25Oct

FLASHPOINT: THE NEW MEP (MEH!) PROPOSED REGULATIONS

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed regulations (the “Proposal”) on October 22, 2018, that represent the first major step in changing its restrictions on multiple employer plans (“MEPs”). However, it is just the first step, and does not change the landscape for Open MEPs. The Proposal was issued in response to the President’s August […]
03Oct

FlashPoint: New EPCRS Procedure: Electronic Submission of VCP and Not A Whole Lot More

On September 28, 2018, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2018-52, the latest version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), the IRS’s comprehensive procedures for correcting retirement plan errors. Using this procedure, retirement plan sponsors may fix mistakes in their qualified plans, 403(b) plans, 403(a) retirement annuities, SEPs, and SIMPLEs. Although they are not […]
09May

FLASHPOINT: DOL FIDUCIARY RULES: WHERE THE HECK ARE WE NOW?

  As we discussed in our FlashPoint entitled, “Did the 5th Circuit Kill the Fiduciary Rule?” on March 15, 2018, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulations and the related prohibited transactions in relation to investment advice.  (For purposes of this FlashPoint, we will call these the “New […]