The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT, H.R. 748) has been signed into law. It provides economic relief to individuals, businesses, hospitals and other entities. While plan sponsors should consider consulting ERISA counsel or their third-party administrators before making any plan decisions or changes, key benefit plan provisions include: No 10% additional
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it is extending the filing periods covered by its previously enacted conditional reporting relief for certain public registrant filing obligations under the federal securities laws, including plans that file a Form 11-K with the SEC pursuant to Section 15(d) of the 1934 Act. The SEC’s Division of
As detailed in an article by Nick Thornton of BenefitsPro, in February 2020, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against the fiduciaries of two Intel Corp. defined contribution plans. At issue before the court in Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma was a statute of limitation provision under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The High
In Notice 2019-67, the IRS has provided updated mortality improvement rates and static mortality tables to be used for defined benefit pension plans. These updated mortality improvement rates and static tables, which are being issued pursuant to the regulations under § 430(h)(3)(A), apply for purposes of calculating the funding target and other items for valuation
The DOL has proposed a new safe harbor for the use of electronic media to furnish information to participants and beneficiaries of ERISA plans. The proposal would allow plan administrators who meet certain conditions to provide participants and beneficiaries with a notice that certain disclosures will be made available on a website. Individuals who prefer
The Mortality Improvement Scale (Scale MP-2019) that accompanies the Society of Actuaries (SOA) most recent Mortality Table (RP-2014) was updated in October 2019. In addition, the SOA released a new base mortality table, Pri-2012. The Pri-2012 table will generally replace the RP-2006 base mortality rates in use since 2014. Scale MP-2019 reflects historical U.S. population
The Internal Revenue Service announced that employees in 401(k) plans will be able to contribute up to $19,500 next year. The IRS announced this contribution limit and other changes in Notice 2019-59, posted on IRS.gov. This guidance provides cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year