As a firm which specializes in the audits of employee benefit plans, we continually monitor accounting, regulatory and current events which may impact plans. As a member of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center (EBPAQC), we recently attended the May 2021 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) annual Employee Benefit Plans Conference. Read
The DOL has issued its fiscal year (FY) 2020 enforcement fact sheet, highlighting the recovery of over $3.1 billion in direct payments to plans, participants, and beneficiaries. The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has oversight responsibility over nearly 722,000 retirement plans, 2.5 million health plans, and a similar number of other welfare benefit plans.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration recently posted new guidance on Missing Participants including: Missing Participants – Best Practices for Pension Plans; Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-01, Temporary Enforcement Policy Regarding the Participation of Terminating Defined Contribution Plans in the PBGC Missing Participants Program; and Compliance Assistance Release No. Read More
On August 18, 2020,the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced an interim final rule that will help workers determine their ability to retire by allowing them to estimate how their current savings in a 401(k)-type plan might translate into lifetime monthly payments. Read More
The DOL Employee Benefit Plan Security Administration (EBSA) issued Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01; Guidance and Relief for Employee Benefit Plans Due to the COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) Outbreak which extends the deadlines for furnishing certain required notices or disclosures to plan participants, beneficiaries, and other persons so that plan fiduciaries and plan sponsors have additional time
As expected, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule for a new, additional safe harbor for employee benefit plan administrators to use electronic media, as a default, to furnish information to participants and beneficiaries of plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Read More