Recent Articles

The 403(b) SPARK Standard Is Not a DOL Disclosure Solution

March 15, 2012 15:56

The 403(b) regulations replaced the "contract exchange" rules under Revenue Ruling 90-24 (which allowed the tax free transfer of 403(b) contracts between different vendors, including that of different plans, as long as certain, minimal conditions were met) with a new scheme of exchanges...

ERISA Traps Related to "Retail" Annuities Purchased by 401(k) Plans

March 08, 2012 19:25

With the current attention being paid to annuities by the recent activity of Treasury, those plan sponsors and their advisors who may be interested in annuities in their 401(k) plans may also be tempted to take a close look at the wide array of annuities that are available for the IRA and...

The Party-In-Interest Threshold to the "Edges" of 408(b)(2)

March 03, 2012 14:20

If plan assets are used to purchase a typewriter at Office Depot for the exclusive use by the plan in its administration by the plan sponsor (and the plan sponsor is not Office Depot, an affiliate, or its not a plan also covering Office Depot's employees), the purchase is merely a direct expense of...

How DC Annuitization Works; Using the QLAC

February 25, 2012 15:40

I have spent much of my career studying and practicing in the law of annuities as it applies to retirement plans-starting even prior to my long stint with an insurance holding company, when the Master Trust of the Fortune 100 company for which I was in-house ERISA counsel formulated its own...

Treasury and IRS Successfully Lay the Base For Lifetime Income: The "2012-3 Annuity" and The QLAC

February 07, 2012 02:12

Treasury nailed it (or, as our eldest son is fond of saying, they just "friggin’" nailed it). With just a relatively short regulation and a Revenue Ruling, Treasury simply and in a very straightforward way laid out the definitive structure for defined contribution plans (like 401(k)...

Important 408(b)(2) Relief for 403(b) Plans

February 02, 2012 14:51

The DOL continues with its sensitivity to the challenges created for 403(b) plan sponsors in the transition to an employer accountable world. In today's release of the final 408(b)(2) regs, the DOL provided tremendously needed relief for 403(b)plans. The language from the preamble speaks for...

The Making of the 403(b) Model Disclosure Form

February 01, 2012 22:41

The successful chair of a committee serves the committee, the committee does not serve the chair. And so it was with the creation of the just-released "best practices" 403(b) Model Disclosure, which was developed jointly by NEA, ASBO, NTSAA and ASPPA. I was fortunate enough, and honored,...

Minutiae's Triumph: The Striking Impact of Transparency, the Prohibited Transaction Rules and the Exclusive Benefit Rule

January 27, 2012 15:01

Freedom and liberty are not merely themes sounded by politicians in political campaigns, or in rousing marches by military bands (though I am personally  particularly fond of them!), nor are they ideas which you will typically see being discussed in a piece about retirement issues. But they...

408(b)(2) and the 401(k) Group Annuity/Insurance Company General Account, in More Detail

January 23, 2012 16:52

 A while back, I did a piece on the manner in which the 408(b)(2) regs applied to the variable investment accounts under a group annuity contract held by a retirement plan, in particular, 401(k)plans; and a "light" piece on its application to general account products. In that I hear...

Representing The Financial Service Company's Retirement Business and SEC's "Reporting Up" Requirement Under SOX Section 307/SEC Part 205: The Lesson of BNYMellon

January 09, 2012 18:14

Retirement plan lawyers, both in house and outside counsel, may well want to take note of Bank of New York Mellon's recently reported troubles related to potentially widespread  and fraudulent use of unfair currency exchange rates in their dealings with unsuspecting state and local pension...