Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog

The View from Proskauer on Developments in the World of Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & ERISA Litigation

Category Archives: 403(b) Plans

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SECURE 2.0 Opens the Door on Retirement Match Based on Student Loan Payments

The grab bag of retirement provisions in the SECURE 2.0 legislation that was enacted at the end of 2022 included an expansion of the ability for a section 401(k) or 403(b) plan, or a governmental section 457(b) plan, to provide matching contributions on participants’ student loan payments.  Effective for plan years starting after December 31, … Continue Reading

SECURE 2.0 Brings Significant Changes for 403(b) Plans

As part of our continuing series on SECURE 2.0, signed into law December 29, 2022, this post focuses on significant changes for section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”).  403(b) plans are similar to 401(a) tax-qualified defined contribution plans but sponsored by public schools or non-profit entities and subject to unique requirements under the Internal … Continue Reading

SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 Arrives: (Another) Landmark Retirement Package

The wait is over for SECURE 2.0, a long-awaited (and debated) package of retirement plan reforms.  Today, Congress passed the “SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022” as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act; President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law soon. The bill text may be viewed here, and the Senate Finance … Continue Reading

IRS Opens Determination Letter Program to Individually Designed 403(b) Plans

On October 21st, the IRS announced changes to its qualified plan determination letter program. Most notably, the program has been expanded to include section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”). Although 403(b) plans are similar to tax-qualified defined contribution plans (“401(a) plans”), they are subject to unique rules, and, until now, the IRS has not … Continue Reading

A Conjunction is Worth Thousands of Dollars: Recent Case Highlights Significance of “And” vs. “Or”

You do not need a Lexis or Westlaw subscription to know that major cases and significant judgments have sometimes hinged on the meaning of a single word, or the placement of a single Oxford comma. We have a recent case to add to the list: Weinberg v. Waystar, Inc., et al., which was an executive … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Rejects Arbitration for Proposed Fiduciary Breach Class Action

The Sixth Circuit, in a matter of first impression for that Circuit, held an arbitration clause contained in an individual employment agreement did not apply to ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought on behalf of a defined contribution plan.  The case is Hawkins et al. v. Cintas Corp., No. 21-2156, __ F.4th __, 2022 WL 1236954 … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Revives Second Excessive Fee 401(k) Plan Litigation

On Friday, for the second week in a row, the Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a 401(k) plan excessive fee litigation challenging the offering of retail share classes of mutual funds instead of cheaper institutional share classes.  As with its decision reviving the other 401(k) plan litigation (discussed in detail here), the Ninth Circuit declined … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Revives Fee Challenge to Salesforce.com 401(k) Plan

On Friday, the Ninth Circuit became the first circuit court to rule in a 401(k) plan fee and investment litigation following the Supreme Court’s January 2022 decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, 142 S. Ct. 737 (2022).  In Davis v. Salesforce.com, Inc., No. 21-15867 (9th Cir. Apr. 8, 2022), the Ninth Circuit, without discussing Hughes, … Continue Reading

[Podcast]: Key ERISA Fee and Investment Litigation Developments and the Impact of Hughes v. Northwestern University

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Myron D. Rumeld, partner and co-chair of Proskauer’s ERISA Litigation group and senior associate Tulio D. Chirinos, review the current state of affairs with respect to the litigation challenging the fees charged and investments offered in defined contribution plans; and The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hughes v. Northwestern … Continue Reading

District Court Enforces 403(b) Plan Arbitration Clause With Class Action Waiver But Allows For Plan-Wide Non-Monetary Relief

A federal district court in Florida sent a proposed ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class action to individual arbitration on the basis of a plan arbitration clause that allowed for individual relief and plan-wide injunctive relief.  The case is Holmes v. Baptist Health South Florida, Inc., No. 21-cv-22986, 2022 WL 180638 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 20, … Continue Reading

The Supreme Court Declines to Establish Pleading Standard for Defined Contribution Plan Excessive Fee Litigation

To the disappointment of many in the ERISA community, the Supreme Court issued a six-page opinion on January 24th that declined to opine on most of the issues that were before the Court in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401 (U.S. Jan. 24, 2022). In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Sotomayor, in which Justice … Continue Reading

Tenth Circuit Addresses Damages for Excessive Recordkeeping Fee Claims

One of the multitude of recent cases challenging the recordkeeping fees of 401(k) plans recently made its way to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Ramos v. Banner Health, No. 20-1231, — F.3d —- (10th Cir. June 11, 2021).  Following a bench trial that resulted in a determination that the fiduciaries of Banner Health’s 401(k) … Continue Reading

SEC Cracks Down on Retirement Fund Advisers’ Undisclosed Compensation and Conflicts

In August 2020, the SEC issued two orders against VALIC Financial Advisors Inc. (VFA) related to VFA’s management of 403(b) and 457(b) plans. These matters arise out of two of the SEC’s enforcement initiatives, the Teachers and Military Service Members’ Initiative and the Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative. VFA is a registered investment adviser and broker-dealer with approximately $21.1 billion … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of 403(b) Plan Lawsuit Against Northwestern University in Apparent Split with Third Circuit

Since the beginning of 2016, the ERISA plaintiffs’ bar has filed nearly two dozen complaints targeting university-sponsored 403(b) plans.  The majority of these lawsuits assert that plan fiduciaries breached their duties and engaged in prohibited transactions by (1) “packing” a plan with too many investment options that underperformed and were more expensive relative to other … Continue Reading

D.C. Circuit Rules that ERISA Plan Participant’s Release Extends to Fiduciary Breach Claims On Behalf of The Plan

On March 24, 2020, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld a district court ruling that an ERISA plan participant’s broad release of claims includes breach of fiduciary duty claims against ERISA plan fiduciaries, notwithstanding the release’s carve-out for any “claims for vested benefits.”  The ruling extinguishes a participant’s class action claims under ERISA sections 502(a)(2) and … Continue Reading

Final Hardship Distribution Regulations, Part Three: New Disaster Relief and Expanded Sources Available for Hardship Distributions

The IRS recently released final regulations making a number of changes to the rules applicable to hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  Concluding our three-part series on the final regulations, this blog entry will focus on the following changes to the hardship distribution rules: (1) modifications to the list of safe harbor expenses that … Continue Reading

Final Hardship Distribution Regulations, Part Two: Implementation Considerations

As discussed in our prior blog entry, the IRS recently released final regulations making a number of significant changes to the rules applicable to hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  As part of our continuing series on these final regulations, this blog entry will focus on two specific issues: (1) the elimination of the … Continue Reading

Final Hardship Distribution Regulations, Part One: Key Changes and Deadlines for Plan Sponsors

Last week, the Department of Treasury and the IRS issued final regulations regarding hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  The final regulations respond to comments based on earlier proposed regulations and make a number of significant changes to the existing IRS rules that apply to hardship distributions. Given the detailed material in the regulatory … Continue Reading

Third Circuit Resuscitates Claims Against University 403(b) Plan Fiduciaries

Over the past several years, the ERISA plaintiffs’ bar has targeted university-sponsored 403(b) plans, arguing that the plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties and engaged in prohibited transactions in connection with offering certain investment options and the administrative fees associated with such plans. Among other things, they have argued that the plan fiduciaries offered too … Continue Reading

[Podcast]: Proposed IRS Regulations Affecting 401(k) and 403(b) Plans

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, Paul Hamburger co-chair of Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group, and associate Steven Einhorn discuss the recently proposed IRS regulations addressing the hardship withdrawal rules affecting 401(k) and 403(b) plans. We will discuss challenging questions employers and administrators face as they work through the new requirements, which … Continue Reading

IRS Announces Transition Relief From The Once-In-Always-In Requirement For Excluding Part-Time Employees Under 403(b) Plans

The IRS recently issued Notice 2018-95 to provide transition relief to 403(b) plans that erroneously excluded part-time employees from eligibility to make elective deferrals when the employees should have been eligible to participate under the “once-in-always-in” requirement (“OIAI”). Under the OIAI requirement, once an employee is eligible to make elective deferrals, the employee may not … Continue Reading

Treasury and IRS Issue Eagerly-Awaited Guidance on Hardship Distributions – with a Few Surprises

Last Friday, the IRS issued eagerly-awaited proposed regulations regarding hardship distributions under section 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Proposed Regulations”). The Proposed Regulations primarily address hardship distribution issues raised by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Budget Act”). (For our earlier blog entry summarizing these issues, click here.) At the same time, the Proposed … Continue Reading

The Budget Act Relaxes Hardship Withdrawal Rules, But Some Changes May Not Apply to 403(b) Plans

On Feb. 9, 2018, Congress passed, and the president signed, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Budget Act”). As we previously discussed here, the Budget Act contains a number of provisions that affect qualified retirement plans.  These changes include expanding the type of funds that can be distributed under Code Section 401(k) in the … Continue Reading
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