Following up on our recent blog post, SECURE 2.0’s Required Changes to Annual Funding Notice Become Effective in 2025, the Department of Labor released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02 on April 3, which addresses compliance questions regarding the required changes to AFNs under SECURE 2.0 and includes two updated model AFNs incorporating these changes.[1]
Retirement Plans
New “Self-Correction” Option for Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Starts March 17, 2025
By Jesse T. Foley & Seth Safra on
Starting March 17, 2025, the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (“VFCP”) will have a “self-correction” option. Although the new option eliminates the need to wait for formal approval of a correction submission, participating fiduciaries will still need to satisfy a notice requirement and submit information to the Department of Labor. The applicable…
Eleventh Circuit Confirms Foreign Tax Credits Owned by Insurance Company Not “Plan Assets” of 401(k) Plan Under ERISA
By Martin T. Hamilton, Adam Scoll & Jesse T. Foley on
In late October 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in Romano v. Hancock Life Insurance Company, F.4th 729 (11th Cir. 2024) that certain foreign tax credits that were generated as a result of 401(k) plan investments in separate accounts owned by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (“JHLIC”) were…
SECURE 2.0’s Required Changes to Annual Funding Notices Become Effective in 2025
By Justin Alex & Alex Scharr on
SECURE 2.0 introduced many changes for retirement plans, including updated disclosure requirements for a defined benefit plan’s annual funding notice (AFN). These updated AFN disclosure requirements apply for all plan years beginning after December 31, 2023. For calendar-year defined benefit plans, the first AFNs subject to the revised requirements will be due by April 30…