Keeping up the steady stream of new and proposed guidance coming from the US Department of Labor (DOL), the Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a proposed regulation on September 4, 2020 that would require significant changes in how ERISA fiduciaries consider and approach proxy voting and the exercise of other shareholder rights.
ML BeneBits
EXAMINING A RANGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations continue to gain traction with investors, asset managers are confronted with varying levels of regulation that they must balance with the wide array of ESG demands being made by investors. Our global investment funds team has prepared a White Paper as a regulatory framework to navigate such considerations across the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
This Lexis Practice Advisor article, authored by Morgan Lewis partners Cosimo Zavaglia and Mary “Handy” Hevener and of counsel Justin Cupples, discusses the tax implications of employee stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
On August 18, the US Department of Labor issued an Interim Final Rule regarding the parameters and disclosures required to implement “lifetime income illustrations,” which must be provided to defined contribution plan participants pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act).
Amid the current climate of individuals engaging in protests for racial justice and other causes, some employers are looking for ways to help employees arrested in connection with exercising their first amendment rights to speech and assembly.
The IRS issued proposed regulations and new frequently asked questions regarding the extension of the normal 60-day rollover period to roll over a qualified plan loan offset (QPLO), which was provided for under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). While the proposed regulations will primarily affect the recordkeepers of qualified plans (which will need to administer the extension), plan sponsors should be aware of the proposed regulations and discuss compliance with their recordkeepers and other paying agents for their qualified retirement plans that allow loans.
For our clients, we have formed a multidisciplinary Coronavirus COVID-19 Task Force to help guide you through the broad scope of legal issues brought on by this public health challenge. Find resources on how to cope with the post-pandemic reality on our NOW. NORMAL. NEXT. page and our COVID-19 page to help keep you on top of developments as they unfold.
Congratulations to Morgan Lewis partner Handy Hevener, who has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Law Journal as part of its 2020 New York Legal Awards.
IRS Notice 2020-51, released last week, provides additional guidance on the waiver in 2020 of required minimum distributions (RMDs) from defined contribution retirement plans and IRAs, and the interaction of this waiver with Section 114 of the SECURE Act. The SECURE Act changed the required beginning date for an employee or IRA owner to begin taking required minimum distributions to April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the individual attains age 72 (rather than April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the individual attains age 70½), for individuals who attain age 70½ after December 31, 2019.
IRS Notice 2020-52 provides welcome relief to plan sponsors considering suspending safe harbor matching contributions or safe harbor nonelective contributions (or who already suspended safe harbor contributions during 2020) in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.