Roughly 6,800 American companies have an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. Recently Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi had some cautionary comments for those who have, and work... Read More
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Litigation
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/26/2014
A plan sponsor’s decision to eliminate an option to transfer DC account balances to a DB floor-offset plan didn't violate ERISA’s anti-cutback rules, according to a federal... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/23/2014
While there are plenty of cautionary tales about the way(s) in which you can unintentionally become a plan fiduciary, a recent court case highlights another potential trap for company... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/15/2014
With employer stock holding no longer “presumed” to be prudent, a federal appeals court has vacated the dismissal of a stock drop suit against Lehman Brothers, re-opening the case... Read More
BY Ray Harmon | 9/11/2014
At a recent event commemorating ERISA’s 40th anniversary, Phyllis C. Borzi, Assistant Secretary of the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), did not directly... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 9/9/2014
Advisors wanting to provide their insights to the Department of Labor on two topics — outsourcing employee benefit services and ways to facilitate lifetime plan participation — now... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/8/2014
A class action lawsuit brought by plan participants, a retiree and a plan fiduciary claims that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway broke a promise it made as part of an acquisition... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 8/20/2014
To sue or not to sue your employer over your 401(k) plan? That is the question that a Forbes guest columnist poses to plan participants, providing red flags that participants should look out... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 8/18/2014
With the ERISA fiduciary community still absorbing the impact of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the presumption of prudence standard for company stock in retirement plans, a federal... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 8/15/2014
Jerome Schlichter may be the most polarizing person in the DC industry. Some demonize his efforts to sue plan sponsors and service providers, opening what some view as a floodgate of lawsuits... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 8/13/2014
According to a study by Judy Diamond Associates that analyzed the performance of DC plans, micro plans, or those with less than 10 participants, fared better than larger plans. Using a rating... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 8/13/2014
A lawsuit against Fidelity by participants in their plan was just settled for $12 million plus certain relief provisions. The case, Bilewicz v. FMR, had claimed excessive fees were charged and... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 7/29/2014
Getting your clients, especially smaller plan sponsors, to pay attention to the litigation risks of DC plans can be hard, even in the wake of recent wins by plaintiffs. A recent article in CFO.com... Read More
BY John Ortman | 7/9/2014
Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC in Boston offers a concise summary of the meaning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer case. Rosenberg’s... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 6/26/2014
While there are already plenty of reasons why companies may not want to include their own stock in their ERISA plans, the U.S. Supreme Court just gave them another. A unanimous decision by the Court... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 6/5/2014
In a far-reaching PlanAdviser interview with 401(k) plaintiff’s attorney Jerome Schlichter, the focus was on plan fees and the duty that employers have in negotiating with third party vendors on... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 5/28/2014
Denying MassMutual’s motion for summary judgment in the long-running Golden Star v. MassMutual class action suit brought by similarly situated plan sponsors, a federal district court in Massachusetts... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 5/7/2014
What are the dangers of using the proprietary investments of a record keeper? Lawsuits. In fact, over the last decade or so, there have been 18 claims filed, including recent ones filed against... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 4/15/2014
Another lawsuit involving alleged excessive fees and improper receipt of revenue sharing has been settled, pending approval by the federal district court that heard the case, FRA PlanTools reports.... Read More
BY Jenny Kiffmeyer, JD | 4/4/2014
The ERISA Advisory Council, the entity that advises the Secretary of Labor on issues of concern with respect to employee benefit plans, voted at its March 26, 2014, meeting to focus on three key... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 4/3/2014
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 2 in the Fifth Third Bank stock drop case. The heart of the issue is the duty of plan fiduciaries when managing company stock as a plan investment on... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 4/2/2014
Are plan fiduciaries which offer funds with a wide range of fees immune from excessive fee lawsuits? Until the recent 8th Circuit opinion in Tussey v. ABB, the answer seemed to be yes, as evidenced... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 3/31/2014
New York Times business columnist Gretchen Morgenson gave a shout out March 30 to attorney Jerome Schlichter for his work in lowering 401(k) plan fees. Over the past eight years, Schlichter’s... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 3/26/2014
Judging by his State of the Union address, retirement issues are front and center for President Obama. Increasingly, state governments are following suit, with at least 16 of them now considering... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 3/20/2014
In a decision that exonerates Fidelity from liability, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld parts of a lower court’s ruling in Tussey v. ABB but reversed other parts — including the $13.5... Read More
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