Industry & Regulatory News

The Senate has confirmed Daniel Aronowitz as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) as part of a slate of nominees by a 51 to 47 vote. Mr. Aronowitz was nominated by President Trump on February 11, 2025.

The IRS has released a draft 2026 Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions.

Effective September 17, 2025, the prime interest rate decreased to 7.25 percent. The prime interest rate is largely determined by the federal funds rate, as set by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

The House Education and Workforce Committee has advanced several retirement bills following a markup. According to a press release, the following proposals were passed by the committee.

• H.R. 2958, the “Balancing the Scales Act” sponsored by Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH).
• H.R. 2869, the “EBSA Investigations Transparency Act”, sponsored by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI).
• H.R. 5169, the “Retire through Ownership Act”, authored by Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA).

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2025-19 which contains the applicable federal rates (AFR) for October 2025.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Notice 2025-47, which contains updated guidance on factors used in certain defined benefit (DB) pension plan minimum funding and present value calculations.

Representatives Ron Estes (R-KS), and Seth Magaziner (D-RI), have introduced H.R. 5325, the Unclaimed Retirement Rescue Plan to direct the Department of Labor to issue regulations allowing transfers of unclaimed retirement distributions to state unclaimed property funds.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations providing guidance for employers regarding new provisions on catch-up contributions as permitted by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued Major Disaster Declarations on September 11, 2025, for six disasters throughout the United States.

The Internal Revenue Service has released an updated 2025 tax year draft Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return. The form is used to, among other items, report unrelated business taxable income (UBTI), figure and report unrelated business income tax liability, and request a credit for certain federal excise taxes paid or for small employer health insurance premiums paid.