DOL

The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2026-01, a memorandum to EBSA staff from Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz providing guiding principles for EBSA's enforcement priorities. The guidance notes that these priorities and principles are designed to ensure that EBSA’s enforcement is fair, even-handed, responsive, and focused.

The Department of Labor announced that it has issued Technical Release 2026-01, guidance reaffirming that proxy advisors that regularly engage in exercising control over shareholder rights attributable to ERISA plan assets, or provide advice for a fee about how ERISA plans should exercise proxy voting rights, must meet ERISA’s functional fiduciary requirements. The guidance follows an executive order, Protecting American Investors from Foreign-Owned and Politically-Motivated Proxy Advisors issued in December by President Trump spotlighting two large foreign-owned proxy advisors.

The Department of Labor has released a proposed rule, “Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives”. According to a news release, the rule explains the steps that managers of 401(k) plans should take when considering alternative assets as a component in their investment lineups and establishes a set of process-based safe harbors for plan fiduciaries to use when selecting designated investment alternatives. The proposal follows President Trump’s Executive Order, “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors".

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule amending the electronic delivery regulations for certain retirement plan documents to align with new requirements established under the SECURE 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0). The proposal updates—rather than replaces—the 2002 and 2020 safe harbors, preserving electronic delivery as the default for most plan disclosures while adding new conditions for when certain paper benefit statements are required.

Representatives Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and Don Norcross (D-NJ) have introduced H.R. 7362, the Form 5500 Simplification Act. The Form 5500 is used to provide information to the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a proposed rule intending to update the requirements for employers to determine employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This determination is critical to assessing whether a worker is eligible to participate in—or sponsor—a retirement plan.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a proposed rule making amendments to electronic disclosure safe harbors pursuant to the implementation of Section 338 of SECURE 2.0. SECURE 2.0 requires that employers provide retirement plan benefit statements in paper form once annually for defined contribution plans and once every three years for defined benefit plans.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted a proposed rule titled Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Investment Alternative to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The rulemaking follows an Executive Order Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors issued on August 7, 2025. 

The Department of Labor (DOL) has modified the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Correction (DFVC) Program to further facilitate and encourage voluntary compliance with ERISA’s reporting requirements. The types of entities eligible for the program has been expanded to include multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) and Entities Claiming Exception (ECEs) seeking to file a late Form M-1.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have released Notice 2025-68 (the Notice), containing initial guidance and a request for comments on the implementation of Trump accounts under IRC Section 530A. The Notice also specifies that the agencies intend to issue regulations at a later date. A press release notes that the Notice provides a general overview of how Trump Accounts work and addresses certain initial questions about creating initial and rollover Trump Accounts. An Ascensus Washington Pulse previously provided details of these accounts.