Resources

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has removed the Biden-era 2024 final rule, “Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary,” from the Code of Federal Regulations, responding to final judgments entered in the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas vacating the rule.

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 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 Office of Management and Budget has received a proposed rule from the Department of Labor (DOL) titled "Requirement to Provide Paper Statements in Certain Cases-Amendments to Electronic Disclosure Safe Harbors”, pursuant to the requirements of the SECURE 2.0 Act.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued Advisory Opinion 2025-04A, addressing how a lifetime income investment may satisfy the requirements to be a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) in a defined contribution plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released guidance and a public request for information (RFI) titled “Pooled Employer Plans: Big Plans for Small Businesses”.

The Department of Labor (DOL) filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in a case (Hutchins v. HP Inc.) that claimed the employer breached its fiduciary duty to the plan by electing to use forfeitures to fund mandatory employer contributions rather than offset administrative expenses borne by participants. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the claims, and a petition for appeal was filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Announcement 2025-2, delaying the anticipated applicability date for future final regulations relating to required minimum distributions (RMDs) under section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Office of Management and Budget has received a final rule from the Department of Labor (DOL) titled “Adoption of Amended and Restated Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program”. The Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) is a voluntary enforcement program that allows plan officials to identify and correct certain transactions, such as delinquent participant contributions, sales and exchanges, improper loans, and improper plan expenses. The VFCP was last updated in 2006. A proposed amendment was released in 2022.