Regulations/Legal
The Garden States joins two other 'blue states,' California and Oregon, in sponsoring a portable workplace savings plan for workers without access to a plan. The IRAs will offer...
‘Auto-Portability’ Gets Closer to Reality
After five years of pitching their idea for automatically moving assets from one 401(k) plan to the next when a worker changes jobs, Retirement Clearinghouse this week received the...
Ohio National Sued for Compensation Breach
So far in November, three variable annuity sellers, including Commonwealth Financial, have filed federal class action lawsuits against Ohio National Life, which this fall left the annuity business and...
SEC fines Citibank $38m for mishandling ADRs
Citibank improperly pre-released ADRs to brokers in thousands of transactions, the SEC found, when neither the broker nor its customers had enough foreign shares. This led to inappropriate short selling...
New Bedfellows: Richard Neal and the 401(k) Industry
As the next Ways & Means chairman, the liberal Massachusetts congressman won't just be the gatekeeper of retirement legislation. He’s also the only legislator who can ask for President...
SEC proposes the use of shorter prospectuses for variable annuities
The Commission has requested public comment until February 15, 2019, on the proposed rule changes, as well as on hypothetical summary prospectus samples that it has published.
House Passes Family Savings Act of 2018
This bill could open a path to great changes in retirement plans. The Senate may take action on it during the lame-duck session, a new bulletin from Wagner Law...
DOL issues regulations regarding multiple employer pension plans
The proposal doesn't address 'open MEPs' that would allow retirement plan providers to sponsor plans. It establishes seven requirements for groups or associations that want to co-sponsor a plan...
Regulation, Kavanaugh, Trump & the Indexing of Capital Gains
'Presidents and political parties favor regulation mainly when it when it advances their own agenda, regardless of the number of pages it adds to the Federal Register,' writes our...
Public Reactions to SEC ‘Best Interest’ Proposal
A survey sponsored by AARP, the Consumer Federation of America, and the Financial Planning Coalition shows that most people are at best confused by the language of the SEC's...
Merrill Lynch may bring back commissions on sales to IRA clients
The firm has launched a 60-day review of its individual retirement account policies and will consider keeping, relaxing or rolling them back, a source told Reuters.
Honorable Mention
A.M. Best sees private equity firms dominating life/annuity M&A; Merrill Lynch penalized for deceiving customers on RMBS sales; MetLife and Brighthouse may release up to $116 million to owners...
Five senators want the fiduciary rule to return from ‘vacation’
'If the Department does not appeal the Fifth Circuit’s decision, or it is not overturned on appeal, what will the Department do in the future to protect retirement savers...
For advisors, DOL enforcement holiday still in effect
'The Field Assistance Bulletin is somewhat difficult to understand,' said the pension attorneys at Wagner Law Group in a public memo about the DOL's announcement. ...
Fiduciary rule litigation isn’t over
AARP wants the entire panel of Fifth Circuit judges to review the ruling by the three-judge panel, which ruled 2 to 1 against the DOL fiduciary rule.
Donald Trump’s $15,000-a-year Social Security Bonus
Where to begin reforming Social Security? Our guest columnist would start by eliminating the late-life fatherhood benefit that favors the president and others.
‘Peeps’ Try to Peck Through a Pension Shell
A Pennsylvania maker of colored marshmallow ‘chicks’ wants to be the first company in a ‘closed MEP’ pension plan to stay in the plan but put all new hires...
‘Excessive fee’ case against Yale to continue
Yale is among more than a dozen universities to be sued over the past 30 months for allegedly failing to reduce the costs of their 401(k) plans and...
Hold the Parade
Annuity industry advocates say that this week's Fifth District Court of Appeals ruling has nullified the DOL fiduciary rule. Others disagree. I question Judge Jones' understanding of how the...
What the Divergent DOL Rulings Mean: Wagner
'Even though there is not a clear conflict among the Circuits, this case will likely be heard by the Supreme Court,' said ERISA attorney Marcia Wagner after judges in...