The Department of Labor (DOL) released on October 13, 2021, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights (Proposed Rule), which would amend a prior regulation (the 2020 Rule). This blog post provides a high-level summary of the Proposed Rule and outlines how it may affect environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing for ERISA plans.
ML BeneBits
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
For sponsors of individually designed qualified retirement plans, now is a good time to begin thinking about year-end requirements and preparing for changes in the new year. Read our recent LawFlash to learn more about items for consideration as plan sponsors head toward the end of 2021 and the start of 2022.
As we described in our August 31, 2020 LawFlash, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Interim Final Rule (Rule) on August 18, 2020 outlining the requirement of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) for employers to provide “lifetime income illustrations” to defined contribution plan (e.g. 401(k), 403(b), etc.) participants. The purpose of the Rule is to provide participants with disclosures that will help them understand how their defined contribution plan accounts may translate into an income stream in retirement.
The IRS issued Notice 2021-40 (the Notice) on June 24 that provides a 12-month extension (until June 30, 2022) of the temporary relief from the requirement that certain retirement plan elections be witnessed – in person – by a plan representative or a notary public. The IRS originally issued this temporary relief in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown with such relief extending through the end of 2020. The IRS then extended the temporary relief through June 30, 2021. The Notice again extends this temporary relief through June 30, 2022.