Marianne R. Yudes

Associate

Marianne R. Yudes is an associate in Morgan Lewis's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice. Ms. Yudes's practice encompasses all areas of employee benefits law and executive compensation, with a particular focus on vendor practice; 403(b), IRA, and other master/prototype products; pension/welfare and other plan investments and services; and fiduciary compliance.

Ms. Yudes advises a wide array of leading vendors of financial products and services regarding emerging legal issues and key industry concerns pertaining to retirement plan products and services, such as the investment of plan assets, revenue sharing, retention of float, fee rebate and disclosure issues, delivering participant investment advice, compliance with ERISA section 404(c), and electronic delivery.

She provides support services to financial institutions for 403(b) plan, traditional/Roth IRA, and other "retail" products, such as SEPs, SIMPLEs, and CESAs, including preparation and maintenance of account applications and agreements, disclosure statements, and other account documentation; obtaining nonbank custodial approvals; coordinating the acquisition, merger, and transfer of custodians; and navigating complex reporting and filing issues, transfer agency and customer service issues, investments in alternative vehicles, and prohibited transaction issues.

She drafts and negotiates agreements in connection with single- and multiemployer plan investments, including investment management and agreements for investment-related services, such as trust, transition management, securities lending, commission recapture, directed brokerage, trust and custody services, and third-party administration.

She provides analysis and advice to plan sponsors as to fiduciary structure and committee membership, appropriate delegation of authority and oversight responsibilities, and other fiduciary "best practices." She also provides guidance and educational seminars as to ERISA fiduciary duties and responsibilities, prohibited transaction exemptions and corrections, the provision of investment advice and participant education, the payment of plan expenses, and reporting and disclosure requirements.

Ms. Yudes also assists clients with benefits issues arising in the context of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other corporate restructurings. These issues range from pre-transaction assessment of benefits liabilities to post-transaction integration of benefits.

Ms. Yudes received her J.D. from Widener University School of Law and her B.A. in fine arts from the University of Delaware.

Ms. Yudes is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.