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.
ML BeneBits
EXAMINING A RANGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
We repeatedly warned over the past few months (here, here, and here), that officials at the highest levels of the DOL were signaling that the DOL would begin an audit initiative focusing on retirement plan cybersecurity practices. Despite plan fiduciaries having had just a handful of weeks to digest the DOL’s only actionable guidance on cybersecurity and privacy matters, the wait is over. We can confirm that the DOL has begun issuing information and document requests under this new initiative, and the requests are probing and indicate serious inquiry by the DOL.
In a somewhat expected development, the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued an enforcement statement on Wednesday announcing that it will not enforce the recently published final rules on “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments”—commonly known as the ESG Rule—and “Fiduciary Duties Regarding Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights” (Proxy Voting Rule).