ML BeneBits

EXAMINING A RANGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
The US Department of Labor (DOL) published in the September 18 Federal Register its Interim Final Rule (Rule) to implement “lifetime income illustrations,” which must be provided to defined contribution plan participants pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act).
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) published a final rule (Final Rule) on September 9 providing that effective January 1, 2021, it will use the interest and mortality assumptions under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 417(e)(3) when determining de minimis lump sum benefits for single-employer defined benefit plans undergoing distress or involuntary terminations. The Final Rule does not apply to multiemployer plans.
Keeping up the steady stream of new and proposed guidance coming from the US Department of Labor (DOL), the Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a proposed regulation on September 4, 2020 that would require significant changes in how ERISA fiduciaries consider and approach proxy voting and the exercise of other shareholder rights.
On August 18, the US Department of Labor issued an Interim Final Rule regarding the parameters and disclosures required to implement “lifetime income illustrations,” which must be provided to defined contribution plan participants pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act).
For our clients, we have formed a multidisciplinary Coronavirus COVID-19 Task Force to help guide you through the broad scope of legal issues brought on by this public health challenge. Find resources on how to cope with the post-pandemic reality on our NOW. NORMAL. NEXT. page and our COVID-19 page to help keep you on top of developments as they unfold.
Congratulations to Morgan Lewis partner Handy Hevener, who has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Law Journal as part of its 2020 New York Legal Awards.
IRS Notice 2020-51, released last week, provides additional guidance on the waiver in 2020 of required minimum distributions (RMDs) from defined contribution retirement plans and IRAs, and the interaction of this waiver with Section 114 of the SECURE Act. The SECURE Act changed the required beginning date for an employee or IRA owner to begin taking required minimum distributions to April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the individual attains age 72 (rather than April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the individual attains age 70½), for individuals who attain age 70½ after December 31, 2019.
IRS Notice 2020-52 provides welcome relief to plan sponsors considering suspending safe harbor matching contributions or safe harbor nonelective contributions (or who already suspended safe harbor contributions during 2020) in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Under IRS Notice 2020-50, employers sponsoring nonqualified deferred compensation plans (NQCD plans) may now allow employees to suspend their deferral elections without having to determine whether the employee has had an unforeseeable emergency for purposes of Section 409A or otherwise qualifies for a hardship under Section 401(k) if the employee received a coronavirus-related distribution from an eligible retirement plan.
The IRS has again extended the due dates for certain returns and payments because of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.