November 19, 2014 is the deadline for commenting on a request for information on the use of brokerage windows, self-directed brokerage accounts and similar features in 401(k)-type plans schedule for publication by the Department of Labor in tomorrow’s (August 21, 2014) Federal Register. An advanced copy of the RFI can be viewed here.
Some 401(k)-type plans offer participants access to brokerage windows in addition to, or in place of, specific investment options chosen by the employer or another plan fiduciary. These “window” arrangements can enable or require individual participants to choose for themselves from a broad range of investments. The department received a number of questions about brokerage windows after the publication of a final regulation on participant-level fee disclosure.
According to Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi, the Labor Department’s goal in issuing this RFI is to determine whether, and to what extent, regulatory standards or other guidance about the use of brokerage windows may be necessary to adequately protect participants’ retirement savings. To this end, the RFI asks questions on brokerage windows, including: the scope of investment options typically available through a window; demographic and other information about participants who commonly use brokerage windows; the process of selecting a brokerage window and provider for a plan; the costs of brokerage windows; and what kind of information about brokerage windows and underlying investment options typically is available and disclosed to participants.
Plan fiduciaries, sponsors, and service providers with plans offering these brokerage windows should act promptly to submit their input by the November 19, 2014 deadline.
For Advice, Training & Other Resources
If you need assistance monitoring these and other regulatory policy, enforcement, litigation or other developments, or to review or respond to these or other workforce, benefits and compensation, performance and risk management, compliance, enforcement or management concerns, the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer may be able to help.
Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law, Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Arrangements Group, Co-Chair and Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Welfare Plan Committee, Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Employee Benefit Plans Committee, an ABA Joint Committee On Employee Benefits Council representative, Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section, a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel, ABA, and State Bar of Texas, Ms. Stamer has more than 25 years’ experience advising health plan and employee benefit, insurance, financial services, employer and health industry clients about these and other matters. Ms. Stamer has extensive experience advising and assisting health plans and insurers about ACA, and a wide range of other plan design, administration, data security and privacy and other compliance risk management policies. Ms. Stamer also regularly represents clients and works with Congress and state legislatures, EBSA, IRS, EEOC, OCR and other HHS agencies, state insurance and other regulators, and others. She also publishes and speaks extensively on health and other employee benefit plan and insurance, staffing and human resources, compensation and benefits, technology, public policy, privacy, regulatory and public policy and other operations and risk management concerns. Her publications and insights appear in the Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, World At Work, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications.
You can review other recent human resources, employee benefits and internal controls publications and resources and additional information about the employment, employee benefits and other experience of the Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, PC here. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile www.cynthiastamer.com or by registering to participate in the distribution of these and other updates on our HR & Employee Benefits Update distributions here including:
- HHS Warns Insurers, TPAS Complete ACA Reinsurance & Risk Adjustment Edge Server Pre-Registration Steps By 9/27
- House Hearings Consider Authorizing House Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Obama’s Health Care Reform Actions
- Review & Update HR & Benefit Practices For DOL Proposed Change In FMLA Regs, Other Rules Treating Some Same-Sex Couples As Spouses
- Employee & Other Whistleblower Complaints Common Source of HIPAA Privacy & Other Complaints
- Consider Fiduciary & Other Risk Management When Planning For ACA Transitional Reinsurance Costs, Other Plan Design Changes
- HHS Claims Average $69/Month Cost for Subsidized Coverage Shows ACA Success Challenged
- HIPAA Compliance & Breach Data Shares Helpful Lessons For Health Plans, Providers and Business Associates
- Review & Update HR & Benefit Practices For DOL Proposed Change In FMLA Regs, Other Rules Treating Some Same-Sex Couples As Spouses
- Employee & Other Whistleblower Complaints Common Source of HIPAA Privacy & Other Complaints
- Consider Fiduciary & Other Risk Management When Planning For ACA Transitional Reinsurance Costs, Other Plan Design Changes
- HHS Claims Average $69/Month Cost for Subsidized Coverage Shows ACA Success Challenged
- HIPAA Compliance & Breach Data Shares Helpful Lessons For Health Plans, Providers and Business Associates
- Review & Update Health Plan Notices, Language & Process For New Guidance On COBRA, Other Key Health Plan Rules
- 6/17 Workshop Helps Businesses Get Ready for Latest Affordable Care Act Rollout
- EEOC Suit Against Pipe Fitting Business Shows Disability Discrimination Risks For Employers Hiring Vets With PTSD
- PBGC Publishes Multiemployer Plans Valuation and Notice Requirements Final Rule
- Post-Windsor Same-Sex Participant Guidance May Require Mid-Year Plan Amendments
- Arkansas Judge Finds Arkansas Same-Sex Marriage Bans Unconstitutional; State Asks For Stay Pending Appeal
- Businesses Employing Children Should Review & Tighten Practices In Light of Tightened Rules & Increased Penalties
- Encrypt Mobile Devices & Clean Up Management Documentation Key HIPAA Compliance Messages In New HIPAA Settlements
- New OCR Guidance Assigns More HIPAA Homework Health Plans, Providers, Business Associates and Employers
- Agencies Clarify Applicability of ACA Out-Of-Pocket Versus Deductible Cost Sharing Limitations
- Medicare Secondary Payer Mandatory Reporting Threshold Clarified
- Statistics, OSHA Lawsuit Against AT&T Operator & Other DOL Action Highlights Rising Retaliation Exposures
- Government Contractor SCA Violation Costs It $2M & 3 Year Government Contracts Disbarment
- Rules For Reporting ACA Health Insurance Provider Information Are Out
- IRS: Insurers Taxed On ACA Annual Fee Assessments Collected From Customers
- 2013 Cumulative List of Plan Plan Qualification Requirements Helpful Resource To Monitor Plan Updates
- IRS Gives Temporary Nondiscrimination Relief For Closed Defined Benefit Plans
- New IRS Guidance On Claiming Small Business Health Care Tax Credit When No SHOP Enrollment Option
- IRS Updates, Supplements Cafeteria Plan & HSA Post-Windsor Same-Sex Participant Guidance
- IRS Published Covered Compensation Table For 2014
- J.P. Morgan Chase Hit For $461M For Madoff-Related Bank Secrecy Act Violations
- Dermatology Practice To Pay $150K To Settle Charges It Breached HIPAA Breach Notice Rule
- Employer Faces $2M FLSA Lawsuit For Alleged Worker Misclassification
- Agencies Proposes To Treat Certain EAP, Dental and Vision Only Plans As ACA & HIPAA Excepted Benefits
- Businesses Performing Income, Payroll Tax Duties For Employers Confirm Compliance With Updated IRS Procedures
- IRS To Tax Health Insurers On Assessments To Cover ACA Section 9010 Annual Fee
- 2014 Standard Mileage Rates Announced
- Careful Selection & Contracting With Vendors Critical Part of Health Plan Renewals
- USI Advisors Will Pay $1.27 Million To Settle Charges It Violated ERISA Fee Disclosure Requirements
- Wal-Mart Settlement Shows ADA Risks When Considering Employee Return To Work Accommodation Requests & Inquiries
- Employer Pays $475,000 To Settle ADA Discrimination Lawsuit Challenging Medical Fitness Testing For EMTs, Firefighters & Other Public Safety Worker’s
- Employers & Plan Fiduciaries Reminded To Confirm Credentials & Bonding For Internal Staff, Plan Fiduciaries & Vendors Dealing With Benefits
- Federal Mandate That Employer Health Plans Must Cover 100% Of Contraceptive, Other Women’s Health Services With No Cost Sharing Now Effective
- Use NIH & Other Free Government Resources To Help Round Out Wellness Programs
- 12 Steps Every Employer With A Health Plan Should Do Now To Manage 2012-14 Health Plan Risks & Liabilities
- NLRB Moves To Promote Non-Union Employee Use of Collective Action Rights By Launching Webpage
- Making Wellness Work On A Shoestring Budget
- Tighten Defensibility of Criminal & Other Background Check Practices In Light of Labor Department Non-Discrimination Regulation & Enforcement Emphasis
If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information including your preferred e-mail by creating or updating your profile here. For important information about this communication click here.
NOTE: This article is provided for educational purposes. It is does not establish any attorney-client relationship nor provide or serve as a substitute for legal advice to any individual or organization. Readers must engage properly qualified legal counsel to secure legal advice about the rules discussed in light of specific circumstances.
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©2014 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Limited, non-exclusive right to republished granted to Solutions Law Press, Inc. All other rights reserved.
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