ERISA Enforcement and Compliance: A 2013 Perspective
Overview:
The Department of Labor has stepped up its ERISA enforcement activity and it’s a sure bet more is on the way. To avoid hefty fines and penalties, plan administrators must always be ahead of the curve by having advanced planning for effective processes and procedures in place to ensure they are in compliance with this powerful federal law.
A panel of thought leaders assembled by the Knowledge Group will discuss the significant topics relating to ERISA enforcement and compliance from a 360 degree perspective providing attendees with a best practices guide to help avoid the many pitfalls. ERISA Enforcement and Compliance: A 2013 Perspective LIVE Webcast is a must attend live webcast for plan administrators and plan participants and other interested professionals.
Agenda:
Michelle Capezza, Member,
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
- Understanding Plan fiduciary responsibilities: ERISA imposes important duties on plan fiduciaries. Understanding these responsibilities and ensuring that proper plan governance is in place is key to meeting these high standards of conduct, responding to Department of Labor enforcement activities and potential claims.
- Department of Labor Enforcement Priorities: We will explore the typical ERISA violations that the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration looks for in audits and investigations of retirement and health and welfare plans and their recent enforcement initiatives
- We will explore certain factors that prompt Department of Labor audits an
Curtis L. Fisher, Member,
Bass, Berry & Sims
** Speaker Talking Points to be added soon.. **
Alison V. Douglass, Partner,
Goodwin Procter LLP
- DOL enforcement initiatives concerning plan service providers and plan
- 408(b)(2) regulations: disclosure from service providers to plan fiduc
- Prohibited transaction rules and reasonable compensation req
- Objectives and requirements of the new regulation
- Disclosures that plans are now receiving and fiduciary obligations in connection with those disclosures
- Recent DOL guidance re: revenue sharing
- DOL focus on fees and disclosure in investigations and enforcement ac
- How the issue comes up for plan sponsors
- Investigations of providers and unique issues facing service providers involved in DOL audits and investigations (scope of inquiry, producing documents r
- DOL’s Fiduciary Service Provider Compensation Project
- Other enforcement initiatives/objectives (revenue sharing)
Todd D. Wozniak, Shareholder ,
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- The DOL’s ESOP project, together with its anticipated re-proposal of a regulation defining “fiduciary,” is expected to lead to increased scrutiny and costs of administration for ESOP plans as valuation firms and other service providers will either cease providing services to ESOPs or seek to pass along increased costs and risks associated with being deemed a fiduciary.
- Plan sponsors facing financial difficulty are sometimes challenged to timely remit employee contributions to pension or welfare plans. The DOL is increasingly seeking civil and criminal penalties against such plan sponsors, owners, and plan fiduciaries.
- The DOL’s fee disclosure rules, together with its fiduciary service provider compensation project and private plaintiff litigation, requires fiduciaries of plans of all sizes to benchmark the fees being charged and actively negotiate the fees.
- The DOL’s anticipated re-proposal of a regulation defining “fiduciary” will lead to many more service providers being deemed fiduciaries, more risk and exposure for such service providers, and increased expenses associated with such services.
Who Should Attend:
– Plan Sponsors, Fiduciaries and Participants
– Retirement Plan Practicing Lawyers
– Employee Benefits & Compensation Lawyers and Consultants
– Payroll and Benefits Administrators
– Human Resource & Benefits Personnel
– Retirement Plan Financial Professionals
– Retirement Plan Sponsors
– Financial Advisers
– Public Companies
– Private Companies
– And anyone involved in Retirement Plan Administration
MICHELLE CAPEZZA is a Member of the Firm in the Employee Benefits and Health Care and Life Sciences practices, in …
Curtis is a Member in Bass, Berry & Sims’ Employee Benefits/ERISA Practice. In the course of his practice, Curtis routinely …
Alison Douglass is a litigation partner in Goodwin Procter’s Boston, Massachusetts office. Alison concentrates her practice on complex business litigation …
Todd Wozniak is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on the defense of complex ERISA and employee benefits litigation …
Course Level:
Intermediate
Advance Preparation:
Print and review course materials
Method of Presentation:
On-demand Webcast (CLE)
Prerequisite:
NONE
Course Code:
134444
NASBA Field of Study:
Personnel/HR
NY Category of CLE Credit:
Total Credits:
2.0 CLE
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SPEAKERS' FIRMS:
About Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., founded in 1973, is a national law firm with approximately 275 lawyers practicing in 11 offices, in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Stamford, and Washington, D.C. The Firm is uncompromising in its pursuit of legal excellence and client service in its areas of practice: Health Care and Life Sciences, Labor and Employment, Litigation, Corporate Services, and Employee Benefits. Epstein Becker Green was founded to serve the health care industry and has been at the forefront of health care legal developments since 1973. The Firm is also proud to be a trusted advisor to clients in the financial services, retail, and hospitality industries, among others, representing entities from startups to Fortune 100 companies. Our commitment to these practices and industries reflects the founders’ belief in focused proficiency paired with seasoned experience.
Website: https://www.ebglaw.com/
About Bass, Berry & Sims
With more than 200 attorneys representing numerous publicly-traded companies and Fortune 500 businesses, Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has been involved in some of the largest and most significant business transactions and litigation matters in the country. For more information, visit www.bassberry.com
Website: https://www.bassberry.com/
About Goodwin Procter LLP
Goodwin Procter LLP is one of the nation’s leading law firms, with offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm provides corporate law and litigation services, with a focus on matters involving real estate, REITs and real estate capital markets; private equity; technology companies; financial services; intellectual property; products liability and mass torts; and securities litigation and white collar defense. The firm is recognized for the depth and breadth of its national Litigation Practice and has over 375 litigators focused on providing aggressive, results-oriented representation. Goodwin litigators conduct trials, hearings and arbitrations; defend clients in enforcement matters and investigations; and counsel on alternative dispute resolution, litigation avoidance and risk management. Firm attorneys concentrate on high-profile matters involving business and commercial law, environmental issues, intellectual property, products liability and mass torts, white collar crime and government investigations, securities litigation and SEC enforcement, consumer financial services, antitrust and competition, and ERISA.
For more information, visit www.goodwinprocter.comFollow us on Twitter @GoodwinProcter.
Website: https://www.goodwinprocter.com/
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with approximately 1750 attorneys serving clients from 36 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In the U.S., the firm has more offices than any other among the Top 10 on The National Law Journal’s 2012 NLJ 250. GT provides integrated legal services for clients worldwide. We offer a multidisciplinary team, including senior lawyers who have been the chief legal officers at major multinational companies and have spent years solving real-world problems in the business, political and legal environments of major commercial centers. We build teams around client needs, ensuring lean staffing, front-end planning and flexible billing, where appropriate. Our experience in more than 100 practice areas and our network of contacts throughout the world position us to help clients achieve their objectives both domestically and in the global marketplace.
Website: https://www.gtlaw.com/