Legal

A U.S. District judge in the Southern District of Iowa has signed off on a settlement agreement between Principal Financial and participants in its Select Savings Plan for Employees and the Select Savings Plan for Individual Field defined contribution plans.

Opponents of the Department of Labors proposed fiduciary rule have been threatening for months to use the appropriations process to defund the DOL's new fiduciary standard. Now the showdown is coming.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will codify a proposed uniform fiduciary standard by the fall of 2016, according to the agencys agenda for the next year, published with the Office of Management and Budget.

As the IRS and the DOL tighten plan regulations, it's time for 403(b) plan sponsors to be proactive and find an advisor to help them with requirements--before the IRS comes knocking.

There is still not a specific time for the SEC's fiduciary plans release, but it will include a 'deep economic analysis,' Mary Jo White, chairman of the SEC, said.

Retirement legislation in more than 20 states could mean that employers picking a state-sponsored multiple employer plan, or MEP, would be subject to ERISA.