The Weekly Highlights for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
Week of July 3, 2026
— § —
12 items · ~5 min read
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (8) · Retirement Plans (2) · Litigation (2)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
8 items“Key provisions include broad nondiscrimination testing relief for closed defined benefit (DB) plans, approval of "open" defined contribution (DC) multiple-employer plans, relaxed auto-enrollment rules and incentives for lifetime income options in DC plans. ... Many of the bill's reforms are effective starting in 2020 (or even retroactively), so plan sponsors should quickly review which provisions might be affected and what, if any, plan amendments and systems changes must be implemented.” MORE >>
Source: Mercer
“This document contains a proposed regulation that clarifies, and provides a safe harbor for, a fiduciary's duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with selecting designated investment alternatives for a participant-directed individual account plan, including asset allocation funds that include alternative assets. This proposal implements section 3(c) of President Trump's Executive Order 14330, Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” MORE >>
Source: federalregister.gov
“This page has not been translated. Please go to PBGC.gov's Spanish home page for more information available in Spanish. Esta página no ha sido traducida. Por favor vaya a la página principal del sitio de español de PBGC para ver información disponible en español.” MORE >>
Source: PBGC
“On June 15, 2026, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued a proposed rule that would, if enacted, update, clarify, and make technical corrections to regulations related to the restrictions and conditions for multiemployer defined benefit (DB) plans that receive special financial assistance (SFA). Comments on the proposed rule are due by August 17, 2026. ... PBGC is proposing to amend the rule to clarify, consistent with its FAQ, that derivatives are generally impermissible except for limited short-term use to closely replicate permissible securities when those securities are not immediately available.” MORE >>
Source: Milliman
“The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-02 (Bulletin), addressing inquiries regarding compliance with the paper statement requirements under Section 338 of SECURE 2.0. ... the Bulletin stipulates that until DOL issues additional guidance, enforcement actions will not be pursued against plan administrators that comply in good faith with either a reasonable interpretation of the proposed rule, or interpretation of section 105(a)(2)(E) of ERISA pending the adoption of a final rule.” MORE >>
Source: Ascensus
“ASAP By Paul Pulver, Katherine Ford, and Ueli Sommer What happens when different sports cultures and legal frameworks converge on the same global stage? Our Labor & Employment World Cup 2026 series aims to find out.” MORE >>
Source: Littler
“The Department of Labor issued Technical Release 2026-02, announcing that the Accounts will—generally—be exempt from ERISA. ... Code Section 128 allows employers to contribute to an employee's Account or an employee's dependent's(s') Account(s) each year on a tax-free basis. The amount employers can contribute each year is capped at $2,500 (indexed for inflation after 2027) per employee—not per dependent. To make these contributions, employers must adopt a separate written plan which meets requirements that are similar to a dependent care assistance program (e.g., nondiscrimination, eligibility, notification of eligible employees, etc.).” MORE >>
Source: Boutwell Fay
“Revenue Procedure 2026-25 resolves that uncertainty with a safe harbor: qualifying contributions are treated as gifts eligible for the annual gift tax exclusion. ... If all three conditions are met, each contribution is treated as a completed gift to the beneficiary rather than a future interest in property that would require a return. If any condition is not met (for example, if contributions to a single beneficiary exceed the annual exclusion), the donor must file gift tax returns for every Trump account beneficiary who received a contribution from the donor that year.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
Retirement Plans
2 items[Retirement Plan Administration]
SECURE 2.0 Mandatory Roth Catch-Up Rule Now in Effect for 2026: Compliance Guide for Plan Sponsors on HPI Determinations and Deemed Elections“Mandatory Roth treatment for high earners begins January 1, 2026. When the 2026 401(k) Dollar Limits were released in November 2025, the lookback year compensation for determining HPIs was set at $150,000 rather than $145,000. ... The IRS confirmed that the limit is indexed for inflation for the employee to be classified as an HPI subject to the mandatory Roth catch-ups for the 2026 calendar year, and that the $150,000 threshold is based on what is reported on the employer's prior-year (2025) Form W-2 (Box 3). Mandatory plan amendments for the age 60-63 super catch-up must be adopted by December 31, 2026 (retroactive to 2025).” MORE >>
Source: Newfront
“Many older fixed accounts and guaranteed contracts include provisions such as: These provisions vary by contract, but they can make replacing a legacy insurance product expensive. Imagine a fiduciary committee learns that replacing an inherited insurance contract could immediately reduce participant account values because of contractual exit costs. That creates a difficult choice. Leave the contract in place and continue earning below-market crediting rates. Or recognize a substantial immediate loss.” MORE >>
Source: The Commonsense 401(k) Project
Litigation
2 items[ERISA Litigation]
Developing Supreme Court Decides M & K Employee Solutions v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund (No. 23-1209): Actuaries May Use Post-Measurement-Date Assumptions for Withdrawal Liability“ERISA does not require that actuarial assumptions for multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liability be fixed as of the statutory measurement date. Justice Jackson held that only 'hard data' (assets, participant counts) must be locked in as of the measurement date; actuarial assumptions are predictive judgments that may be selected afterward, provided they are based on information available as of that date. Employers contributing to underfunded multiemployer plans face potentially higher, unpredictable withdrawal liability.” MORE >>
Source: Supreme Court of the United States
[ERISA Litigation]
Third Circuit: ERISA Demands a Prudent Process, Not Perfect Investment Performance“In In re Quest Diagnostics ERISA Litigation, — F.4th —-, No. 24-2866, 2026 WL 1783204 (3d Cir. June 22, 2026), the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court's grant of summary judgment to Quest Diagnostics and its plan committees, holding that the fiduciaries of Quest's 401(k) plan did not breach their duty of prudence under ERISA by continuing to offer two underperforming investment options. ... The court grounded its analysis in the principle that ERISA fiduciary duties derive from the common law of trusts and that the statute is concerned principally with process rather than outcomes, emphasizing that a fund's poor performance alone does not mandate drastic or sudden action.” MORE >>
Source: Roberts Disability Law