ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book, Sixth Edition

Be aware of your fiduciary responsibilities and how to handle them safely with ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book.

This expert reference book clearly explains every aspect of ERISA fiduciary duty, providing information, guidance, and advice on prohibited transactions, investments, fiduciary liability, IRS, DOL, and PBGC requirements, and more.

It answers more than 400 fiduciary-related questions, including:

• When are attorneys, accountants, consultants, and other professional service providers considered plan fiduciaries?
• What laws govern the conduct of fiduciaries?
• When is a fiduciary personally liable for a transaction prohibited by ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code?
• May a plan release a fiduciary from liability?
• What is the legal distinction between "substantive prudence" and "procedural prudence"?
• May a fiduciary face criminal liability for a breach of fiduciary duty?

ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book has been updated with coverage of case law and regulatory developments in the following areas:

• Equitable remedies under ERISA Section 502(a)(3) after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara
• Reformation of plan terms when there has been a scrivener's error
• Whether discretion is a necessary element for fiduciary status under Section 3(21)(A)(ii)
• What constitutes a settlor function in the master and prototype plan world and employer stock investment decisions
• Developing prudence violations in fee litigation cases
• Whether a fiduciary violates ERISA's prudence provision if it includes a unitized stock fund in a 401(k) plan
• ERISA's rarely used "anti-kickback" provision
• The application of the Moench presumption in the stock drop cases
• ERISA Section 404(c) as a defense in the stock drop cases
• Whether employee organizations can sponsor 403(b) plans
• The Mental Health Parity Act rules
• The Affordable Care Act and health care reform

• 1. Fundamentals?
• 2. Who Is an ERISA Fiduciary?
  • Determining Fiduciary Status
  • Named Fiduciaries
  • Plan Trustees
  • Plan Sponsors
  • Plan Administrators
  • Investment Managers
  • Other Service Providers
  • Insurance Companies and Brokers
  • Plan Participants
• 3. Allocation and Delegation of Fiduciary Responsibility
  • Allocating or Delegating Fiduciary Responsibility
  • Participant-Directed Plan Investments
• 4. Fiduciary Duties Under ERISA
  • Basic Fiduciary Obligations
  • To Whom Is Duty Owed?
  • Settlor Functions Versus Fiduciary Activities
  • Cofiduciary Responsibilities
  • Special Rules
• 5. Prohibited Transactions
  • Sales, Exchanges, or Leases
  • Loans or Extensions of Credit
  • Goods, Services, and Facilities
  • Asset Transfers
  • Employer Securities and Employer Real Property
  • Self-Dealing
  • Parties with Adverse Interests
  • Kickbacks
  • Liabilities and Penalties of Nonfiduciary Parties in Interest
  • Corrections and Exemptions
  • Statutory Exemptions Added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006
  • Plan Expenses
• 6. Civil Enforcement and Remedies
  • Civil Enforcement
  • Standing
  • Remedies
  • Civil Penalties Available Under ERISA's Civil Enforcement Provisions
  • Excise Taxes and Penalties Under the Internal Revenue Code
  • Criminal Liability
  • Other Procedural Issues
  • Protection Against the Risk of Liability
  • Exculpatory Clauses or Indemnification
  • Contribution and Indemnification
  • Attorneys' Fees
  • Reducing Risk
  • Preemption Rules
• 7. Investment Issues
  • Investing Plan Assets
  • Selection, Appointment, and Monitoring of Investment Managers
  • Proxy Voting and Investment Policy
  • Specific Investments
  • Investment Issues Unique to Defined Benefit Plans
  • Qualified Professional Asset Managers
  • In-House Asset Managers
  • Investment Issues Unique to Defined Contribution Plans
  • Default Investments
  • Fiduciary Issues Associated with Mutual Funds
  • Pension Protection Act: Investment-Related Provisions
• 8. Plan Trusts and Plan Assets
  • Plans Subject to ERISA Fiduciary Rules
  • ERISA Plans in Ambiguous Situations
  • Plan Assets Regulation
  • Multiple-Employer Welfare Association
  • Other Guides to Identifying Plan Assets
  • General Trust Requirements
  • Use of Plan Assets
  • Bonding
• 9. Multiemployer Plans
  • General Structure of Multiemployer Plans
  • Funding Multiemployer Plans
  • Collection of Employer Contributions
  • Special Benefit Reduction Rules
  • Withdrawal Liability
  • Civil Actions and Standing to Sue
  • Asset Transfers, Mergers, and Amendments
  • Prohibited Transaction Exemptions for Multiemployer Plans
  • Termination, Partition, Mass Withdrawal, Reorganization, and Insolvency
• 10. Defined Benefit Plans: Funding, Termination, and Withdrawal
  • Minimum Funding Requirements
  • Benefit Restrictions
  • Contributions
  • Waivers
  • Pre-PPA Single-Employer Rules
  • Multiemployer Plans
  • PBGC Reportable Events
  • Plan Termination
  • Bankruptcy
  • Special Issues for Multiple-Employer Plans
  • Special Issues for Underfunded Plans
  • Fraudulent Transactions and Successor Liability
• 11. Fiduciary Aspects of Day-to-Day Plan Operations
  • Reporting and Disclosure
  • Summary Plan Description: The Disclosure Requirements of ERISA Section 102 Annual Report: Disclosure Requirements of ERISA Section 103
  • Filings with the Secretary: Disclosure Requirements of ERISA Section 104
  • Documents and Notices to Participants: Disclosure Requirements of ERISA Section 104
  • Penalties
  • Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
  • Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
  • Other Federal Laws That May Affect Fiduciary Duties
  • Assignments, Loans, and Lost Participants
  • Standard of Judicial Review
• 12. Fiduciary Issues Unique to Health Care Plans
  • Fiduciary Status of Third-Party Administrators
  • Retiree Health Care Benefits
  • Disclosure Issues
  • Summary Plan Descriptions
  • Form M-1
  • HIPAA
  • Mental Health Parity
  • Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996
  • Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998
  • COBRA
  • Qualified Medical Child Support Orders
  • Remedies
  • The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act
  • 2010 Health Care Reform
• Appendices
  • Checklists
  • Model Procedures and Forms
  • Model Forms for HIPAA Compliance
  • National Medical Support Notice
  • PWBA: A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees
  • Sample 401(k) Plan Fee Disclosure Form for Services Provided by XYZ Company
  • The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998: Questions and Answers
  • PWBA Guidance on Settlor v. Plan Expenses
  • USERRA-FMLA Questions and Answers - 7⁄25⁄02 - The Effect of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act on Leave Eligibility Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
  • DOL Model Blackout Notice