Stay abreast of new legislation and regulations

There is a large and complex body of rules and regulations that impact retirement plans. Plan fiduciaries must remain attuned to all legislative and regulatory changes and understand when changes to their plan are mandated. When laws and regulations are revised, changes may affect plan documents, participant communications and plan administration. Changes may be made by federal or state laws, or new regulations imposed by agencies that govern retirement plans including:

• Federal laws revising ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, or other laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Regulations and other guidance issued by the Department of Labor (DOL), Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), IRS, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), SEC and other agencies
• State laws, especially those affecting income tax withholding or same-sex marriages
• Rules implemented by State regulators
• Regulations issued by Puerto Rico Department of Treasury, affecting plans that are dual-qualified under both the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code
• U. S. Supreme Court decisions (e.g., the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act)

To help you navigate this changing landscape, Prudential compliance and regulatory experts continually monitor developments on plan related topics. Our organization is very active in Washington, DC and works to inform legislative and regulatory activity at the federal level. Through our involvement with various industry trade groups and other committees, we work with many legislative and regulatory officials to help avoid adverse consequences to plan design and administration. We actively monitor select state laws and regulations that tend to have a direct impact on plan operation (e.g., state income tax withholding).

Our Regulatory Product Management team publishes a variety of communications to assist plan fiduciaries with monitoring and understanding the ever-shifting legislative and regulatory landscape. Through our Pension Analysts, Compliance Bulletins, and Compliance Advisories we’re able to educate plan sponsors on the changes made, their impact on plans generally, and Prudential’s response to these developments. In addition to being distributed directly to impacted plan sponsors, our publications are archived and available online at: www.retire.prudential.com/view/page/rs/16966

Retirement Plan Consultants and Enrolled Actuaries are available to discuss any developments that may impact your plan directly or are of interest to you and your organization. We can also provide a Legislative and Regulatory Update quarterly, summarizing all recent changes in the legislative, regulatory, and judicial landscape that impact retirement plans generally. Use of our plan document services provides you with required and optional plan amendments and related SPDs or SMMs, for review and approval by your ERISA counsel prior to adoption and distribution.