Insights

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

Washington – September 20, 2023: Joe Urwitz joins Crowell & Moring as a partner in its Tax Group, bringing in-depth experience guiding clients on executive compensation and employee benefits issues in complex M&A, private equity, and capital markets transactions.

On April 25, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a final rule (the “Final Rule”) regarding when providing investment advice results in the advisor becoming a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).  Under this guidance, an entity is a fiduciary if the provider of that advice to an ERISA plan or Individual Retirement Account:

On Friday, March 10, 2023, regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and seized its deposits, resulting in the second largest U.S. banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Specifically, SVB was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) was named receiver. Since the FDIC insures deposits of up to $250,000, that amount was immediately available; however, the fact that deposits above and beyond the $250,000 limit were not immediately available alarmed many. After a weekend of chaos as many businesses scrambled for a solution to the illiquid funds, on Sunday, March 12, 2023, in a joint release among the Department of Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the FDIC, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen instructed the FDIC to guarantee SVB customers access to all deposits, including the uninsured funds. The release further stated that New York-based Signature Bank was closed by its chartering authority and that its customers would also receive access to all deposits, including the uninsured funds. While this may have provided relief to many, it is important to keep in mind the lesson and best practices in the event of such a liquidity crunch.

Washington, D.C.-based Labor & Employment Group partner, Thomas P. Gies, discusses with The Wall Street Journal the new ruling by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on corporate whistle blowers. The ruling allows corporate whistleblowers to be protected by retaliation provisions when they initially report the possible wrongdoing to their employer and not the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, "some companies have been reluctant to go along with the SEC's view for fear that it would lead to more retaliation claims," Gies said.

In order to be an effective trustee or administrator for your plan, you must have a comprehensive understanding of a wide array of complex regulations and legislation. We are here to help you navigate the complexities, leave with best practices, and benchmark against peers.  

Two days of workshop-style learning on value-based fee structures and the management skills and tools to support them, valuable take-home resources, and opportunities to network with other attendees

On Friday, Congress passed the COVID-19 Stimulus Law in its most recent installment of critical legislation responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us as we discuss the impact of the legislation on a number of employment and ERISA issues, including paid sick leave; enhanced unemployment benefits; payroll tax relief; pension plan funding relief; 401(k) changes to hardship/loan withdrawals and RMDs; employer student loan payments; health insurance coverage issues and COBRA; impact on HDHPs, HSAs, FSAs, HRAs; and executive compensation.

This CLE webinar will guide benefits counsel and advisers on recent rules and regulations in providing fringe benefits to employees and avoiding dangerous and costly issues that arise regarding such benefits including personal liability under ERISA. The panel will discuss key considerations in structuring fringe benefits, tax traps, de minimis rules, effective correction procedures and methods to minimize fiduciary risks.