PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 9

annual limitation on deductions for an
individual with self-only coverage under
a high-deductible health plan (HDHP)
is $3,500; deductions for an individual
with family coverage under an HDHP
is $7,000, up from the recently reset
$6,900 limit for 2018.
University of Chicago
Settles Lawsuit
A case alleging violations for both
the University of Chicago Retirement
Income Plan for Employees (ERIP) and
the University of Chicago Contributory
Retirement Plan (CRP)-the first being
for faculty and staff members, the
second for nonacademic employees-has
been settled. Along with various counts
regarding excessive fees, the complaint
accused the university of approving a
TIAA loan program that required excessive
collateral as security for loan repayment,
charged grossly excessive fees for loan
administration, and violated Department
of Labor (DOL) rules for participant loan
programs. Last fall, charges related to the
CRP and the TIAA loan program were
dismissed, as were those related to the duty
of loyalty under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA). The case was
reinstated in January after a new motion
was filed, with a new plaintiff named.
According to the settlement agreement,
the university has agreed not to increase
per-participant recordkeeping fees for
three years from the date of final approval
of the settlement and to use commercially
reasonable best efforts to, ongoingly,
attempt to reduce recordkeeping fees.
SEC Approves Electronic
Fund Disclosures
The Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) adopted a new rule, 30e-3, permitting
asset managers to deliver shareholder
reports by making them publicly
accessible on a free website and mailing
investors a paper notice of each report's
availability. The rule goes into effect
January 21, 2021. The SEC is also asking
the public for its thoughts on how the
delivery of fund information could be
modernized. Visit www.sec.gov/tell-us to
provide feedback. Additionally, the SEC
would like feedback on the processing
fees that broker/dealers (B/Ds) and other
intermediaries charge investment funds
for delivering shareholder reports and
other materials to investors. The deadline
for the comments is October 21.
PBGC Requests Withdrawal
Liability Information for
Multiemployer Plans
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(PBGC) plans to ask the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for
approval to survey terminated and insolvent
multiemployer pension plans to
obtain withdrawal liability information.
The agency says it needs the information
to estimate its multiemployer program
liabilities for purposes of its financial statements.
The PBGC recently issued a report
that says the likelihood the multiemployer
program will remain solvent after fiscal
year 2026 is now less than 1%. In its notice
of intent to request OMB approval, the
agency is asking for stakeholder comments
about running the survey.
MetLife Accused of
Failing to Pay Retirees
Covered by PRT
A would-be class representative whose
benefit liability was transferred to MetLife
in a pension risk transfer (PRT) deal has
filed an expansive lawsuit, challenging
the company's practices across its PRT
and group annuity contract services business.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York, the
complaint names as defendants MetLife
Inc., the Metropolitan Life Insurance
Co., and Brighthouse Financial Inc.
Summarizing the complaint, the lead
plaintiff said he is suing these companies
" for conversion and unjust enrichment
relating to the taking of retirement
annuity benefits from retirees. "
According to the complaint, this action
" seeks to hold MetLife accountable for the
company's conversion of more than $500
million in retirement benefits, interest and
unlawful profits over the last 25 years-
depriving retirees of important income
in their golden years. " It also points to
various ways that MetLife has allegedly
" admitted " or " acknowledged " that it has
failed to keep track of beneficiaries, failed
to contact them and/or failed to pay them
their benefits when due. Massachusetts
Secretary of the Commonwealth William
Galvin has also charged MetLife with
" making misleading statements relating
to its failure to make pension payments to
hundreds of Massachusetts retirees it had
wrongly designated as presumed dead. "
In response to the lawsuits, MetLife
said, " We self-identified and self-reported
this issue to our regulator and to the public.
We have taken aggressive steps to locate
unresponsive annuitants who are due
funds and already have or will commence
payment, including interest, once the
necessary paperwork is complete. "
Public DC Plan Participant
Investment Choices
The Oregon State Treasury has determined
that legislation that would have
allowed public employees who participate
in the state's account-based Individual
Account Plan (IAP) to select their own
investments would violate the state's legal
and fiduciary standards. After a mandated
review, it was determined that the Public
Employees' Retirement System (PERS)
cannot move forward with implementation
of the legislation without additional legislation.
All IAP plan members' accounts were
invested in age-appropriate target-date
funds (TDFs) starting this January 1. -PS
For in-depth coverage of these topics and more, go to plansponsor.com/compliance.
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