Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Update

Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Update
Second Quarter - 2026

Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Update

Quarterly insights to help plan sponsors navigate evolving retirement, fiduciary, and regulatory challenges.

Aon’s Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Quarterly Update helps plan sponsors navigate evolving retirement, fiduciary, and regulatory challenges.

Aon’s Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Quarterly Update highlights key legal, regulatory, and litigation developments affecting qualified retirement plans. The Quarterly Update is designed to support plan sponsors and fiduciaries as they manage compliance obligations, evaluate plan design and governance practices, and respond to a changing enforcement and litigation landscape. It provides practical perspective to help organizations understand emerging issues, refine their fiduciary processes, and make informed decisions on behalf of plan participants and beneficiaries.

 

Key Insights Include:

  1. Courts Continue to Narrow the Use of Mandatory Arbitration in ERISA Plans
    The Fifth Circuit adds to a growing judicial trend limiting plan sponsors’ ability to require arbitration for plan wide fiduciary claims.
  2. Fourth Circuit Raises the Bar for Class Certification in DC Plan Litigation
    A new appellate decision challenges whether individualized retirement investment outcomes can support ERISA class actions.
  3. DOL Reverts to the 1975 Fiduciary Standard for Investment Advice
    The Department of Labor withdraws its expanded fiduciary rule, returning to the long standing five-part test and prior exemptions.
  4. Bonus Season 401(k) Communications as a Governance and Compliance Tool
    Thoughtful bonus related messaging can improve participant outcomes while reducing contribution errors and fiduciary risk.
  5. Why the USPS Postmark Rule Changes Retirement Plan Compliance Timing
    Updated postmark standards may affect how plan sponsors prove timely filings, disclosures, and participant communications.
  6. Quarterly Snapshot of Regulatory, Litigation, and Plan Design Developments
    Key updates spanning payroll conversions, participant behavior trends, fiduciary guidance, and recent litigation activity.
 

If you would like to discuss how these recent legal, regulatory, and plan governance developments may affect your retirement programs, please contact our Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance team for additional guidance and perspective.

 

Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Update

Second Quarter – 2026

Download the Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Update

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