Pentegra’s 2018 Stance on Open MEPs

On the Friday before Memorial Day 2012, the DOL published guidance
on open multiple employer plans (open MEPs) saying they are not “single plans” under ERISA, and thereby slowed participation in MEPs. Pentegra responded at that time by publishing Pentegra’s Stance on Open MEPs—expressing positions we continue to support today. Six years later, on the Friday before Labor Day 2018, President Trump signed an executive order that directs the IRS and DOL to consider regulations or guidance that would expand the availability of open MEPs. This white paper reiterates and extends Pentegra’s 2012 thoughts with an eye toward the future and in the context of this new retirement initiative from the Trump Administration. This is Part 1 of 2, discussing the Executive Order itself. Part 2 discusses what it might mean for the U.S. retirement system. Read full article…