Photo of Eric D. Slack

Eric is counsel in the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation group. He brings nearly two decades of substantive federal tax and regulatory experience to advising corporate clients on complex retirement plan and corporate tax matters. Prior to joining the firm, Eric held leadership roles at the Internal Revenue Service, including nine years as an executive within the IRS Large Business & International and Employee Plans Divisions. He also worked as detailed tax counsel with the Senate Finance Committee, reviewing, revising and developing benefits and tax legislative issues.

Introduction

Few areas of retirement plan regulation have experienced as much turbulence – or generated as much practical uncertainty for plan sponsors, recordkeepers, and third-party administrators – as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (“ERISA”) definition of an “investment advice fiduciary.” After more than a decade of competing regulatory proposals, litigation victories and defeats, and

As described in earlier Thompson Hine blog posts (here and here), Trump accounts provide a new private savings vehicle for eligible minor children. The Treasury Department and IRS recently released additional guidance related to these accounts within two coordinated notices of proposed rulemaking that address the critical threshold questions of (1) how Trump

With a potential government shutdown as early as October 1, plan sponsors and fiduciaries should be aware of how a lapse in federal funding could affect both retirement and health and welfare plan operations, IRS filings, and regulatory oversight of plans. While some government functions are expected to continue during a shutdown, others may be