• SEC Staff Statement on Pooled Employer Plans
  SEC issued a Staff Statement regarding collective investment trusts issued to PEPs that cover self-employed individuals.
• Qualified Long-Term Care Distributions
  The IRS issued guidance regarding long-term care distributions introduced in SECURE 2.0.
• DOL Enforcement Relief for Electronic Statements
  In FAB 2026-02, the DOL issued enforcement relief for plan administrators that comply in good faith with a reasonable interpretation of recent changes to defined contribution benefit statement requirements.
• Disaster Relief
  The IRS and PBGC have issued disaster relief in response to wildfires in Georgia and a typhoon that impacted the Mariana Islands.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Staff Statement on May 4, 2026. The statement outlines the Division of Investment Management staff’s views on the application to Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) of the single trust exclusion in Section 3(c)(11) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Rule 180 under the Securities Act of 1933 as it applies to interests in certain collective investment trusts (CITs) issued to PEPs that cover self-employed individuals. The statement reflects the views of SEC staff and does not represent a rule, regulation, or formal action.

Single Trust Exclusion

PEPs typically are structured as trusts for employees of multiple, unrelated employers and therefore do not fall within the traditional categories of trusts historically treated as “single trusts.” However, Congress amended ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code through the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 to treat PEPs as single-employer plans for those statutes.

The SEC staff indicated it would not object to treatment of PEPs as traditional, single-employer retirement plans under the Investment Company Act’s single trust exclusion, provided the plans are subject to ERISA and satisfy the applicable Internal Revenue Code qualification requirements.

Rule 180 and Interests in CITs

Many PEPs offer CITs as investment options, which typically do not register their interests under the Securities Act due to an available exemption. The exemption isn’t available for plans covering self-employed individuals. In such cases CITs may seek to rely on Rule 180 to avoid registration of their interests under the Securities Act.

Rule 180 includes conditions that, among other things, require the plan to cover only employees of a single employer (or interrelated partnerships) and that the issuer satisfy the rule’s sophistication requirement. The SEC staff acknowledged that these conditions have been interpreted as limiting access for CITs for PEPs that include self-employed individuals. As a result, the staff indicated it would not object if PEPs offer CITs that cover self-employed individuals without SEC registration if the plan is subject to ERISA and may apply the rule’s sophistication requirement to the plan’s pooled plan provider, rather than each participating employer, to determine whether the interests of plan participants are adequately represented.

The staff noted that interests relying on Rule 180 remain subject to the Securities Act’s anti-fraud provisions. The staff’s position also applies to other investment options issued by PEPs that otherwise qualify for Rule 180, not solely for CITs. The statement focuses on the availability of Rule 180 for investment options used by PEPs and does not address the registration status of interests in PEPs issued to plan participants, which may rely on other available exemptions.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance in Notice 2026-33 related to qualified long-term care (LTC) distributions. Below are highlights from that guidance.

Background

Under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, defined contribution (DC) plans may allow for qualified LTC distributions. Key qualified LTC distribution considerations include:

• Must be used to pay certain LTC insurance premiums for employees or their spouses.
• Must be made in the same taxable year the premium is paid or assessed.
• Qualified LTC distributions are limited to the lesser of:
  • The annual premium paid or assessed for the calendar year,
  • $2,600 (effective for 2026 and indexed annually), or
  • 10 percent of the present value of the participant’s vested benefit under the plan.
• The LTC insurance provider (the issuer) must file an LTC premium statement with the plan prior to the qualified LTC distribution.

Notice 2026-33

Below are highlights from the guidance:

• The issuer must file an Issuer Disclosure with the IRS. This disclosure must include contact information and must be signed under penalties of perjury. Additional requirements are available at irs.gov.
• After the issuer receives an acknowledgement letter from the IRS, a participant must ask the issuer to file an LTC premium statement with the DC plan.
• The DC plan administrator may rely on the issuer’s LTC premium statement that:
  • The Issuer Disclosure has been accepted by the IRS.
  • The LTC premium statement covers LTC insurance that meets the appropriate regulations.
  • The information in the LTC premium statement is correct.
• The qualified LTC distribution is NOT:
  • A required feature in a DC plan.
  • Eligible to be repaid into the DC plan.
  • Considered an eligible rollover distribution.
• If a DC plan does not offer a qualified LTC distribution, participants may not claim that as a reason to be exempt from the 10% additional tax.

Amendment Effective Dates

IRS Notice 2024-02 established these general amendment deadlines:

• Retirement plans that are not listed below – December 31, 2026
• Collectively bargained plans, including 403(b) plans maintained by tax-exempt organizations – December 31, 2028
• Governmental plans sponsored by federal, state, or local governments and their agencies – December 31, 2029
• 403(b) plans maintained by a public school - December 31, 2029

Notice 2026-33 extended the deadline for plans within the first bullet choosing to adopt qualified LTC distributions until December 31, 2027. The extension only applies to qualified LTC distributions.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL) has issued temporary enforcement relief for plan administrators making good faith efforts to comply with recent benefit statement changes.

Background

Introduced within Section 338 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0), defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plans must provide participants with periodic paper benefit statements (annually for DC and at least every three years for DB). SECURE 2.0 also directed the DOL to update its electronic delivery rules. In response, the DOL issued proposed regulations on February 25, 2026, which gave additional guidance on electronic delivery and paper statement requirements.

Non-Enforcement

While the proposed regulations indicated the DOL would not take enforcement action against plan administrators acting in good faith, Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2026-02 clarifies that this relief applies to changes added with SECURE 2.0. The relief will remain in effect until the DOL issues final regulations or other applicable guidance.

In response to natural disasters, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) extended certain deadlines for individuals and businesses impacted by such events.

Impacted areas and dates

Individuals who reside or have a business in any of the following areas may be eligible for certain deadline relief:

Impacted deadlines

Below is a partial list of retirement-impact tax filing and payment deadlines that may be extended:

• Retirement plan loan repayments may be temporarily paused under Internal Revenue Code section 72(p)(2)
• Required minimum distributions under Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(9)
• The 10% additional income tax continues to not apply even if the following is missed during the relief period:
  • Substantially equal payments made over the participant’s life or joint lives of the participant and designated beneficiary
  • Deadline for using a distribution from an IRA for a first-time home purchase by the close of the 120th day after the distribution is received
• Prior tax year contribution deadlines for retirement plans
• Indirect rollover distribution deadlines
  • 60-day rollovers
  • Rollover of qualified loan offsets
• Refunds as a result of
  • Excess deferrals
  • ADP/ACP non-discrimination testing
  • Eligible automatic contribution arrangement (EACA) withdrawals
  • Excess IRA contributions
• Deadline for recontributing qualified reservist distributions
• Form 5500 and Form 8955-SSA filings
• Form 5498 for IRAs
• PBGC premium payments
• PBGC deadlines that are based on the Form 5500 deadline
• Single Employer Plan Termination Forms 500 and 501

Additional Resources

For any questions related to IRS deadlines and other disaster-related issues, the IRS has a toll-free number at 866-562-5227. For PBGC disaster-related questions, call 800-736-2444 ext. 4136.