When I started my own practice in 2010, some critics said I was selling fear because of issues I had with fee disclosure, revenue sharing, and other fiduciary issues. History ended up proving me right.
In 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) through their Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) closed 2,002 civil investigations with 1,356 of those cases (67.7%) resulting in monetary results for plans or other corrective action.
EBSA recovered $ 777.5 million for direct payment to plans, participants and beneficiaries. Since EBSA is not just focused on civil penalties and actions, 96 people were indicted and 75 people either plead guilty or were convicted in connection with crimes revolving around retirement plans.
So the DOL is certainly cracking the whip and plan sponsors can ill afford to continue to ignore their plan.