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The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a new regulation which will ensure patients a timely, fair internal review when they have a grievance against their health plan and an expedited review for urgent claims.

The proposed regulation, published Wednesday in the Federal Register:

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The U. S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment against a former investment advisor for executing speculative securities investments and “churning” of the account of the Bradford Sales Co. employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) located in Charlotte, NC. The defendant George E. Brooks was permanently barred from serving as a plan fiduciary to any employer-sponsored plans under the aegis of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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Businesses, governments and the media must all work to educate the public about saving for retirement, concludes a report issued today by Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman. Americans are not saving enough and they need more information to encourage them to do so, according to the report of the first National Summit on Retirement Savings, which was held June 4 - 5.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U. S. Department of Labor has obtained a temporary restraining order freezing the assets of Novato, California-based Interstate Services, Inc. (ISI), Thorndyke International, Inc. (TI), and numerous other fiduciaries and service providers to health plans operated by ISI after more than $ 1 million in health benefit assets were diverted to them and others affiliated with a health care scheme known as The ERISA Advantage program.

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The U.S. Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) today re-affirmed the need for employee benefit plan administrators and service providers to act to protect workers' benefits against the looming year 2000 (Y2K) software problem.

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The U.S. Department of Labor today settled a lawsuit on Monday, July 20, with Investment Advisers, Inc. (IAI), a Minneapolis-based investment management company, regarding inappropriate fees paid to its affiliate, IAI Securities (IAIS), in connection with investment management services provided to certain employee benefit plans and to its own in- house pension and profit sharing plans.

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The three working groups formed this year by the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans will hold public meetings Aug. 11 and 12. All sessions will take place in Conference Room N-4437 C&D at the U.S. Department of Labor's Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC.

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Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today delegated the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) to Meredith Miller. Miller, who has served as PWBA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy for the last 5 years, will carry out the duties of Assistant Secretary until a permanent candidate is appointed to fill the post.

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Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today released A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees, a 19-page, educational booklet to help consumers understand the fees and expenses associated with 401(k)plan accounts.

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The U. S. Department of Labor has sued Miletus Associates Inc. and its president for making over $120,000 in improper transfers and a loan from the company’s 401(k) plan to the defendants.

Miletus Associates is an Albuquerque, N.M.-based engineering firm which manufactures airborne surveillance equipment. The company’s 401(k) plan covered 29 participants and had $371,052.57 in assets as of February 1996.

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The three working groups formed this year by the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, more popularly known as the ERISA Advisory Council, will hold public meetings July 7 and 8. All sessions will take place in Conference Room N-4437 C&D at the U.S. Department of Labor's Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U. S. Department of Labor obtained a settlement agreement with trustees of the Connecticut Plumbers and Pipefitters pension fund and a former securities broker requiring them to pay more than $2.4 million in restitution and civil penalties. The settlement also requires the trustees to establish procedures on and monitor investments by the plan.

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Washington, D.C. - In an effort to educate Americans about the importance of saving for retirement, Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman will join President Clinton and members of Congress for the first National Summit on Retirement Savings. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. today and Friday, June 5.

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The U.S. Department of Labor today sued five home health care firms located throughout Louisiana, their principals and trustees of the firms’ pension plans for improperly using pension plan assets to benefit affiliated companies and plan trustees and to purchase the stock of a related company.

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Chicago attorney George C. Hook was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to make $735,566 in restitution to the pension plan of Wittek Industries, now under trusteeship of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The May 26 sentencing took place in the federal district court in Peoria, III. Hook was convicted May 29, 1997 of wire fraud, theft from a pension plan and money laundering for his role in raiding the company's pension plan.

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Small Business Administration Encourages Business Use

Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman today unveiled a new interactive website for small business owners who want to start a retirement savings plan for their employees.

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Haverfield Corp. of Cleveland and certain corporate executives misused assets of the Haverfield Corp employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to purchase company stock for the plan at artificially inflated prices, according to a lawsuit filed today by the U. S. Department of Labor.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

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The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, more popularly known as the ERISA Advisory Council, and its three recently-formed working groups will hold public meetings June 8 and 9. All sessions will take place in Conference Room N-4437 C&D at the U.S. Department of Labor's Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.