On January 28, 2026, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, Division of Investment Management, and Division of Trading and Markets jointly issued a Statement on the taxonomies associated with various products marketed as “tokenized securities.” The Statement confirmed what has been previously expressed in public statements: tokenization does not alter the legal status of a security or lessen regulatory obligations.

This summary addresses recent legal developments regarding the use of forfeitures by 401(k) plans and related compliance issues raised under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).

On December 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (the OIG) issued an unfavorable advisory opinion (AO 25-12 or the Opinion) regarding a home care agency’s (the Company) proposal to market sign-on bonuses to prospective employees of the Company, who would provide in-home support services primarily to the family members of these prospective employees (the Proposed Arrangement). Pursuant to AO 25-12, the OIG concluded that the Proposed Arrangement would result in prohibited remuneration under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (the AKS) and implicate the civil monetary penalty provision prohibiting inducements to beneficiaries (the Beneficiary Inducements CMP).