On August 7, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the DOL, the SEC, and Treasury (including the IRS) to review and revise guidance to facilitate the inclusion of alternative investments—such as private equity, cryptocurrency, and other non-traditional assets—in defined contribution retirement plans. The Executive Order follows action in May of this year by the DOL to rescind its 2022 guidance that discouraged fiduciaries from including cryptocurrency options in 401(k) retirement plans.

July was an exciting month for employer-sponsored health and welfare benefits. Many of the changes discussed provide plan sponsors with increased flexibility to optimize benefits.

On July 25, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS or Service) released an Interim Guidance Memorandum dated July 23, 2025 (the IGM) that i) eliminates the Acknowledgement of Facts (AOF) Information Document Requests (IDR) from Large Business & International Division (LB&I) examinations, ii) provides updates on the changes to the Fast Track Settlements (FTS) pilot program, and iii) clarifies the applicability of Accelerated Issue Resolution (AIR) to Large Corporate Compliance (LCC) cases.