Jeffrey Lieberman, a Member of the Firm in the Employee Benefits practice, in the New York office, wrote a piece titled "Prohibited Transactions and Exemptions under ERISA and the IRC."
Following is a brief synopsis:
This Note describes the rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that prohibit certain transactions between parties in interest (or disqualified persons) and employee benefit plans. The Note also explains generally the types of transactions that are prohibited (including so-called "self-dealing"), commonly used exemptions to the rules, penalties for engaging in a prohibited transaction and available correction methods.