Retirement Industry People Moves

Hall Benefits Law Announces Changes to ERISA Team

Hall Benefits Law (HBL) has added Compliance Counsel Keely Collins to its team of attorneys, while J.D. candidate Allison Richter is leaving the firm as a result of her completion of the firm’s first HBL Summer Intern Program.

Collins received her juris doctor from Widener University School of Law and earned her Master of Laws in taxation with a certificate in employee benefits from Villanova University School of Law. 

Richter supported the legal team for two months as she completed the firm’s first summer intern program.

Collins, who joined the firm as compliance counsel mid-month, will partner with clients of all sizes to prepare them for external regulatory audits, represent them in board meetings, develop and manage bespoke employee benefits and compensation plans, and provide general and pension counsel. In addition to those responsibilities, Collins works directly with lead ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] counsel Robert Forman to help provide counsel to clients who use the firm’s pre-approved retirement plan document.

Principal Attorney Anne Tyler Hall responded to the hire stating, “Keely adds a depth of legal compliance experience and professionalism to the HBL team. She embodies HBL’s core value of providing exceptional work product and service for our clients, and she goes above and beyond to fulfill that mission. Keely is a welcome addition to the team and brings incredible passion to her role as compliance counsel here at Hall Benefits Law. With her drive to help businesses with their legal compliance needs, Keely is sure to provide additional value to every client she works with.”

Richter joined the HBL Summer Intern Program in June and worked closely with the legal team for two months before heading back to Washington, D.C., for her second year at George Washington University Law School. She assisted Hall Benefits Law team members with projects involving health and welfare benefits, retirement plans and executive compensation. She also worked closely with the firm’s attorneys to research regulations, analyze client issues and draft memoranda, including articles for publication.

Hall weighed in on the firm’s first intern, specifically highlighting Allison’s direct contributions over the summer: “Allison’s commitment and dedication to becoming an excellent ERISA practitioner has been evident in her work ethic and work product, most recently leading an internal education session on plan sponsor pitfalls relative to COBRA [Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act] notices and changes to e-disclosure rules.”

BNY Mellon Elects Governance Expert to Board of Directors

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has elected Ralph Izzo, chairman, president and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG), as an independent director, effective August 10. 

With the addition of Izzo, BNY Mellon’s Board of Directors will have 11 directors, 10 of whom are independent. Izzo will serve on the Audit and Corporate Governance, Nominating and Social Responsibility Committees of BNY Mellon’s board.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ralph to our board,” says Todd Gibbons, CEO of BNY Mellon. “With wide-ranging expertise, from strategic planning, to finance and risk management, he will bring a variety of valuable insights.”

“Ralph’s extensive chief executive experience at a complex, publicly traded company, as well as his operations experience in a highly regulated industry, will complement and enhance the diverse experiences and backgrounds of the other members of our board,” adds Joseph Echevarria, chairman of the board. 

Izzo has served as chairman and chief executive officer of PSEG, a publicly traded diversified energy holding company, since April 2007. He has been the company’s president and a member of the board of directors of PSEG since October 2006. Previously, Izzo was president and chief operating officer of Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), an operating subsidiary of PSEG. Since joining PSE&G in 1992, he has held several executive positions within the PSEG family of companies.  

Izzo received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in applied physics from Columbia University. He also received a master’s degree, with a concentration in finance, from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.