Benefits in the News

Prudential UK

"One in seven (14 per cent) people planning to retire this year will depend on the State Pension as they have no other pension, according to new research from Prudential. The insurer's Class of 2013 research, the latest of the annual studies conducted by Prudential since 2008, tracks the financial plans and expectations of people entering retirement this year. The study reveals that the average person planning to retire this year will rely on the State Pension for more than a third (36 per cent) of their income. Analysis by Prudential also reveals that nearly one in five (18 per cent) of those planning to retire this year will be below the poverty line."

The Washington Post

"It was no small matter for the ILM Group's executives when they froze the pension plan that has provided retirement security for the firm's employees since 1947.... What finally did the plan in? Rock-bottom interest rates. The very rates, in fact, that helped fuel a stock-market rally and brought ILM double-digit returns on its pension-fund investments in each of the past three years. But because of an accounting twist, the near-zero rates also caused ILM's projected pension obligations -- like those of every other private company that still provides a traditional pension -- to spike, overwhelming the stock-market gains."

On Wall Street

"Kara M. Stein and Michael S. Piwowar, both senior U.S. Senate aides, were nominated today by President Barack Obama to join the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stein would replace Elisse B. Walter as a Democratic commissioner and Piwowar would succeed Troy A. Paredes as a Republican appointee on the five-member commission that oversees the country's capital markets[.]"

Buck Consultants

"A group health plan that covers all the EHB included in the MV calculator generally will satisfy the MV requirement easily. However, if a plan does not cover one or more of these EHB (e.g., hospitalization, prescription drugs, outpatient services), it may not satisfy MV.

Baker Botts LLP

"Assuming the Court does not find all state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage unconstitutional, we would be left with the current patchwork of state laws that either permit or prohibit same-sex marriage and civil unions. Merely removing Section 3 of DOMA would most likely not herald in a new era of simplicity. What happens if the married same-sex couple from New York moves to a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage, like Texas?"

McGraw Wentworth

"The government previously indicated that it would change the 2014 SBC to eliminate annual maximums on essential health benefits. However, it did not change the template. The FAQs indicate that the SBC should keep the question 'Is there an overall annual limit on what the plan pays.' The SBC answer column should say 'no.' For the second year of applicability, plans may, at their discretion, remove the row with the question regarding annual dollar maximums."

NJ Spotlight

"Whether health insurance rates under the [ACA] will rise or fall is still a big unknown, as a recent congressional report made clear.... [O]ne company estimated that the combination of the individual mandate and subsidies would drive down premiums by $2,840 per year for a 60-year-old man, contributing to a 23 percent annual reduction. This estimate, however, is contingent on younger, healthier residents purchasing insurance and sharing in the risks and burdens of paying for care. The other company worked with a different scenario, estimating instead that the overall cost of premiums would rise by 6 percent for a 60-year-old man."

John Goodman in Forbes

"The evolution toward a two-tiered system was already under way before Barack Obama became president. But ironically, the [ACA] is accelerating the pace of change.... [W]e are about to see a huge increase in the demand for care and a major decrease in the supply. In any other market, that would cause prices to soar. But government plans to control costs (even more so than in the past) by vigorously suppressing provider fees and the private insurers are likely to resist fee increases as well. That means we are going to have a rationing problem."

Journal of Financial Planning

"Previous studies have evaluated portfolio withdrawal rates assuming a fixed initial withdrawal rate with inflation-adjusted increases thereafter. This study evaluates withdrawal increases zero or greater but not more than inflation. Future increases are contingent upon portfolio performance. A much higher initial withdrawal rate than previously thought possible can be achieved without increasing the probability of failure as long as the retiree reduces or eliminates the inflation increase for years indicated by the Target Percentage."

McKay Hochman

"There is no Internal Revenue Code section or regulation to permit a Roth IRA to be rolled to any plan other than to another Roth IRA.... Even though both the Roth IRA and the Roth 401(k) require a five-year period to be completed in order to satisfy the rules for tax-free earnings, the periods are different in certain ways... Roth IRAs and designated 401(k) Roth accounts have different rules for how partial distributions under age 59-1/2 are withdrawn that impact taxation of the earnings."

Sarah Kliff in The Washington Post

"Health insurers will charge 25-year-olds between $142 and $190 per month for a bare-bones health plan in Los Angeles. A 40-year-old in San Francisco who wants a top-of-the-line plan would receive a bill between $451 and $525. Downgrade to a less robust option, and premiums fall as low as $221."

Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas in The Washington Post

"The California exchange will have 13 insurance options, and the heavy competition appears to be driving down prices.... California is a particularly important test for Obamacare. It's not just the largest state in the nation. It's also one of the states most committed to implementing Obamacare effectively"

The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required

"The European Commission has decided not to impose tough new capital requirements on pension funds, at least for now, a move that could save defined-benefit programs hundreds of billions of euros.... The Commission had been considering forcing pension funds to hold more capital in reserve to make sure they can meet their obligations, as part of an update of a 2003 directive on employment-based retirement funds."

Los Angeles Times

"California received better-than-expected insurance rates for a new state-run marketplace, but many consumers still won't be spared from sharply higher premiums.... Consumers shopping in the exchange will have three to six health insurance plans to choose from in each of the state's 19 regions. In the south Los Angeles County region, for instance, rates for a 40-year-old purchasing a Silver plan ranged from $242 a month through Health Net Inc. to $325 a month through Kaiser Permanente. Overall, Los Angeles County had the lowest premiums statewide for the Silver plans."

PR Newswire

"U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Ron Kind (D- WI) introduced bipartisan legislation to provide relief to non-profits such as local Girl Scout councils, which now have higher pension funding rules than taxable, for-profit companies.... The Charitable Pension Flexibility Act applies to charity pension plans with multiple entities that are exempt from normal pension funding rules until 2017. This straightforward bill would permit such plans to elect into the normal rules in 2014. A technical correction that previously passed the Senate would have permitted this same option."

On Wall Street

"Supporters of the draft bills presented argued that they would create safeguards against burdensome Dodd-Frank regulations.... One of the proposals, authored by U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., would require the SEC to identify and articulate a specific harm to retail investors before imposing new fiduciary obligations on broker-dealers."

PLANSPONSOR.com

"[EBSA's] budget has decreased for 2014, but this will not affect enforcement.... Fred Reish, a partner in Drinker Biddle's Los Angeles office, said, in his experience, once the investigations are underway, the DOL has looked most closely at prohibited transaction issues by acknowledged fiduciaries.... Reish agreed that the industry can expect to see more enforcement when it comes to IRAs, but added, 'We may also see more about prohibited transaction exemptions like in [PTE 86-128 Class Exemption for Securities Transactions Involving Employee Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers]. People will definitely need to be a bit more careful with IRAs.'"

The Health Care Blog

"The far more interesting lesson from Oregon is that we should not oversell the value of health insurance to improving people's health. While health insurance improves access to healthcare services (modestly), its impact on health is surprisingly and disappointingly small."

Senate Finance Committee Staff

"Following are several potential goals that could serve as guidelines for the [Senate Finance Committee] when reviewing the tax rules that affect the economic security of Americans: [1] Minimize the disruption to business practices and employee expectations inherent in any fundamental tax reform; [2] Simplify the taxation of retirement savings and health insurance; [3] Increase the number of people with enough resources for an adequate standard of living in retirement, and expand access to health insurance; [4] Maximize the bang-for-the-buck of any tax incentives that are retained or reformed; [6] Develop neutral rules regarding compensation and fringe benefits to ensure that business needs and not tax planning drive compensation decisions, while minimizing compliance costs[.]"

Lane Powell PC

"[W]hat happens when the plan offers employees the choice to purchase supplemental life insurance? If the employee pays the entire premium for the supplemental benefit, is that benefit still governed by ERISA? ... [This] case outlines the tests to determine when ERISA should govern supplemental life insurance benefits." [Cox v Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., 2013 WL 2156546 (E.D. Cal. May 17, 2013)]

Fox News

"[W]hile 26 percent of voters say their health care situation will be better under the new law, twice as many -- 53 percent -- say it will be worse. Another 13 percent say it won't make a difference.... [A] 56-percent majority wants to go back to the health care system that was in place in 2009. Some 34 percent would stick with the new law."

CFO.com

"'What the SEC wants to do is push the envelope of Section 304 further, and the next horizon appears to be negligence-based cases without regard to fraud,' says [attorney Junaid] Zubairi ... 'As the SEC staff has made clear in litigation filings, during the investigative phases of these matters there are ongoing discussions about whether mere negligence is enough to trigger a clawback, and the staff is taking the position that it is.'"

Leonard, Street and Deinard

"As healthcare advances increase longevity, plan participants and plan sponsors are becoming more concerned about retirement savings and the participant's ability to sustain an income flow during their lifetime. The DOL proposal is motivated by the premise that providing plan participants with more information will motivate them to make better personal saving and investment decisions with respect to their 401(k) plan."

Thompson SmartHR Manager

"Fast-moving events have advanced state-level proposals aimed at regulating stop-loss, which would make it more expensive for small employers to self-insure health benefits, and put power over self-funding in the hands of state insurance commissioners." [Article includes summaries of developments in Utah, California, Colorado, Idaho, Rhode Island, and North Carolina.]

Towers Watson

"The median value of total direct compensation for directors increased 4% from the previous year. The mix of pay remained the same, however, with pay typically delivered 45% in cash and 55% in equity. The median cash compensation grew by 3% while the median level of equity compensation increased by 4% over 2012 levels."

Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

"A class action suit regarding a pension plan's failure to utilize a 'whipsaw' formula properly was not barred by the employees' agreement to a general release of claims in exchange for severance, the [Sixth Circuit] has held. The whipsaw claims had not accrued at the time of the execution of the severance agreements and the releases made no mention of future ERISA claims." [Schumacher v. AK Steel Corporation Retirement Accumulation Pension Plan, No. 12-3061/3063 (6th Cir. Mar. 28, 2013)]

Morningstar Advisor

"The left brain is logical, linear, sequential, and organized. The left brain likes to plan and budget, and craves order. It is methodical, structured, and incredibly detail oriented. The left side of the brain is usually what draws individuals to the financial planning career path.... However, we are now discovering that it can be a mistake to operate and attempt to work with clients only from the left-brain viewpoint."

National Academy of Social Insurance

"A temporary reallocation of part of Social Security's 6.2% tax rate from the OASI trust fund to the DI trust fund would ensure that both funds can pay full benefits until 2033. After that, in the absence of further action by Congress in the meantime, scheduled taxes would cover about 75% of scheduled benefits."

Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center Blog

"The Sixth Circuit also agreed with the district court that the fiduciary breach claim should be dismissed because any misrepresentation made by the committee was not made negligently.... [T]he service provider performed a ministerial function for the plan by managing software to calculate benefits according to unambiguous plan terms, the committee relied on the service provider's program to provide the estimates, and the committee had no reason to doubt the service provider's competence." [Stark v. Mars Inc., No. 12-3956, 2013 WL 1908889 (6th Cir. May 9, 2013)]

Employee Benefit News

"In a talk intended to educate an employer audience about public health insurance exchanges, employee benefits attorney Jeffrey Endick pointed to pros and cons in the [ACA] that established the entities.... His overarching messages to the audience were to think of exchanges as an 'alternative to the employer-based system,' remember the 'enormous complexity' of the exchanges and think about the extreme amount of money that is and will continue to 'flood' into the exchanges."

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

"According to PBGC estimates, as of March 31, 2012, the pension plan was 41 percent funded with $69.3 million in assets to pay $168.4 million in benefits. The agency expects to cover $95.6 million of the $99.1 million shortfall."

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

"On May 17, Marc I. Machiz, Director of the EBSA's Philadelphia Region, highlighted one ERISA violation that his region plans to focus on in the coming months. His region is now making a concerted effort in ferreting out excessive fee cases where retirement plan participants appear to be paying higher aggregate fees than others. Machiz expects that the investigations will attempt to determine who is as fault for excessive fees and why."

Fox Rothschild LLP

"[W]hen considering your benefit offerings, what plans to provide and how to administer them, make sure your benefit professionals know as much about the ownership structure and corporate form of the company that can be provided. Don't hide the existence of a control group. Make sure everyone know how the company operates, and all other entities that might be considered as related to that company and make sure to ask if the structure has an impact on your benefit plan design."

Reuters

"HCO went bankrupt and shut down a year after winning its 2003 'church-plan' exemption, leaving the pensions of Rich and more than 800 other former employees at risk. The IRS revoked HCO's church-plan status last month after a highly unusual collaboration between pension rights activists and Josh Gotbaum, director of the PBGC."

Governing

"Miami city commissioners, who in recent years have cut severance pay and pensions to balance budgets, could vote Tuesday to allow four of the city's highest earners to return from retirement and collect their pension on top of their hefty salary. The plan could mean millions of dollars of extra pay over the long haul for the city clerk, auditor, city attorney and the city manager."

Timothy Jost in Health Affairs

"Since the individual mandate claim that had been the centerpiece of the original case has now been settled by the Supreme Court ... the case on remand was supposed to focus on the constitutionality of the employer mandate.... Most of the argument was consumed with jurisdictional issues, which are complex, and with whether the court could properly consider a new challenge Liberty is now mounting against regulations implementing a different statutory provision, the preventive services mandate."

HealthLeaders InterStudy

"Rhode Island being the smallest state, you might think word would travel faster there. But according to a recent survey commissioned by the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange, four out of five state residents have never heard of the exchange. So much for brand awareness."

U.S. Department of Labor

"The 401(k) plan was established in July 1992. The company closed its doors in June 2008, and all its assets were sold at bank auction in August 2008. David Hardy, the plan's sole trustee, filed for bankruptcy in January 2010. Since 2008, no individual has come forth to assume fiduciary responsibility for the plan or to distribute the plan's assets to its participants."

Employee Benefit News

"Quarterly reports are virtually useless for giving you any insight about your group. The reason is that very little changes from one three-month period to the next, and what does change is more often a natural fluctuation or a fluke.... press the plan administrator for reports that list your group's costs by clinical condition. Even if the report gives the clinical conditions only for your top two or three major diagnostic categories, this will give you a great deal more insight."

EBRI

"The average IRA account balance in 2011 was $70,915, while the average IRA individual balance (all accounts from the same person combined) was $87,668. The median (mid-point) account balance was $19,619, and the median individual balance was $23,785. Individuals with a traditional IRA originating from rollovers had the highest average and median balance of $110,918 and $31,944, respectively. Roth owners had the lowest average and median balance at $25,228 and $11,344."

Kitsap Sun

"About 5.3 million people will be eligible for coverage through Covered California -- more than 13% of the state. Not only will more of the state's population get coverage through the exchange, but the public competition in Covered California may influence coverage and premiums in group markets as well."

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

"The exchange model included navigators because similar 'helper' programs have worked well to connect people with the programs and services for which they're eligible ... For example, the federally funded and administered State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers one-on-one guidance to Medicare beneficiaries in every state. And similar assister programs have played a significant role in increasing enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP across the country[.]"

Cypen & Cypen

Article titles include: National League of Cities Says Public Pension Plans Are Not in a Current Crisis; 2013 Trends in State and Local Government Workforce; DB Plans Starting To Allow Lump Sum Distributions; You Work, You Retire and Then You Die; and Couples Retiring in 2013 Will Need $220,000 To Pay Medical Expenses Throughout Retirement.

American Academy of Actuaries

"A generation ago, the 1983 Social Security Amendments, a bipartisan accord, was adopted to keep Social Security solvent by, among other things, raising the full retirement age -- the earliest age at which an individual can receive unreduced old-age benefits. Thirty years later, Americans are living even longer, and it is time again to consider the options for making the program solvent."

American Academy of Actuaries

"While the American Academy of Actuaries advocates for inclusion of an increase in full retirement age in efforts to restore Social Security's long-term actuarial balance, it has not endorsed any one proposal as there are several approaches that can make this adjustment. Increasing the retirement age can contribute significantly to stemming the impact of the program's inadequate financing as a result of the demographic trend of increased longevity and help put the program back on track toward actuarial balance."

U.S.News & World Report

"If your old plan doesn't offer a top-flight, low-cost investment menu perhaps you are better off rolling the balance to an IRA or to your new employer's plan if one is offered. At any rate, you should pay attention to this money, unlike far too many people who leave an old 401(k) with an old employer and forget about it."

Janus

"Many plan sponsors were caught by surprise by the widely divergent performance of target-date funds (TDFs) during the market meltdown of 2008-2009.... Largely missing from the discussion, however, is the impact of the financial crisis on the fixed income market and the very real possibility that rising interest rates could contribute significantly to the overall risk level of TDFs and to their return variability, particularly for funds nearing their end date. For some plan sponsors, a custom fixed income solution may provide the flexibility to manage duration with the TDF end date in mind."

University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

"Back when baby boomers were young -- and sex, drugs, and rock and roll were at their height -- many commentators questioned what this feckless generation of do-nothings boded for the future of the country.... Wouldn't those commentators be surprised. Because the boomers now hitting retirement age are hanging onto their jobs like pit bulls, and sometimes forgetting to retire altogether. In fact, it would be easy to conclude that boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- are a bunch of workaholics."

Kaiser Health News

"The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is the first federal appellate court to hear arguments in cases challenging the mandate that took effect last August.... The case brought by Hobby Lobby Inc. is considered the most prominent of these efforts." [The linked article includes a synopsis and links to three excellent articles about the contraceptive mandate cases.]

The Wall Street Journal; paid subscription may be required

"[H]ealth-insurance board chairmen [in both Idaho and New Mexico] said this week they can't get their computer systems ready by Oct. 1 and need the federal government to help.... Federal officials say they are monitoring each state's progress and can absorb more states into the federal computer system if needed.... [CMS] confirmed it will run the technology behind the Idaho and New Mexico exchanges but said it still considers those state-based exchanges."

Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.Department of Labor

"PTE 80-26 is a class exemption that permits parties in interest with respect to employee benefit plans to make certain interest free loans and extensions of credit to such plans, provided the conditions of the exemption are met. The proposed amendment, if adopted, would give retroactive and temporary exemptive relief for certain guarantees of the payment of debits to plan investment accounts (including IRAs) by parties in interest to such plans as well as certain loans and loan repayments made pursuant to such guarantees.... The proposed amendment was requested by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)[.]"

The Hill

"The links between a nonprofit promoting President Obama's healthcare law and the White House have created an 'air of expectation' that insurers will contribute to the group, according to an insurance industry official. Current and former administration officials have taken on leadership and fundraising roles for Enroll America, a nonprofit aiming to make sure people sign up for new coverage options. As the ties grow deeper, the organization has come to feel like 'just an arm of the administration,' said one official who works closely with insurers."

Marco Huesch and Robert Szczerba in Health Affairs

"While the financial services industry has had prolonged success combating fraudulent transactions with technology-based solutions, it is important to realize that the rate of improper payments was perhaps at most 0.1-0.2 percent. The estimated level of improper payments in Medicare is 50-100 times higher. This level of endemic fraud, waste, and abuse is best addressed through incentives for all stakeholders, implementation of multiple, differentiated and decentralized solutions, and establishment of stretch goals for combating improper payments."

Urban Institute

"Reform of the Social Security benefit structure should proceed on the basis of principles and goals related to adequacy, protections in old age, encouragement of work to protect the tax base on which programs like this depend, and equal justice under the law for those equally situated. Many features of current law violate basic principles of public finance without promoting other worthy goals in an effective or well-targeted manner. In his testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, Gene Steuerle lays out how to go beyond the types of options put forward by many proposals under consideration to achieve such reform."

Morgan Lewis

"The [settlement with Northern Lights and Gemini] reminds boards that the SEC Enforcement Division's Asset Management Unit 'has been taking a widespread look into the investment advisory contract renewal process and fee arrangements in the fund industry' and that fund governance and the role of fund directors in the contract renewal process is an examination priority for the SEC staff. The matter also comes on the heels of the SEC's settlement with former fund directors in connection with alleged deficiencies in fair valuation practices."

Internal Revenue Service

"As [the author] understands the facts, the employer is providing cash in lieu of the health benefits that it should have provided. Even though the health benefits themselves may have been excludable from gross income, the cash payments are not. These payments are regular wages reported on Form W-2." [Released to the public as Chief Counsel Advice 2013042214410232; Chief Counsel Advice consists of memoranda written in response to various internal requests for guidance from IRS agents, officers, and attorneys. Chief Counsel Advice is not substantial authority and cannot be cited in court.]

Fidelity Investments

"[Fidelity's] quarterly analysis of its 401(k) accounts ... found that the overall average balance hit another record high reaching $80,900 at the end of the first quarter. This represents an 8.4 percent increase over one year prior when the average balance stood at $74,600 and 75 percent growth since the market low during the first quarter 2009 when it dropped to $46,200. Continued contributions from the employee and employer as well as the strong equity markets contributed to the overall gains."

CPA Practice Advisor

"The survey asked more than 130 U.S. accounting firms for the biggest challenges they and their clients face in implementing the health care legislation. Here are the top three responses: [1] Assessing the impact of employer-shared responsibility requirements -- i.e., determining large employer status, assessing affordability and minimum value of coverage, and estimating possible penalties. [2] Understanding nondiscrimination requirements for employer-provided health insurance plans. [3] Calculating premium-assistance and cost-sharing reduction subsidies to allow individuals to see the subsidy they would receive based on varying income levels, family size, etc."

Chicago Tribune

"New numbers from state pension systems released Tuesday showed that the Cullerton bill would reduce the shortfall by about $5 billion immediately instead of the Senate president's early estimates of about $10 billion. The $5 billion in the Cullerton plan is far less than the $27 billion to $30 billion estimate for the Madigan pension bill[.]"

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

"According to the court, the plan's terms clearly listed her proposed disc replacement as a treatment that Cigna 'does not cover' because it was considered 'experimental, investigational or unproven.' Although Plaintiff submitted medical literature in support of her position that such treatment should not be considered experimental, the court said that it could not order Cigna 'to rewrite its policy'.... Affirming the denial of coverage, the court concluded that Cigna 'was not only correct to deny the claim in accordance with the Plan language, but required by law to do so as a fiduciary of the Plan.'" [Dubaich v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., No. 2L11-cv-10670-DMG-AJW (C.D. Cal. Apr. 25, 2013)]

Financial Advisor

"1. Highlight the benefits of fully automated retirement plans.... 2. Show plan sponsors that automation costs may be lower than they think.... 3. Offer clients new, game-changing ideas.... 4. Maintain value in a competitive market.... 5. Select the best qualified default investment alternative (QDIA)."

On Wall Street

"For a generation between 22 and 32 years old, saving for retirement is one of the most important things they can do for their financial future -- at exactly the time they can't afford to do it. More than half of the so-called millennial generation, 54%, reported that debt was their 'biggest financial concern currently' ... Debt was reported as 'overwhelming' by 42% of respondents, which was twice the rate of boomers who were also surveyed."

Reuters

"Pension funds have the benefit of investing for a whole pool of people; they can look longer term and take different risks. Still, there are lessons to be learned by the two types of retirement plans' disparate returns.... The bigger the pool, the better the returns.... Fees matter... Don't play follow the leader.... Don't rule out the return of pensions."

Politico

"Obamacare's birth control mandate will go before four different appeals courts over the next three weeks as private businesses that object to the policy on religious liberty grounds bring a barrage of lawsuits that opponents hope to get before the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as this fall. [This week] two for-profit companies will ask the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to strike the requirement that they provide employees with insurance coverage that includes birth control and other drugs that they say can cause abortion. Three other companies will present oral arguments in different appeals courts by early June.... More than 60 lawsuits have been filed on the issue -- about half by for-profit businesses and half by nonprofit institutions."

Holland & Hart

"Idaho State University agreed to pay $400,000 to settle HIPAA Security Rule violations that allegedly left the electronic health information of 17,500 patients accessible for at least 10 months. According to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR): [1] ISU disabled firewall protections that would have otherwise protected the information on its servers. [2] ISU's risk analyses and assessments of its affiliated clinics were inadequate. [3] ISU failed to apply proper security measures and policies to address risks to the information. [4] ISU did not have procedures for routine review of its system which could have detected the firewall breach much sooner."

Dodd-Frank.com, a blog by Leonard, Street and Deinard

"Pfizer argued that the exchange offer would not result in inequitable treatment for those employees subject to a suspension, and hence Regulation BTR should not apply. In other words, this is not Enron. It's why Regulation BTR includes an exception for mergers etc., which should apply here, even if Rule 101(c)(9) does not specifically refer to exchange offers. The SEC granted the no-action request, subject to some conditions."

Retirement Town Hall

"[W]hile the top 100 pension plans in the United States saw an optimistic $106 billion cumulative increase in funding in the first quarter of 2013, these pension plans have seen a $37 billion decrease in funded status for April 2013. Simply put, pension benefit obligations are increasing, while growth in assets, either by employer contributions or investment return, has failed to keep pace."

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

"Does your 401(k) plan pay higher than average fees? Do you have more than one qualified plan? A number of recent reports indicate why you may receive special scrutiny if your plan is selected for audit or investigation.... Here is some information about new projects and what the auditors will be looking at, and some advice how to prepare."

Steven Hall & Partners

"1,520 companies have held Say on Pay votes in 2013 ... 73% of companies have received a greater than 90% 'For' vote; Average vote among all companies: 90.5% 'For' vote, 7.7% 'Against' vote, 1.8% Abstentions."

Paula Wade in HealthLeaders InterStudy

"After posting hefty profits in 2012, the publicly traded health plans have released pretty darn good first-quarter earnings and most even upped their forecasts for the year.... And, by the way, their stock prices are up.... To listen to some of the health plan executives talk, though, it's as if they expect Obamacare to swallow them whole. They warn of 20 percent-plus increases in commercial premiums as if they are inevitable. State healthcare exchanges are spoken of as more risk than opportunity."