ESOP liability

[Guest klc]

Seems to me there is a great deal of liability associated with being involved in an ESOP? In what capacity do you serve for your clients? Trustee, Custodian, Recordkeeper, etc.?

What are your thoughts on the amount of liability involved and how have you dealt with it?

For those of you that do recordkeeping for ESOP's how do you train your staff since they operate so different from a 401(k), p/s, mpp, etc.

[RLL]

If you are interested in getting involved as an ESOP service provider, it's very important to learn the special rules, etc., applicable to ESOPs. The more educated and knowledgable about ESOPs that you can be, the less exposure to liabilty. What specific ESOP areas interest you? What services are you thinking about providing?

I strongly recommend that you join The ESOP Association, www.esopassociation.org, a national association of ESOP companies and professionals. Also, the National Center for Employee Ownership, www.nceo.org, a non-profit research and educational organization.