November 28, 2001 - 12,583 subscribers Today's sponsor: In Plain English (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) ERISA requires new SPDs by January 22, 2003. Will you be ready? Let In Plain English® write and produce your SPDs for print and the Web. Compliant, Correct, Easy-to-Read... Guaranteed! For more information on how we can help you, visit http://www.InPlainEnglish.com or email Ron Wohl at rwohl@InPlainEnglish.Com. To receive our FREE SPD ALERT Newsletter, subscribe at http://www.InPlainEnglish.com/welcome.htm (Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Labor Department Sues Employer for Failure to Forward 401(k) Contributions to Trust Excerpt: "The suit asks the court to require the defendants to restore all losses suffered by the plan, including lost interest and lost opportunity costs; to require the plan to set off [trustees] Gordon and Jarvis's individual plan accounts against the losses caused by the alleged misconduct; to remove Gordon and Jarvis as fiduciaries of the plan ..." (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) ERIC Files Comments on Application of Age Discrimination Rules to Cash Balance Plans (PDF) Excerpt: "The ERISA Industry Committee makes this submission to express its strong concerns with the way the Treasury's proposed regulations under Code § 411(b)(1)(H) might treat cash balance conversions that result in wear-away." (ERISA Industry Committee) Supreme Court Lets California Decision Stand, Taxing Portion of Asset Reversion to Plan Sponsor Excerpt: "Hoechst Celanese Corporation has lost its bid to avoid paying California state taxes on part of a $388-million pension reversion from a qualified pension trust." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required) Railroad Retirement Dispute Lingers as Senate Winds Down Excerpt: "Senate Democrats yesterday blocked a move to force a vote on anti-cloning legislation and Republicans balked at action on a railroad retirement plan, signaling a slow and quarrelsome start to Congress's final few weeks of lawmaking for the year." (Washington Post) Republican Senators Block Consideration of Railroad Retirement Investment Bill Excerpt: "A handful of Senate Republicans blocked consideration on Tuesday of a measure to let some railway pension funds be invested on Wall Street, calling it an attempt to 'pilfer' pensions and leave taxpayers with the bill." (Reuters Health via Yahoo! News) Results of Allstate Financial Retirement Reality Check Excerpt: "In an effort to help educate middle-income Americans about the importance of planning for a financially secure retirement, Allstate Financial, a business unit of The Allstate Corporation, released the first annual Allstate Financial Retirement Reality Check survey." (Allstate) Merging/Terminating Money Purchase Pension Plans as a Result of EGTRRA Excerpt: "[M]any sponsors who maintain both a money purchase plan and a profit sharing plan may find it desirable to merger or terminate the money purchase pension plan. There are two ways to dispose of the money purchase plan: termination or amendment/merger into a profit sharing plan (with or without 401(k) provisions)." (SunGard Corbel) Opinion: the Real Cost of Long Term Money Management Excerpt: "Could you use an extra $200,000 or so? How about $1,000,000? Then lets examine what high expense 401(k) and 403(b) plans are costing plan participants." (Scott Burns of The Dallas Morning News) SEC Proposes To Allow More Bank Common Trust Fund Mergers Excerpt: "One of the exemptions proposed by the SEC is that the rule be amended to exempt mergers of funds with bank common trust funds or bank collective trust funds. Collective trust funds are maintained by banks to hold assets of ERISA-qualified plans. Thus, the exception would permit mergers between registered investment companies and certain unregistered entities for the first time." (CCH) IRS Launches "Fast Track" Dispute Resolution The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it has launched a pilot program aimed at reducing the time it takes to resolve disputes between the agency and corporate taxpayers. According to the IRS, the 'Large and Mid-Size Business Division Fast Track Dispute Resolution Pilot Program' creates a new opportunity for corporate taxpayers to resolve outstanding tax issues early in the course of disagreements during the examination process. (Spencernet) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
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