| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |   |
December 27, 2001 - 12,829 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Glasser LegalWorks
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You are invited to attend the nation's leading seminar on how recent cases affect claims, plan design and operations. Highlights of this year's program include: -Health Care Plan Litigation -Fiduciary Litigation -Preemption after Egelhoff -Aftermath of Pegram -Managed Care Litigation More details are available now in an online brochure: http://www.legalwks.com/conferences/erisa_lit/home.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)
IRS Publishes Safe Harbor Explanation of Rollover Rights for Distributions On or After 1/1/2002
Excerpt: "The appropriate Safe Harbor Explanation meets the requirements of § 402(f) for distributions on or after January 1, 2002, if it is provided to the recipient of an eligible rollover distribution within a reasonable period of time before the distribution is made.... [B]ecause of the changes made by EGTRRA, for distributions on or after January 1, 2002 ... the explanation provided in Notice 2000-11 will not be considered a Safe Harbor Explanation." (Internal Revenue Service)
DOL Says 2001 Form 5500 Will Allow Brokerage Window Assets to Be Reported on Single Line
December 12, 2001 information letter to attorney Stephen M. Saxon. Excerpt: "This is in response to your request on behalf of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), regarding the annual reporting requirements of [ERISA] ... You expressed concern that the administrative burdens and costs associated with the Form 5500 annual reporting requirements will deter plan sponsors from offering brokerage accounts as an option under their plans." (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
IRS: Small Employers Claiming Exemption from User Fee Should Use Draft Form 8717 During January 2002
Excerpt: "The revised [Form 8717] will not be available ... until late in January 2002. Accordingly, prior to that time employers that meet the requirements [for exemption from the user fee] may use the draft Form 8717 and the related instructions that are being made available through the Employee Plans Newsletter.' In our reprint of the announcement, BenefitsLink includes a link to the Adobe Acrobat version of the draft Form 8717. (Internal Revenue Service)
PBGC Takes Over Empire Steel Pensions
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) ... announced it has taken over two pension plans covering more than 2,400 hourly and salaried employees of Empire Specialty Steel Co., a Dunkirk, N.Y. producer of bar, rod, wire and specialty alloys that closed in July." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Fiduciary Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege Gives Plan Participant Some, but Not All, Documents
Coffman v. Metropolitan Life Ins. (S.D.W.V. 2001). Excerpt: "This court decision illustrates that an ERISA plan sponsor may be required to disclose attorney-client communications in ERISA benefits litigation. The documents in dispute related to the plaintiff's denied disability claim.... This decision serves as a reminder that communications with an attorney about a benefit denial may be subject to later disclosure if the matter ends up in litigation." (EBIA Weekly)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| Marketing Consultant (Conversion & Case Management) | for WESPAC Plan Services, Inc. in CA |
| Plan Administrator | for Creative Plan Designs, Ltd. in NY |
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Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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