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June 12, 2003 - 13,189 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
ASC - QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR THE PENSION INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS ASC provides complete automation for the pension office, including: DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, sophisticated Compliance Testing, DV Direct Daily Valuation, Advanced Information Manager Database (AIM), and Single-Step Processing. All ASC Technical Support Members were experienced Pension Administrators or Actuaries before joining ASC-- and most have been with ASC for over 10 years.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Reminder: June 30 Deadline for Comp Definition Amendment if Not Done with GUST Amendments
Excerpt: "Section 314(e) of the CRA clarified that salary reduction amounts for qualified transportation fringe benefits (i.e., commuter highway vehicles, transit passes, and qualified parking) are to be treated as compensation for purposes of the tax-qualified retirement plan benefit and contribution limits.... In Rev. Proc. 2002-73, the IRS extends the deadline for amending plans for this purpose until the later of ... the end of the plan's GUST remedial amendment period, or June 30, 2003." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
Bush Administration May Be Reviving Retirement Savings Proposals
Excerpt: "[T]he Bush Administration seems poised to revise a sweeping proposal initially released in February 2003 that would radically modify the employment-based retirement structure. Speaking at the Retirement Savings Conference ... in Washington DC on June 2, 2003, Assistant Treasury Secretary Pamela Olson asserted that the President's proposal would simplify a retirement system that effectively discourages individuals from saving and employers from sponsoring retirement plans." (CCH Pension and Benefits News)
Text of June 2 Remarks on Retirement Plans by Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Pamela Olson
Excerpt: "What is it the business world has done to increase productivity? They've simplified.... In the tax world, instead of simplifying to increase productivity in compliance and administration, we keep adding complexity ... Nowhere is this problem more evident than in the numerous savings vehicles we have in the Code." (U.S. Treasury Department)
412(i) Plans Prediction: Bad News Coming for Abusers
June 2003 issue. Excerpt: "Not content with the many advantages of perfectly legitimate 412(i) programs provided by economically sound and highly ethical insurance carriers, some promoters try to make a good thing 'better' and end up with over-the-edge, abusive 412(i) plans that will cause them and their clients much grief." (National Association of Estate Planners & Councils)
Pension Contributions: 'Brother, Can You Spare $36 Billion?'
Excerpt: "Underfunded defined-benefit pension plans sponsored by Standard & Poor's 500 companies could require a boost of about $36 billion in the next 16 months. This according to a study of defined-benefit plan disclosures in the 10-K filings of the constituent companies of the S&P index." (CFO.com)
Witnesses' Prepared Statements for Hearing on 'Examining the Health and Future of the DB Plan'
Witnesses were Dr. Jack VanDerhei for the Employee Benefit Research Institute; Ron Gebhardtsbauer for the American Academy of Actuaries; Dr. John Leary, Esq. of O'Donoghue and O'Donoghue; and J. Mark Iwry, Esq. of The Brookings Institution. (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations)
United Air Lines Stock Held by ESOP to Become Worthless
Excerpt: "Shareholders of UAL Corp. probably will see their investments erased when the parent of United Airlines emerges from bankruptcy-court protection, the company said Tuesday.... The [ESOP's] trustee sold more than 25 million shares since September 2002 but was blocked by the bankruptcy court from further sales so UAL could preserve certain tax benefits." (Rocky Mountain News)
Lawsuit Says Wal-Mart SPD Language on Unionized Employees Benefits Exclusion Violates ERISA
Excerpt: "Giant retailer Wal-Mart has been hit with a federal court lawsuit alleging that the company violated ERISA by saying in its employee handbook that unionized workers wouldn't get benefits. The suit, filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks an order requiring Wal-Mart to change the language in its benefit book to notify employees of their rights to form a union without losing their benefits, according to Washington-based legal publisher BNA." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Employee Ownership Update for June 11, 2003
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses a FASB accounting guideline that apparently requires ESOP companies to book the ESOP repurchase obligation, as well as mandatory repurchase features in other plans, as an expense; a survey that shows many employees are confused about stock options; and a Ninth Circuit case that allows Boise Cascade a deduction for ESOP distributions of convertible preferred stock. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Overview: IRS Correction Program Updated and Expanded (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "A big change is that payment of the fee will be required to be made with the filing and not after IRS review of the submission or entry into a compliance statement." (Seyfarth Shaw)
Full Text of Enrolled Actuaries Report, Summer 2003 Issue (PDF)
8 pages. Articles include 'Final 204(h) Regs Released', 'Small Plan Assumptions'. (American Academy of Actuaries)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
IRS Official Speaks on Abusive Tax Shelters, Disclosure Duty Despite Claimed 'Identity Privilege' (PDF)
Speech by Emily Parker, Deputy Chief Counsel (Operations). Excerpt: "Over the last year, the IRS has continued to take actions to identify, discourage and audit abusive tax avoidance transactions. Today, I will summarize some of our actions and, in particular, our response to claims of attorney-client and tax practitioner privilege that have been asserted by promoters and their customers in the course of promoter audits." (Internal Revenue Service)
Siebel Shareholders Reject Stock Option Expensing Proposal
Excerpt: "Shareholders of business software maker Siebel Systems Inc. on Wednesday defeated a proposal urging management to expense stock options, overcoming critics who attacked the company as the epitome of corporate excess." (Washington Post)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Senior Pension Administrator
for Retirement Alliance, Inc.
in NH
Senior 5500 Accountant
for Wachovia Corporation
in NC
Tax and Regulatory Northeast Practice Leader - New York City
for PricewaterhouseCoopers
in NY
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Tracking Health Care Costs in 2002
on June 11, 2003
presented by KaiserNetwork.org
Protecting Yourself and Your Board from ERISA Fiduciary Liability and Litigation in the Post-Enron World
on June 26, 2003
presented by Financial Executives Institute
Do's and Don'ts of Pension Obligation Bonds
on June 26, 2003
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
New COBRA Notice Rules: Their Problems and How to Solve Them
in ALL STATES
July 16, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Applauds Passage of Association Health Plans Legislation
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
ARAG Group Hosting ID Theft Seminars
(ARAG Group)
As Employers Work To Understand New HIPAA Regulations, GE Financial Offers Valuable Expertise
(GE Financial Employer Services Group)
Key Concepts for Employers and Employees to Understand With the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); GE Financial Employer Services Group Educates Employers And Employees
(GE Financial Employer Services Group)
Labor Department Obtains Court Order Restoring Assets To Wisconsin Company’s Simple IRA Plan
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Mutual of Omaha Offers New Defined Benefit Solutions to Small- and Mid-size Employers
(Mutual of Omaha)
HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Utah Compliance Assistance Seminar to be Held July 17-18
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
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- Employee Benefits Library
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