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July 10, 2003 - 13,238 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.

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“New COBRA Notice Rules” audio conference 7/16/03 * 2:00 p.m. ET

Are you familiar with the DOL's new proposed COBRA notice requirements?
Don't miss out on the opportunity to send the DOL your questions before
the regulations are finalized!  Join us for this 90-minute interactive
audio conference – Learn the details of the DOL's proposal and still
have time to submit comments before the July 28th deadline!

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Final Regulations on 457 Plans Sponsored by State and Local Governments (PDF)
77 pages. 'The regulations reflect the changes made to section 457 by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, and other legislation. The regulations also make various technical changes and clarifications to the existing final regulations on many discrete issues." (Internal Revenue Service)

New Opportunities for Passing Administrative Costs Through to DC Plan Participants (PDF)
Excerpt: "[P]lan fiduciaries who decide to charge plan expenses to participant accounts should adopt administrative resolutions (or some other writings) that record their decisions and demonstrate that they resulted from an appropriate balancing of the interests of different classes of participants, and an appropriate correlation between the expense and the method for its allocation (e.g., per capita or pro rata based on account balances)." (Ethan Lipsig & J. Mark Poerio of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP)

Overview: New ERISA Guidance on Trustees' Receipt of Mutual Fund Fees
Excerpt: "[T]he DOL stated that, where the selection of mutual funds offered through a 401(k) plan was made by a fiduciary independent of the trustee of that plan, the trustee could, if it otherwise qualified for them, receive 12b-1 and subtransfer agency fees from 'proprietary' mutual funds (those whose investment advisor was affiliated with the trustee)." (Gardner Carton & Douglas LLC)

Global Pension Trends (PDF)
3 pages. (Benefits Canada)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Full Text of ERIC Amicus Brief in 'Reverse Discrimination' Case Pending in Supreme Court
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline. Excerpt: "Many [employee pension and welfare] plans condition eligibility on a minimum age older than 40 or otherwise favor older workers who have achieved a certain age beyond 40.... The Sixth Circuit ... erred in concluding that the ADEA permits younger workers [who are at least age 40] ... to sue for discrimination on the grounds that older workers ... received more or better benefits." (ERISA Industry Committee)

DaimlerChrysler Might Scrap Stock Options
Excerpt: "The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a major daily newspaper, said DaimlerChrysler is contemplating other forms of rewards, such as bonuses based on an index tied to the company stock." (UPI via NewsAlert.com)

Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem
Working paper. Excerpt: "This paper provides an overview of the main theoretical elements and empirical underpinnings of a managerial power' approach to executive compensation.... Boards of publicly traded companies with dispersed ownership, we argue, cannot be expected to bargain at arm's length with managers. As a result, managers wield substantial influence over their own pay arrangements ..." (Lucian Arye Bebchuk and Jesse M. Fried, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research)

Fiduciary Group Buys Aon's Fiduciary Counselors in Management-Led Buyout
Excerpt: "Fiduciary Counselors is a registered investment adviser that acts as an independent fiduciary for pension plans in the United States. Nell Hennessy ... [who is] former deputy executive director and chief negotiator of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), will continue to head the company ..." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

For Newer Microsoft Employees, a Sense of Redress
Excerpt: "[F]or the new generation of employees-- that is, anyone who joined Microsoft after the dot-com boom turned into a bust and the stock market began to plunge-- becoming a Microsoft millionaire has seemed like an impossible goal. And that cannot be a pleasant thought for the newer employee who knows a veteran, sometimes seated at the next cubicle, who has already made millions." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Other Tech Companies Snub Microsoft's Stock Options Move
Excerpt: "A day after Microsoft Corp. said it was abandoning its practice of awarding employee stock options and said that it will expense the ones already awarded, other technology companies said they would not follow suit." (Reuters via the Washington Post)

Microsoft's Zero-Option Option: What Effect on Other Companies?
Excerpt: "Microsoft's decision to break ranks with the broader technology sector on the issue of stock options is likely to have a ripple effect, boosting reformers' efforts to force companies to factor options into their accounting statements and nudging Corporate America in general to restructure how they compensate workers." (Washington Post)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Senior Pension Consultant
for The 412i Company
in WA

Experienced Trust Accountant
for Mand Marblestone & Danziger, P.C.
in PA

Institutional Trust Consultant
for BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust)
in KY

Disbursement Associate
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC

FDIC Trust Compliance Manager - Employee Benefits
for Leading Trust Bank
in CA

Director, Employee Benefit Plans
for Jockey International, Inc.
in WI

Benefits Administrator
for Weaver and Tidwell, LLP
in TX
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)

Prosecuting and Defending the ERISA Disability Case After Black & Decker v. Nord
on July 28, 2003
presented by ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

HIPAA Privacy Compliance Workshop
in PA
August 8, 2003
SunGard Corbel

HIPAA Privacy Compliance Workshop
in TX
August 11, 2003
SunGard Corbel

How To Help Employees Regain Lost 401(k) Ground
in ALL STATES
July 23, 2003
Hewitt Associates

HIPAA Compliance for Employers-- Shared Strategies and Common Challenges
in LA
July 29, 2003
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)


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