December 2, 2003 - 13,525 subscribers Today's sponsor: PenChecks, Inc. (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) PENCHECKS, INC. MARKS 10,000th LOST PARTICIPANT IRA PenChecks, Inc. has established over 10,000 IRA accounts for missing participants. The PenChecks IRA, established just 2 years ago, is rapidly becoming the vehicle of choice to hold missing participant benefits. Penchecks, Inc. provides complete distribution services to qualified plans, including lump sum distributions, monthly annuity payments, election forms, checks, ACH transfers, tax withholding in all states, direct rollovers, and Forms 1099-R and 945. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Supreme Court Will Hear Pension-Cutoff Dispute Excerpt: "The Supreme Court said yesterday that it will decide whether federal law bars pension funds from cutting or eliminating benefits of workers who take early retirement and then go back to work." (Washington Post) Overview: Sixth Circuit Holds Claims of Mismanagement are State-Law Claims Not Preempted by ERISA (PDF) At pp. 5-6. Excerpt: "In Husvar v. Rapaport, former employees who sued in state court seeking compensatory relief for a decrease in value of the company stock held in their retirement plan were entitled to have their lawsuit resolved in state court. The court held that the employees' complaint, which addressed the company's mismanagement, raised only state law issues involving the legitimacy of business decisions and could not be changed by the defendants into a federal claim pursuant to ERISA." (Jenkens & Gilchrist) Analysis: ENRON Lawsuits Draw “Battle-Lines” for ESOP Fiduciaries (PDF) At pp. 1-4. Excerpt: "[B]ased on the positions being taken by the DOL, we would make the following recommendations to fiduciaries of ESOPs and of other employee benefit plans that hold employer securities, where the participants in the plan are given the right to direct the investment of the balances credited to their plan accounts and where employer stock is one of the investment alternatives:" (Jenkens & Gilchrist) Current Developments on FAS-150 (PDF) At pp. 6-8. Excerpt: "The following is an update on the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the 'Board') Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 150, 'Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity' ('FAS 150'), which was discussed in detail in the last ESOPtions newsletter. The Board has recently voted to defer the effective date for private companies to adopt FAS 150 and has issued two proposed Staff Positions on FAS 150." (Jenkens & Gilchrist) Overview: Managing Retirement Plans During the Mutual Funds Scandal (PDF) 2 pages. Excerpt: "Keep in mind that if your 401(k) plan uses the ERISA 404(c) safe harbor for participant investment decisions, the participants have the right to receive copies (upon request) of any information you receive from the mutual fund." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP) Overview: New Pension Disclosures Required In 2003 Financial Statements (PDF) 2 pages. Excerpt: "Expanded disclosure requirements for pensions and other postretirement benefits will generally be required for 2003 annual statements as a result of a November 26 decision of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)." (Mellon's Human Resources & Investor Solutions) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Ninth Circuit: Deemed Denial of Plaintiff's Claim for Benefits Yields De Novo Standard of Review (PDF) 31 pages. Excerpt: "[W]here, according to plan and regulatory language, a claim is 'deemed . . . denied' on review after the expiration of a given time period, there is no opportunity for the exercise of discretion and the denial is usually to be reviewed de novo. While deference may be due to a plan administrator that is engaged in a good faith attempt to comply with its deadlines when they lapse, this is not such a case." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit via FindLaw.com) Text of ERIC Amicus Brief in Petition for Certiorari on Kodak SPD Case (PDF) 15 pages. Excerpt: "[The issue in this case is] whether an employee who seeks benefits based not on the terms of the plan itself, but on the basis of a statement or omission in a document summarizing and describing the plan (the 'Summary Plan Description' or SPD), must show that he or she detrimentally relied on the SPD's statement or omission in order to obtain the additional, extra-plan benefit." (ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC)) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Junior Pension Plan Administrator for Valley Pension Services in CA Principal Administrative Analyst for UC Office of the President in CA Plan Administrator, All States for Primary Consulting, Inc. in ALL STATES Institutional Trust Consultant III for BB&T in VA Pension Administrator for The National Advisory Group, Inc./Pension Consulting Services, Inc. in PA Newly Posted Events The Canadian Privacy Challenge-Are You Ready? Nationwide on December 9, 2003 presented by IFEBP (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) Impact of the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill: What Employers Need to Know Nationwide on December 17, 2003 presented by IFEBP (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) Newly Posted Press Releases Watson Wyatt Expands Retirement Practices in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Boston With Hiring of Nine Consultants (Watson Wyatt) ICC Plan Solutions Launches Participant Education Product for Addressing Mutual Fund Industry Issues (ICC Plan Solutions) Employers urge SEC to consider alternatives to 4:00 p.m. hard close trade time and 2 percent redemption fee for market timers (American Benefits Council) ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY -- AIF -- Program Now Available on Acadient Academy (Acadient) Handy Links:
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