| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
January 26, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Securities Industry Association
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
SIA's Mutual Funds Reform & Public Trust Conference February 26, 2004 Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York The conference will focus on the various regulatory and legislative initiatives which have been adopted or proposed to reform mutual fund industry practices, improve investor disclosure, and restore public trust and confidence in this core investment product. Panel and workshop sessions will address the specific components of these initiatives and their impact on broker-dealers, funds and investors. CLE credit will be available for this event. Fee reduction may be available for qualified registrants. Click above to register
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Congress Moving Towards Pension Funding Changes Despite Threat of Veto
Excerpt: "Lawmakers call it a perfect storm, a confluence of events that is forcing financially weak companies to pay billions of dollars more into pension plans and threatening the retirement security of millions of Americans.... The Bush administration has threatened to veto the legislation because of the help for airlines." (AP via Washington Post)
Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 3108 Pension Funding Bill (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "The Administration supports prompt Senate passage of H.R. 3108, the Pension Funding Equity Act.... [T]he Administration will strongly oppose any amendment that would substantially weaken funding requirements for single-employer or multiemployer pension plans." (Executive Office of the President)
PBGC Board of Directors Writes Sen. Frist About Pension Funding Bill (PDF)
Excerpt: "If the Congress encourages firms to underfund their pensions by substantially weakening pension funding requirements, retirees could face pension cuts when a firm terminates its defined benefit pension plan." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Opinion: Pension Perniciousness
Excerpt: "Not for the first time, Congress has muscled up to an important problem, taken a good long look at it and resolved to make it worse. The problem is the vast hole in the nation's corporate pension schemes, and the perverse rules that helped create them." (Washington Post)
Reminder: January 31 Deadline Under Rev. Proc. 2003-73 Is Approaching
Excerpt: "If a plan's GUST remedial amendment period ended on September 30, October 31, November 30 or December 31, 2003, pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2000-20, Rev. Proc. 2003-73 provides two relief options." (TRI Pension Services, Inc.)
Directors and the Duty to Monitor Under ERISA
Excerpt: "To what extent are directors fiduciaries under ERISA and charged with monitoring the appointment of fiduciaries under ERISA? That is the question being debated again and again in the latest wave of ERISA cases." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier on BenefitsBlog)
SEC Targets Pension Consultants
Excerpt: "The SEC sent out a mid-December letter to a number of pension fund consulting firms to probe whether they were receiving payments from money managers that gave the managers preferential treatment in being recommended by the consulting firms to pension plans." (The Denver Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Independent Accounts Needed for Social Security Reform
Excerpt: "Now that campaigning for the 2004 elections is under way, we'll probably hear a lot about why the Social Security system should be revamped to include individual accounts invested in stocks and bonds. Opponents of reform have already played their cards ..." (Washington Times)
Texas Proposal to Use Life Insurance as Investment Draws Flak
Excerpt: "Outraging the education community, Texas is considering allowing a large financial firm to take out life insurance on retired teachers, cafeteria workers and bus drivers. A state retirement plan would be the beneficiary of the policies, the financial firm would make millions on the transaction, and families of the retirees would get nothing." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of Coalition Letter in Support of the Stock Option Accounting Reform Act (S.1890/H.R. 3574) (PDF)
5 pages. (Via American Benefits Council) Same-Sex Couples Find New N.J. Laws Appealing
Excerpt: "The New Jersey law, which officially takes effect in June, will provide an inheritance-tax exemption, rights to hospital visitation and decision-making, and a state income-tax deduction for dependents. Partners of state employees will be eligible for health insurance and pension coverage." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Opinion: I'm Single and Paying For It
Excerpt: "Amid all the heated discussion on both sides of the g*y marriage debate, a broader point has somehow gotten lost: why should formally committed couples, straight or g*y, enjoy special privileges in the first place?" (Shari Motro in the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
The Entrepreneur's Workshop on Equity Compensation
Nationwide on January 27, 2004
presented by Beyster Institute
The ESOP Solution for Private Companies
Nationwide on February 18, 2004
presented by Beyster Institute
Newly Posted Press Releases
ICMA Retirement Corporation Executives Speak at the World Research Group’s Conference on Enhancing Retirement Education Programs
(ICMA Retirement Corporation)
ICMA -Retirement Corporation Wins DALBAR Seal of Excellence For Defined Contribution Plan Participant Web Site
(ICMA Retirement Corporation)
Keenan Announces Appointment of Julia Chivers as Senior Vice President of Labor Relations
(Keenan & Associates)
Advent Software™ LTD India Completes United States Spin-Off – Advent Infosystems™ LLC; Flagship Product Is HIPAA Transaction Testing Software
(Advent InfoSystems™ LLC)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrators
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA
Employee Benefits Paralegal
for Reinhart Boerner VanDeuren s.c.
in WI
Qualified Plan Administrator
for High End Small Plan TPA
in FL
Plan Administrator
for Clifton Gunderson LLP
in IL
Trust and Investment Relationship Manager
for Trust Department of western Colorado community bank
in CO
Pension Plan Administrator
for GEBCorp
in GA
Senior Pension Administrator
for Retirement Alliance, Inc.
in NH
Retirement Plan Sales Executive
for Ceridian
in MA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: