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Retirement Plans
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April 21, 2004 - 13505 subscribers
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Immediate Action May Preempt Selection in IRS Audit Initiative Targeting Large Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "The IRS recently announced an audit initiative targeting retirement plans with at least 2,500 participants. Employers sponsoring such plans should immediately consider performing a compliance review to determine if qualification failures exist. If failures are found, consideration should be given to submitting an application under an IRS voluntary compliance program to voluntarily correct them." (The Human Capital practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP)

Significant Pending Regulatory Projects Relating to Retirement Plans
4 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS's current priority guidance plan year ends on June 30, and a number of significant regulatory projects relating to retirement plans are pending. This chart summarizes those projects and provides up-to-date information about their status. Information about retirement plan related projects pending at the Employee Benefits Security Administration and Securities and Exchange Commission also is provided." (The Human Capital practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP)

Letter Clarifies IRS Position on Issues Relating to Automatic Enrollment 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "[T]he general information letter indicates automatic enrollment plans can provide for scheduled increases to participants' automatic compensation reduction amounts, and that these plans can tie such increases to pay raises and bonuses. Employers might want to incorporate these types of features into their automatic enrollment plans to further challenge employee inertia ..." (The Human Capital practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP)

Tech-Driven 401(k) Providers Offer Big Savings
Excerpt: "Small businesses lag well behind large companies as retirement plan sponsors, a fact that many entrepreneurs blame on cost. But the rise of tech-driven 401(k) providers now offers entrepreneurs affordable alternatives that can sweeten employee compensation and boost morale." (Entrepreneur.com)

Treasury Issues Pension Funding Equity Act Guidance
4 pages. Excerpt: "Interestingly, the PFEA permits plans to choose between using the 4-year weighted average composite corporate bond rate and the 4-year weighted average 30-year Treasury rate to determine their plans' current liabilities for purposes of the IRC section 404 deduction rules." (The Human Capital practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP)

Overview: Defined Benefit Plans Get Some Needed Relief Under Pension Funding Equity Act (PDF)
2 pages. (Dow Lohnes & Albertson PLLC)

Accounting Rulemakers Ponder 'Mark to Market' Approach
Excerpt: "The sometimes controversial accounting practice of 'smoothing' a traditional pension plan's finances to level out its economic peaks and valleys may be a thing of the past. That's because U.S. and international accounting rulemakers are set to consider whether to add to their list of projects a study of whether to adopt a mark to market standard of pension accounting instead, Dow Jones reported." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Article from IRS: Extension of the Remedial Amendment Period for EGTRRA
Excerpt: "The effect of Rev. Proc. 2004-25 is to ensure that plan sponsors do not need to apply for more than one determination letter during the EGTRRA remedial amendment period simply because they have put a plan into effect or adopted voluntary plan amendments after December 31, 2001. The revenue procedure does not extend any other existing plan amendment or determination letter submission deadlines." (Internal Revenue Service)

GAO: Oversight of Mutual Fund Industry Presents Management Challenges to SEC
25 pages. Excerpt: "To assess how SEC is positioned to oversee mutual funds, GAO reviewed (1) how the abusive mutual fund practices were identified and SEC's subsequent responses, (2) SEC's plans for increasing its staffing in the divisions and offices responsible for overseeing mutual funds and its progress in developing a new strategic plan to guide staff deployment, and (3) the challenges SEC faces in overseeing the mutual fund industry." (U.S. General Accounting Office)

Finding the Middle Ground for Fund Managers' Compensation
Excerpt: "The life of a pension plan executive has always been a balancing act. On one hand is a degree of job stability coupled with the sense of providing a public service and, on the other, the knowledge that significantly higher salaries may be available in private asset management." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Fat Cat Fever: Executive Compensation Bills Might Pass This Year
Excerpt: "Congress may force you to tighten up your executive compensation plan very soon. Two bills that failed to pass Congress last year have reemerged in 2004, with pretty good odds for passage amid deficit pressures and election year politics." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Sears Posts $859 Million Loss, Mostly Due to Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "Sears, Roebuck and Co. sustained a hefty first-quarter loss, mostly due to an accounting change involving its pension and post-retirement medical benefit plans ... The latest quarter's results included an $839 million accounting charge." (AP via MLive.com)

Text of FASB Chairman's Testimony on Stock Option Accounting Proposal (PDF)
43 pages; 4/20/04. Excerpt: "My testimony includes a brief overview of (1) the FASB ... (2) the process that the Board follows in developing accounting standards, (3) the background and basis for the Board's unanimous decision to issue a proposal to improve the accounting for equity-based compensation, (4) the key provisions of the proposal, (5) how the proposal would improve financial accounting and reporting for the benefit of investors, creditors, and other consumers of financial reports ..." (Financial Accounting Standards Board)

Attachments to FASB Chairman's Testimony on Stock Option Accounting Proposal (PDF)
145 pages; 4/20/04. Includes 'List of Companies (Alphabetical and by State) That Currently Expense or Intend to Expense Stock Options Using the Fair Value Method." (Financial Accounting Standards Board)

Newly Posted Events

'How To Minimize ERISA Benefits Claims Lawsuits' Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on May 5, 2004
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group

Focus on Health & Welfare Plans 2004
in District of Columbia on May 19, 2004
presented by International Society of CEBS - Capital Chapter

Guns & Hoses 2004
in California on October 3, 2004
presented by Institute for International Research
Newly Posted Press Releases

Hard Rock Cafe To Offer MoneyPass Surcharge-Free ATM Access
(Genpass Technologies)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Account Manager- H&W
for Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc.
in NY

Marketing & Product Development for Online Channel
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ, NY

Defined Contribution Administrator
for Small Consulting Firm in Northbrook, Illinois
in IL

Enrolled Actuary
for Long Island Employee Benefits Group, Ltd.
in NY

Retirement Plan Consultant
for Invesmart
in WA

Retirement Plan Consultant
for Invesmart
in TX

Senior Associate /Attorney
for HWA Associates
in FL

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