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April 7, 2009


Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy.

ASC and the ASC Institute (Advert.)

The Document Generation & Management (DGEM) System is an absolute time saver. (clickable image)

The Document Generation & Management (DGEM) System is an absolute time saver.

"We’ve finished restating 2,400 plan documents – stress free!" DGEM Client: Michelle C. Carlson, J.D., LL.M, Director of ERISA Consulting at JULY BUSINESS SERVICES
Over 20,000 plans are already on the System. Join the many practitioners who are already using ASCi’s highly acclaimed DGEM system to more easily and efficiently prepare new and restated documents.
Click here to see a 2 min DGEM video or contact us at asci@asc-net.com


[Guidance Overview]
DOL's Model PPA Annual Funding Notice (PDF)

Excerpt: "Who's affected: Plan administrators of single-employer, multiple employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans that are covered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) are subject to the annual funding notice requirements. Governmental plans and church plans that do not elect to be covered by ERISA ('non-electing' church plans) do not have to provide the annual funding notice." (Prudential Retirement)


[Guidance Overview]
Sixth Circuit Holds That Plaintiffs Fail to Make ERISA Section 510 Case

Excerpt: "In this recent Sixth Circuit opinion, the plaintiffs launched an attack on their employer's plant closure using the most unreliable weapon of a Section 510 interference claim. Lacking direct evidence of a specific intent to interfere with benefit rights, the plaintiffs were forced to turn to the peculiar method of proving a circumstantial case unique to discrimination cases." (Roy Harmon III via Health Plan Law)


[Guidance Overview]
Form 5500 Extension Request and the IRS Response

Excerpt: "One of the more dreaded phone calls an administrator can receive is that from a client informing the administrator that the client has received a letter from the IRS or from the DOL. Recently, we have received several calls from clients informing us that some of their Form 5500 extension requests (Form 5558) were rejected because the forms were unsigned. Of course, the IRS letters were sent improperly. The IRS modified the Form 5558 instructions a few years ago to eliminate the requirement that the form be signed when a plan sponsor is requesting an extension for a Form 5500 . . . ." (Sungard)


[Guidance Overview]
Second Circuit Holds ERISA's Anti-Alienation Rule Prohibits Use of Pension Plan Assets To Fund Attorney Fees under Common Fund Theory (PDF)

At page 7. Excerpt: "In Kickham Hanley PC v. Kodak Retirement Income Plan, 2009 WL 468266 (2d Cir. Feb. 26, 2009), the Second Circuit rejected a law firm's attempt to use the assets of a pension plan to fund its attorney's fees under the 'common fund' doctrine." (Proskauer Rose LLP)


Auto Sector Pension Plans: Information for Workers and Retirees
Excerpt: "This information page is offered as a service to workers and retirees who have questions about their PBGC-insured benefits. The PBGC is not commenting on the future of U.S automotive companies or suggesting their pension plans will be assumed by the PBGC." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)


Merrill Settles 401(k) Class Action for $75M
Excerpt: "Participants in the 401(k) plan at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. have reached a $75 million preliminary settlement with the brokerage firm to cover losses sustained in their retirement plans over the last several years. . . . Marc Machiz, an attorney with [Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll], who is representing Merrill workers in the class action, added that a federal court will hold a hearing at the end of July to determine if the payment will be approved. He said that the class notice will be going out later this week to Merrill workers who participated in the company's 401(k), retirement accumulation plan, or stock ownership plan between Sept. 30, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2008." (Business Insurance)


Comparison Chart for Types of Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans, Updated for 2009 Plan Year
Excerpt: "This chart provides a comparison of the features and benefits that apply to retirement plans that can be sponsored/adopted by small business owners. Focus on the areas that are important [to] the business owner, so as to help ensure that the plan that is chosen is the plan that is most suitable for the business." (RetirementDictionary.com)


Notice of Public Hearing and Request for Written Comments: Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting (PDF)
76 pages. Excerpt: "A public hearing is scheduled during the Board's regular meeting on August 26, 2009, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Norwalk, CT. Although interested participants may attend in person, individuals or organizations also may participate in the public hearing by telephone. Details regarding their participation will be provided after the GASB receives a notice of intent to speak. Deadline for written notice of intent to participate in public hearing: July 31, 2009." (Governmental Accounting Standards Board)



Pension Benefit Information (PBI) (Advert.)

Time is Running Out...PPA Mandatory Funding Notice Deadline is April 30th (clickable image)

Time is Running Out...PPA Mandatory Funding Notice Deadline is April 30th

Missing Addresses? Old Addresses? PBI can provide address information or verify information on file in time to meet the disclosure deadline. P.A.S.S. (Participant Address Search Service) is a low cost solution with guaranteed 24 Hour Turn-Around.
  • Free Death Audit
  • Reduce returned mail
  • Save money
  • Meet the mandatory requirements of the DoL
Contact PBI today for a quotation. Inquiry@pbinfo.com or call 415-482-9611.

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]
House Passage of Pay for Performance Act for Recipients of Direct Capital Investments under TARP and Housing and Economic Recovery Act

Excerpt: "The Act is largely a reaction to the recent public outrage surrounding large bonuses paid under existing agreements to executives and employees of Federal emergency capital investment recipient entities, and imposes compensation restrictions in addition to those already imposed under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under the Act, a financial institution that has received, or receives at a later date, a direct capital investment under (i) the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) or (ii) with respect to the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or a Federal home loan bank, under the amendments made by Section 1117 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, may not make a compensation payment under an existing or a new compensation arrangement to any employee that is 'unreasonable or excessive' or is not directly based on 'performance-based' measures. Longevity bonuses (undefined by the Act) and payments in the form of restricted stock are exempted from the compensation limits imposed by the Act." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Section 409A Transition Relief May Still Be Available for 'Non-Vested' Amounts

Excerpt: "The deadline for amending most nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements to comply with Internal Revenue Code section 409A has passed. However, employers -- if they act quickly -- may still have a chance to bring certain 'non-vested' arrangements into compliance with plan document requirements. Otherwise, employers should start to focus on the penalties that must be paid as a result of documentary non-compliance." (McGuireWoods LLP)


Financially Pinched Companies Snip Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "On average, companies have sliced up to five employee-oriented spending areas, such as 401(k) matches and tuition reimbursement in the past year says Laura Sejen, global head of strategic rewards consulting at employment consultancy Watson Wyatt. Job cuts and reduced raises have been commonplace for years, but the desperate economic times have chief executives cutting areas previously considered untouchable. She and other experts say they cannot predict when -- or if -- such benefits will return: 'Do you have a crystal ball?'" (USA Today)



Webcasts and Conferences

(Click to post your webcast or conference)

FWCEBC Educational Workshop
in Florida on April 23, 2009
presented by Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council

Pension Fiduciaries in the Hot Seat - What to Avoid & How to React if Sued Webcast
Nationwide on April 14, 2009
presented by Pension Governance, LLC

Seven Benchmarks for the Future: Fine-tuning for Retirement
in Georgia on April 16, 2009
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefit Network) Atlanta Chapter


Press Releases

(Click to post your press release)

Entegril Names Mike Kalsched Director of General Agency Operations
Entegril


Employee Benefits Jobs

(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs | RSS feed for jobs RSS feed of all jobs )

Defined Contribution Relationship Consultant
for The Douglas Group
in ANY STATE

Retirement Plan Administrators
for Pension Specialists, Inc.
in CA

401(k) Recordkeeper
for Revzon Consulting Group
in MA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Actuarial Consulting Group, Inc.
in VA

Chief of Marketing
for ASPPA - American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries
in DC, MD, VA

Account Manager
for Cammack LaRhette Consulting
in MA, NY



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