PBGC's Preliminary Plan for Regulatory Review (PDF)
"Comments . . . may be submitted by [several methods: one of which is at the] Federal eRulemaking Portal . . . . PBGC intends to review the following regulations . . . ." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

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Supreme Court Rules on Available ERISA Remedies for Benefit Plan Changes' Misrepresentations
"As a result, plan sponsors and administrators may wish to review their communications protocols to ensure that they would be viewed as having taken reasonable steps to provide accurate and complete information to plan participants and beneficiaries." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

IRS Guidance on Terminating 403(b) Plans (PDF)
The ruling provides four examples illustrating how a 403(b) retirement plan funded in different ways may be terminated. (Milliman, Inc.)

Fourth Circuit Recognizes ERISA Fiduciary Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege
"Application of the attorney-client privilege and the fiduciary exception can be more complicated in the context of plans maintained by single employers, which will tend to be administered by individuals who perform both fiduciary (plan administration) functions and nonfiduciary (business) functions . . . ." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Sixth Circuit Affirmation that Trustee's Conduct Was Within ERISA § 404(c) Safe Harbor
"Under certain facts, the ERISA § 404(c) safe harbor can be an effective defense for plan fiduciaries. In this case, the participants chose their investment advisor, relied solely on the advisor for their investment decisions, directed the trustee to implement those investment decisions, and were unable to establish that the trustee had prevented them from exercising 'independent control.'" (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

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BP Unit Mismanaged Employee Retirement Plans, Workers Say
"BP's safety and compliance record before the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon in April 2010 made the company's U.S. shares an 'imprudent investment,' according to a consolidated master complaint . . . ." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Congressional Insiders Back Boosting Federal Employee Retirement Contributions
"When asked the question, 'Should federal employees have to match the amount that the government contributes to their pensions?' 78 percent of Republicans said yes, but so did 36 percent of Democrats." (Government Executive)

Teach 401(k) Participants the Most Important Thing They Need to Know
"Remember, 401k investors have to plan on having only one chance to pick a right investment strategy to meet their goals. Plan sponsors need to help them focus on the practical, not on the theoretical." (Fiduciary News)

IRS Grants Tax Relief to Victims of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding in Tennessee
"The IRS has announced tax relief for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the federal disaster area of Dyer, Lake, Obion, Shelby, and Stewart counties in Tennessee affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding on April 19, 2011." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

DOL Assistant Secretary Provides an Update of Proposed Regulations
"Secretary Borzi of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) addressed the Departments's work with fee disclosures, lifetime income, electronic disclosure, and the definition of fiduciary at a meeting of the International Foundation." (planadviser)

Video: PBGC Director Says We Won't Need a Bailout
The director gives an overview of PBGC's role and status. (FOX News Network, LLC)

Closing Tax Breaks for Retirement Plans Would Do Little to Help Budget
"Tax preferences for retirement plans, such as 401(k) accounts, rank among the biggest money losers for the federal government, with official projections showing a loss of about $600 bil.lion to federal coffers over the next five years. But a study set for release this week suggests that the accounts would have to be closed, or contributions sharply limited, to realize much in the way of budget savings -- a move that could undermine some of the nation's most popular retirement tools." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Annuities in Retirement Plans Remain Rare
"Some retirement-plan sponsors still want more clarity from the U.S. Department of Labor that such an option isn't in conflict with their fiduciary responsibilities . . . ." (MarketWatch, Inc.)

Age Factors Into Position on Pension Reform
"Robles, president of the Watsonville Police Officers Association, wasn't thinking about pensions either when he started his career back in 1990. He recalled his 23-year-old self not wanting to trade a pay hike for a better retirement plan. 'I thought, 'Why would we want to do that? Give me the 3 percent,'' Robles recalled. 'Now I wish I had paid more attention to those things.'" (San Jose Mercury News)

Opponents of DOL Definition of Fiduciary Pushing for Status Quo
"Opponents . . . say the current five-part test for fiduciary responsibility works, and the proposed extension of fiduciary responsibility hasn't been thought out, is based on faulty data and would have a chilling effect on investment advice and costs." (Pensions & Investments; free registration required)

Fight Continues in Oregon PERS Pension Decision
"A decade-long Oregon PERS court battle that potentially involves nearly $2 mil.lion and the accounts of some 78,000 public employees has, for now, resulted in $79 credited to the pension account of one Salem firefighter." (www.statesmanjournal.com)

Lifetime Income Options Scheduled for Review by IRS
"Proposed regulations for lifetime income options in retirement plans are part of Internal Revenue Service regulatory actions and other rulemaking projects that are already under consideration for retrospective analysis and review or are expected to be reviewed during the next two years." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Retirement Plan Tax Benefits Decreased Household Stock Ownership
"A new study from the Stanford Graduate School of Business shows that household stock ownership decreases as the tax benefits associated with owning stocks inside a pension plan increase." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

TEXPERS Survey Finds Support for DB Plans
"Among the 503 respondents, 54% do not believe that public employees who already receive defined benefits managed by pension systems should be forced to change to a 401(k); 43% think public employees should be allowed to retain their defined benefit plans; and 28% think they should be forced into 401(k) type plans." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Appellate Court Denies Rehearing of Kraft Fee Suit
"The [court] has denied a petition to rehear a case alleging Kraft Foods breached its fiduciary duties under [ERISA] in relation to recordkeeping fees paid and its decision to unitize its company stock fund." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

PBGC Board Approves New Investment Policy
"[T]he investment policy establishes a 30% target asset allocation for equities and other non-fixed income assets, and a 70% allocation to fixed income, permitting an allocation range of plus or minus 5%." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

DB Plans Appear Headed for Extinction: Appearances, However, Can Be Deceiving
"Two recent surveys show that while many sponsors have frozen or will freeze their DB plans, a fair number anticipate keeping their plans open over the next few years. In Vanguard's Survey of Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors conducted in late 2010, about 60% of the 155 respondents reported plans that were open and active -- although 35% of these sponsors planned to freeze their plans in the next few years." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

How Will the Great Recession Affect Future Retirement Incomes? (PDF)
"Retirement security for workers in their late fifties when the recession began will be hit especially hard because of the way Social Security computes benefits." (Urban Institute)

Why You Need a Dynamic Investment Policy Statement
"A Dynamic Investment Policy Statement (IPS) can derisk your pension plan without your investment committee spending a great deal of time and missing opportunities to lessen risk. It's as simple as that." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Unions Will Regret Not Fixing Illinois State Pensions
"Illinois state workers and teachers currently have roughly 9 percent of each paycheck withheld and sent to the pension black hole. The premise is that the funds will be held by the pension system, invested responsibly, and used to make payments to the workers upon retirement. Unfortunately, pension officials are using those contributions from current workers to pay current retirees." (Sun-Times Media, LLC)

Resolution of California Public Employee Pension Dilemma Must Start with Honest Discussion of Size of Problem
"Unfortunately, federal rules for private-sector pension accounting do not apply to government systems. So public-employee plans are free to legally cook the books and hide the full size of the debt." (San Jose Mercury News)

Illinois Civil Union Law Affect on 'Church' Plans
"[An alert on the Association for Corporate Counsel Web site says] that because civil union partners will have the same rights as spouses under state law, many religious organizations' benefit plans could be affected. Determining whether coverage of civil union partners is required hinges upon the type of benefit plan, whether the benefit is insured, and whether the plan is subject to [ERISA]." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Stock Options Issued As Incentive to Motivate Employees to Focus on Making the Company More Successful and More Profitable
"But new Wharton research shows that managers may not view stock options as an incentive at all. [A] paper entitled, 'Stock Option Exercise and Gift Exchange Relationships: Evidence for a Large U.S. Company,' . . . found the practice impacted employee performance after workers earned a sizable payoff from exercising their stock options." (Knowledge@Wharton via Human Resource Executive Online)

Delaware's Civil-Union Law: Benefits Under Federal Law (PDF)
"Even if you are an employer whose benefits are governed by federal law, there is no downside to having a policy that provides equal benefits to partners joined in a civil union. Choosing not to, however, is not an option if you're an employer whose benefits are not covered by federal law." (M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC via Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor)

Calculating Damages in ERISA Litigation
"In this paper will present and discuss four different methodologies for calculating ERISA damages — what we will label the 'best performing fund' 'portfolio redistribution,' 'most similar fund' and '10b-5 style' ERISA damage methods." (Social Science Research Network)

US Department of Labor to Extend and Align Applicability Dates for Retirement Plan Fee Disclosure Rules
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

The National Business Group on Health Awards Chrysler Group With a Gold Medal for Promoting Healthy Employee Lifestyles
(Chrysler Group)

Pentecost Sunday - Civil Unions- Gay Adoption - Employee Benefits - A Gay Catholic Response
(Rainbow Sash Movement)

DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Employee Benefits Associate Attorney
for Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL in OH

DB/DC Administrator
for Nicholas & Hicks, Inc. in CA

Benefit Payments Accountant - 1099-R
for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) in VA

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A Full Day With Sal Tripodi, APM
in New York on June 22, 2011 presented by ASPPA Benefits Council (ABC) Of New York

The CLA Regional Law Conference
Nationwide on April 19, 2012 presented by Commonwealth Law Association