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June 24, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

[Guidance Overview]
Fiduciary Safe Harbor Protection and the Duty to Share
"Last month, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the decision of a trial court that a trustee could rely on the ERISA Section 404(c) safe harbor to shield itself from fiduciary liability." (fi360 Blog)


DATAIR Government Forms Software   [Advert.]

Sponsored by DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

EFAST2-approved 5500s with all schedules and PBGC forms, 1099Rs, 5300 series, FAS 158 (license only the modules you need). Built-in verification and expert live support assures accuracy. PC-based software for economy and maximum security.


[Guidance Overview]
Recent 'FBAR' Guidance Extends the June 30, 2011, Filing Deadline for Certain US Persons (PDF)
"This extension applies only to FBAR filings for calendar years 2009 or earlier. The FBAR filing deadline for calendar year 2010 remains June 30, 2011." (Paul, Hastings)

[Guidance Overview]
3rd-Party Insurers Now Open to ERISA Liability
"The 9th Circuit overruled at least four its previous decisions related to employee disability and retirement claims on [June 22, 2011], finding that federal law allows beneficiaries to sue third-party insurers." (Courthouse News Service)

[Guidance Overview]
What Employers Need to Know About SPDs and Other Plan Communications After Supreme Court's Decision in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara
"The opinion does not offer details on what kinds of actual harm a participant must prove. Nor is it clear whether the amount of compensation available under an equitable relief claim would be similar to what a participant would receive under the pre-Amara rule adopted by many lower courts of requiring enforcement of the SPD as if it were the plan." (Cooley LLP)

Bond Lawyers Discuss Stronger Pension Disclosures
"To their great credit, the National Association of Bond Lawyers . . . has issued a discussion draft of a disclosure guideline that would provide forward-looking projections of vital actuarial information for defined benefit pension plans." (Governing)


Western Benefits Conference 2011   [Advert.]

Sponsored by ASPPA and WP&BC

Featuring groundbreaking sessions for plan sponsors, attorneys, consultants, health & welfare professionals, actuaries, investment advisors and TPAs, the WP&BC and ASPPA present the Western Benefits Conference July 24-27 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.


EBSA Looking at Abandoned Plan Regs and Prohibited Transaction Exemption Procedures As Part of Regulatory Review Plan
"The Labor Department has unveiled its 'Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules,' which intends to identify rules that warrant repeal, modification, strengthening, or modernization." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

GASB to Propose New State Pension Accounting Rules
"The accounting board for governments is set to propose changes next month that would force most U.S. states and towns to increase the amount of unfunded pension liabilities they report on their balance sheets for investors." (MarketWatch, Inc.)

IRS Publishes Regs on Automatic Extension for Pension Excise Tax Filing
"These final regulations adopt without modification the proposed amendments . . . which allow filers of Form 8928, 'Return of Certain Excise Taxes Under Chapter 43 of the Internal Revenue Code,' to obtain an automatic six-month extension of time to file the return after the date prescribed for filing the return." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Post Office Seeks a Federal Review of Pension Fund
"The money-losing U.S. Postal Service is hoping the Justice Department will resolve a dispute with the Office of Personnel Management . . . over the fate of billions of dollars in overpaid retirement payments for postal workers." (The Washington Times)

Twenty-Five Years After Federal Pension Reform (PDF)
"[This Issue Brief] takes a look at how the federal government handled pension reform and the political and legislative forces involved when Congress enacted the Federal Employees Retirement System Act of 1986." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

[Opinion]
IRS Swamped by EPCRS Applications
"Historically our streamlined applications for loan corrections have been processed very quickly, sometimes in a matter of weeks. But those days may be over." (Verrill Dana, LLP)

[Opinion]
Can Investment Assumptions Worsen the State Pension Fund Crisis?
"Well, no. Investment assumptions themselves don't worsen the crisis, but . . . decisions about pension fund investment assumptions can mean higher taxes, lower pensions and bitter politics. Why? Because the lower the assumed rate of return, the greater the official underfunding of the retirement plan, the more that taxpayers or workers must contribute to make up the shortfall that would arise from a more sober assumption." (MacNeil/Lehrer Productions)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
IRS Adjusts Business Mileage Rate for Final Six Months of 2011
"The rate will increase to 55.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Details of the Changes to New Jersey Public Workers' Health Insurance and Pensions
"Affected: All state employees and most local government workers, about a half-mil.lion in all, as well as about 260,000 retirees." (The New York Times; free registration required)

New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Benefits Rollback for Work Force
"The legislation will sharply increase what state and local workers must contribute for their health insurance and pensions, suspend cost-of-living increases to retirees' pension checks, raise retirement ages and curb the unions' contract bargaining rights." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Perks: What Companies Offer and What Employees Want
"As companies simultaneously try to shake off the recession, keep costs low, retain valued employees and recruit talented new ones, they need to understand what perks are and what perks are meant to do — from their own perspective as well as that of their employees." (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)

Press Releases


Employee Benefits Jobs

Junior Plan Administrator
for Todays Office Professionals Recruiting for a Retirement Planning Services Company in FL

Legal Analyst - ERISA
for T. Rowe Price in MD

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

RSS feed for jobs RSS Feed: All Jobs


Webcasts and Conferences

"The New Form 8955-SSA: Who, What, When, and How" - A Second Encore Presentation
Nationwide on July 14, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

Health Benefits Law - Compliance Assistance Seminar
in Montana on July 19, 2011 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

National Fiduciary Conference
in Texas on October 24, 2011 presented by Investment Fiduciary Leadership Council (IFLC)

Spotting Securities and Pension Fraud Workshop
in Montana on July 19, 2011 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Workshop
in Nevada on July 27, 2011 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)


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Jeanette Hull, News Editor
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
Copyright 2011 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but feel free to forward this newsletter in its entirety.

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