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November 15, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Fiduciary Services Program Manager
for Fiduciary Consulting Group, LLC in NH

Plan Administrator
for The Newport Group, Inc. in FL, TX, VA

Consultant, Benefits Planning
for Nationwide Insurance in OH

Pension & Retirement Programs Principal Analyst
for UC Office of the President in CA

Corporate Director, Retirement Services
for Catholic Health Partners in OH

HR Compliance & Benefits Attorney
for Catholic Health Partners in OH

Manager, Defined Contribution Plan Administration
for Catholic Health Partners in OH

Actuarial Associate - Pension Risk Transfer
for Prudential in NJ

Senior Retirement Plan Compliance Administrator
for Northeast Retirement Services, Inc. in MA

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Webcasts and Conferences

3rd Annual HCC Best Practices for Proactive Medical Management
in Florida on April 3, 2012 presented by Opal Events

Rekon Road Show — McLean, Virginia
in Virginia on December 14, 2011 presented by 401(k) Rekon


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[Official Guidance]
Text of PBGC Final Rule: Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans; Interest Assumptions for Paying Benefits (PDF)
"This final rule amends the [PBGC's] regulation on Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans to prescribe interest assumptions under the regulation for valuation dates in December 2011. The interest assumptions are used for paying benefits under terminating single-employer plans covered by the pension insurance system administered by PBGC." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)


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[Guidance Overview]
IRS's EPCU Begins Form 5500 Non-Filer Project
"Under the non-filer program, the EPCU sends compliance check letters to plan sponsors for whom it has no record of a Form 5500 or 5500-SF filing with the DOL (or Form 5500-EZ with the IRS) six to nine months after the return's due date. The EPCU then requests the plan sponsors to either file the return or explain why it wasn't filed. If the plan sponsor files the return, the EPCU closes its contact." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

[Guidance Overview]
Plan Sponsors Must Prepare for Implementation of New DOL Fee Disclosure Regulations
"While the plan sponsor or a designated plan fiduciary is responsible for satisfying these participant disclosure requirements, the regulations provide protection from fiduciary liability for the completeness and accuracy if they rely reasonably and in good faith on information provided by plan service providers." (Poyner Spruill LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
Only Three Benefit Plans Can Request Filing Extensions on a Single Form 5558
"Attachments to the form listing more plans aren't allowed. Prior instructions weren't as clear on this point, leading many filers to attach lists of plans to the form." (Mercer LLC)

[Guidance Overview]
Seller May Continue Maintaining 'Qualified Replacement Plan' After Sale of Subsidiary
"The subsidiary had transferred pension surplus to a replacement defined contribution (DC) plan to reduce the reversion excise tax. The parent company later wanted to sell the subsidiary and transfer sponsorship of the DC plan to another controlled-group member. The IRS ruled the DC plan would still qualify as a replacement plan if it met Section 4980's requirements after the sale." (Mercer LLC)


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Withdrawal Liability to Multi-Employer Pension Plans under ERISA (PDF)
"This paper is intended as a general guide to the withdrawal liability provisions of ERISA, which were added in 1980 by the Multi-Employer Pension Plan Amendments Act ('MPPAA') for practitioners and executives. It discusses the MPPAA's background and the operation of its major provisions, with some emphasis on litigation procedures. [This paper was included in the meeting materials for the 21st Annual National Institute on ERISA Litigation, presented by the American Bar Association's Joint Committee on Employee Benefits.]" (Vedder Price P.C.)

ERISA Advisory Council Asks DOL for 403(b) Plan Relief
"The Advisory Council's reasoning for this recommendation centers around several challenges currently facing sponsors of safe harbor Section 403(b) plans, including plan sponsors' inability to locate annuity contracts that were thought to no longer be part of the plan — but under new guidance are still considered plan assets — the council said, according to BNA. The council's final report will give details as to why a 'fresh start' approach would be appropriate." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Consultant Paper Addresses Disparity in Fees Among Participants
"Gosselin Consulting Group has issued a paper on the importance of understanding the implications of various plan financing strategies on 401(k) plan participants. The paper titled 'Financing Your 401(k) Plan' is meant to assist plan fiduciaries in understanding the impact that a plan's financing strategy can have on the fees paid by an individual participant." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Treasury and IRS Move To Define 'Governmental' Plan
"Currently, there are no regulations defining the term 'governmental plan' under section 414(d), and the IRS, in consultation with [DOL] and [PBGC], has been working for several years to develop such." (National Council on Teacher Retirement)

The Welfare Economics of Default Options: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of 401(k) Plans
"According to previous research, changing the default contribution rate for a 401(k) pension plan has a powerful effect on the distribution of contributions among relatively new employees." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

Who Killed Private Pensions?
"Companies say they are the victims of a 'perfect storm' of unforeseen forces: an aging work force, market turmoil and adverse interest rates. Certainly, these all contributed to the retirement crisis. But employers have played a big and hidden role in the death spiral of pensions and retiree benefits as well. [This article is adapted from 'Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers,' by Ellen E. Schultz.]" (The Wall Street Journal via Microsoft)

Is Automatic Enrollment Right for Your Plan?
"A decision to add automatic enrollment should be made based on a careful consideration of your population, current participation rates and the risks the plan sponsor is willing to undertake associated with choosing a default option." (Fox Rothschild LLP)

Engaging the Younger Employee in DC Plan Participation (PDF)
"U.S. companies must act now to engage younger workers in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans if up-and-coming generations are to have a realistic chance of achieving a financially secure retirement, according to this new study from Northern Trust." (Northern Trust)

GAO Testimony on Delphi Corporation: Key Events Leading to Termination of the Delphi Defined Benefit Plans
Presented before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, November 14, 2011. "The termination of the six defined benefit plans sponsored by Delphi, and the provision of benefit protections to some Delphi employees but not others, culminated from a complex series of events involving Delphi, GM, various unions, Treasury, and PBGC." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

[Opinion]
FINRA BrokerCheck System Collapsing under Weight of Massive Disclosed Industry Wrongdoing
"The SEC for decades has allowed the brokerage industry to self-regulate, self-insure, self- adjudicate (through mandatory arbitration), and even control public access to the industry's criminal and disciplinary histories. Unfortunately all self-regulatory organizations are subject to an inherent and insurmountable conflict of interest." (Forbes.com LLC)

[Opinion]
It's Time for Pension Plan Sponsors To Get Serious about Their Fiduciary Obligations
"The plan sponsor must either develop fiduciary practices and procedures or delegate them to someone that can. Plan sponsors are in the business of making widgets or delivering services. Acting as a fiduciary and developing appropriate procedures and practices is generally outside their skill set, and a distraction from their primary interest of running a successful business." (Morningstar, Inc.)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

IRS Rules Favorably on Timing of Tax Deductions for Some Bonus Pool Arrangements
"IRS Rev. Rul. 2011-29 outlines criteria for an accrual-basis taxpayer to deduct employee bonuses in the year that related services are performed, even though the bonuses aren't paid until early the next year." (Mercer LLC)

Press Releases



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