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Pension Funding Reform: It's Time to Get the Rules Right (Part 2 of 2) (PDF)

12 pages; reprinted here through permission by Tax Analysts, publishers of TAX NOTES. Excerpt: Part two discusses the need for reform in ERISA's funding and plan termination rules. This article will examine various legislative and industry proposals and the policy considerations relevant to such proposals, in light of historical mistakes that should be avoided with subsequent legislation. The article's conclusion makes recommendations in support of preserving the defined benefit system.

Pension Funding Reform: It's Time to Get the Rules Right (Part 1 of 2) (PDF)

17 pages; reprinted here through permission by Tax Analysts, publishers of TAX NOTES. Excerpt: In [the first part of a] two-part article, the author explains how and why ERISA's historical pension funding rules-- although well-intentioned-- nevertheless led employers, such as United Airlines' parent UAL Corp., to have seriously underfunded pension plans, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to assume billions of dollars of those unfunded liabilities.

Detailed Description of Code Section 436 Restrictions on Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)

18 pages. Excerpt: The Pension Protection Act of 2006 ... established a new code section -- section 436 -- that imposes benefit restrictions for underfunded single-employer defined benefit plans.... This report examines the proposed regulations and the impact they will have on single employers that maintain defined benefit plans during 2008 and beyond.... Because the rules affect the plan's qualification and the sponsor's fiduciary responsibility under Title I of ERISA, they are important not only to actuaries, but to employee benefits attorneys as well.

Prime ERISA Areas for Supreme Court Review (PDF)

"This article focuses on four distinct areas of ERISA litigation that are in need of clarification by the Supreme Court during the current or upcoming terms. They involve the evidence to be considered in a benefits denial claim under the de novo standard of review; the standard of review in a breach of fiduciary case where a profit sharing plan invests in employer stock that is declining in value (the so-called 'stock drop' cases); an employer's modification or termination of retiree health care benefits in collective-bargaining contexts in light of the terms of the employee benefits plan and the collectively bargained agreement; and the plan administrator's enforcement of subrogation clauses under a health care plan."

A Current Update of EPCRS Through Rev. Proc. 2013-12 (PDF)

"Until recently, practitioners have relied upon Rev. Proc. 2008-50 for guidance as to the three correction programs provided under EPCRS. However, the [IRS] issued new guidance on December 31, 2012, in Rev. Proc. 2013-12, with appendices, along with a chart of the significant changes, a topical index, and new IRS forms to be now used for submissions under the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP). This article is intended for those practitioners unfamiliar with EPCRS, and thus, it summarizes not only the recent changes but the cumulative effect of the changes made to EPCRS as well."