McDermott Will & Emery
Subscribe to McDermott Will & Emery's PostsSettling the Standard for Prudence? Fall Brings New Guidance for ESOP Trustees
By McDermott Will & Emery, Allison Wilkerson, J. Christian Nemeth and McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 5, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
Through a series of recent settlements, the US Department of Labor has outlined the process steps fiduciaries should follow in connection with a transaction involving a purchase from, or sale to, an employee stock ownership plan. Continue Reading.
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Treasury Issues New Guidelines on Searching for Missing Retirement Plan Participants
By McDermott Will & Emery and Jeffrey Holdvogt on Nov 28, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Retirement Plans
The US Department of the Treasury recently issued guidance that retirement plan sponsors should consider as part of their obligation to take reasonable steps to locate missing participants. Specifically, the Treasury issued a memorandum which sets forth guidelines that prohibit auditors from challenging qualified plans as failing to satisfy the required minimum distribution standards under Internal Revenue...
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Fringe Benefits: What the Proposed Tax Bills Mean to the Employer
By Anthony A. Bongiorno, McDermott Will & Emery and McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 21, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Both the House and Senate versions of tax reform propose significant changes that may reduce or eliminate the tax benefits of many popular employer-provided fringe benefits, such as dependent care assistance programs, on-premises gyms and bicycle commuting expense reimbursements. In addition, many common deductions for work-related activities—including certain meal and entertainment expenses—may see sweeping changes....
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Senate Finance Committee Modifies Executive Compensation Provisions in New Modified Mark of Tax Reform Bill
By McDermott Will & Emery and Andrew Liazos on Nov 17, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment, Executive Compensation
On Tuesday night, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) released a new modified mark of the Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that modifies provisions related to Internal Revenue Code (Code) Sections 409A and 162(m). The Chairman’s modification adds a transition rule for the elimination of employer deductions for payments over...
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Supplemental Benefit Planning for Tax-Exempt Employers
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 31, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, Retirement Plans
Tax-exempt employers face a matrix of tax and disclosure issues in designing an appropriate supplement retirement program. This resource intends to examine the income tax, payroll tax and Form 990 reporting aspects of the major plans currently available to tax-exempt employers, and review those major plans from the reference point of several major design considerations....
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IRS Issues Updated Mortality Tables for 2018 – Impact on Pension Plan Sponsors
By Jeffrey Holdvogt and McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 24, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment, Retirement Plans
The IRS recently issued new mortality tables for 2018, which will likely increase pension funding liabilities for many plan sponsors. Plan sponsors should consider options to delay the use of the new mortality tables for funding purposes, while large plan sponsors should consider the option to utilize plan-specific mortality tables instead. Continue reading.
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ERIC Challenges Oregon Reporting Requirements for Retirement Plans
By McDermott Will & Emery and Andrew Liazos on Oct 13, 2017
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Retirement Plans
On October 12, 2017, McDermott Will & Emery filed a lawsuit on behalf of The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) challenging new reporting requirements under Oregon law as applicable to retirement plans subject to ERISA. Below is a press release from ERIC and Q&As regarding this litigation. OregonSaves is the state of Oregon’s state-run retirement program that...
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Are Your Employee Communications Up to Snuff? — ERISA Disclosure Practices
By McDermott Will & Emery and Allison Wilkerson on Oct 12, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans
Mary Samsa and Allison Wilkerson discussed that the majority of ERISA disclosures are in fact employee communications – many of which are viewed as “routine” by employers. As such, plan sponsors are continually balancing the best way in which to relay complex benefit plan information in a manner to best be understood by employees but...
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McDermott Announces Determination Letter Replacement Program, Addressing the Gap in Retirement Plan Compliance
By Brian Tiemann, Diane Morgenthaler, Jeffrey Holdvogt, Jacob Mattinson, Joseph K. Urwitz, Kay Kemp, Lisa Loesel, Maggie McTigue , Mary K. Samsa, Sarah L. Engle, Allison Wilkerson, Alan D. Nesburg, PC, Andrew Liazos, McDermott Will & Emery and Todd Solomon on Oct 10, 2017
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
Since the announcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that sponsors of individually designed retirement plans may no longer receive a periodic determination letter, plan sponsors have faced uncertainty about how to demonstrate compliance for their retirement plans. Our McDermott Retirement Plan Compliance Program, a new opinion letter and operational review program for individually designed...
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French Labor Law Reform: A Breakdown of Key Items in the Overhaul
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 19, 2017
Posted In Employment, Labor
The French government has announced labor reforms intended to promote flexibility and improved predictability at both the collective and individual level. The decrees should be approved by the president on September 22, 2017, and the parliament would have to ratify the decrees in the coming months. Their ratification is not expected to undergo major hurdles,...
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