PR Newswire has this regarding the case: “Cash Balance Court Ruling Could Harm U.S. Pension System, According to Watson Wyattt.” From the news release:
“This ruling has the potential to cause great harm to the U.S. private pension system,” said Eric Lofgren, Global Director of the Benefit Consulting Group of Watson Wyatt Worldwide. “Moreover, two other district courts and the U.S. Treasury Department have previously reached the opposite conclusion concerning the validity of cash balance plans.”
SmartMoney.com reports in an article by Arden Dale for the Dow Jones Newswires: “IBM Pension Ruling Stirs Debate.” The article quotes J. Mark Iwry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the former benefits tax counsel at the Treasury Department as saying that it “is likely that the issue will ultimately be resolved neither by the appellate courts nor by the executive branch but by the Congress.” The article also quotes William Sweetnam, benefits tax counsel at Treasury as saying that Judge Murphy’s decision does not refer to the Treasury initiative. Mr. Sweetnam also commented that the agency would continue to go “forward with our reg writing process.”
UPDATE: Another good article, this one by the Journal News.com: “Ruling on IBM pension plans causes stir“