Today’s Federal Register contains the prohibited transaction exemption issued by the Department of Labor to the Northwest Airlines pension plans, permitting the in-kind contribution of Pinnacle Airlines stock to the pension plans to satisfy funding obligations. You can read more about it in yesterday’s post and in this article for the New York Times: “U.S. to Allow Northwest Air to Use Stock in Pensions.” Ellen Schultz and Susan Carey for the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) also report: “Northwest Airlines Can Use Stock Of Unit to Fund Retirement Plans.”
Bill Mann for the Motley Fool has this take on the subject: “Underfunded Pension? Just Add Stock.”
The nation’s largest pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, imposed new investment standards Monday on the 90 investment banks and broker-dealers with which it does business as reported here by the Associate Press via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “U.S.’s largest pension fund has new rules.”
Here’s a great op-ed by Scott Harshbarger for the Boston Globe: “Corporate America’s new accountability.” Quote of note:
Leaders must work to define standards for audit committees, independent directorships, and governance policies, including formal business and ethics codes of conduct, in order to avoid further regulation and bring about lasting reform. Experience has taught us that the best results do not come in a one-size-fits-all box. But that is just what corporate America can expect from federal regulators if its leaders do not rise to the challenge of defining new standards in integrity, transparency, and accountability capable of winning back investor confidence.