Today’s Federal Register contains temporary and proposed regulations which provide rules governing transfers of certain compensatory stock options (nonstatutory stock options). In addition, there are final regulations amending the anti-abuse rule under Regulation Sec. 1.367(e)-2(d) (pertaining to outbound liquidations of domestic corporations) by narrowing the scope of the rule to apply only to outbound transfers to a foreign corporation in a complete liquidation of a domestic corporation in which a principal purpose of the liquidation is the avoidance of U.S. tax. The regulations also clarify the application of the anti-abuse rule.
What’s the PBGC doing these days and how is this agency handling all of the retirees which are receiving pensions under the purview of the agency due to so many bankrupt pension plans? Read this very interesting article from the WashingtonPost by Kirstin Downey: “Federal Pension Provider Overwhelmed.” The article reports the PBGC as saying that it takes an average of three years to receive a final determination of benefits (an improvement over a 2000 report which said it took from 6 to 20 years to receive a final determination of benefits.) The delay is due, apparently, to corporate bankruptcy proceedings which can drag out for years and figuring out how much the agency can collect as a creditor of the failed enterprise. In addition, the article quotes Mary Ellen Signorile, an AARP lawyer specializing in employee benefits, as saying that the agency sometimes confronts a “paperwork nightmare” when it takes over a pension plan so that the agency has to reconstruct participant records.
France is just waking up to the idea of providing tax breaks for private pensions as reported by Bloomberg.com: “France May Pass Law Granting Tax Breaks for Pensions.” The article discusses how this is all part of a solution to “prevent the state pension system from buckling under the burden of an aging population and shrinking workforce” and to avoid more of this as discussed in a previous post here.
The Society of Human Resource Management has this helpful article: Departure Plans: Educating employees about retirement planning is an area where you need high touch more than high tech.” The article states that helping employees plan for retirement will increasingly become “a hot topic” for employers because of the mass of baby boomers retiring in the next 10 to 20 years. The article remarks that health coverage is the most “frightening aspect” of those considering retirement now.