Benefits Counsel

Benefitslink points us to this article authored by Michael Hart and Catherine Bardsley of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP. The article provides an analysis of the new deemed IRA regulations which were published this week.

The Foundation for Fiduciary Studies and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) have announced today the development of a handbook for fiduciaries called “Prudent Investment Practices: A Handbook for Investment Fiduciaries” which can be read about here.

Today’s Federal Register is here. The MotleyFool.com and the Wall Street Journal have pointed us to the fact that Alan Greenspan will soon be appearing in television ads pointing us to FederalReserveEducation.org and advocating better financial education for Americans. “No matter who you are, making informed decisions about what to do with your money will help build a more stable financial future for you and your family,” Mr. Greenspan says on the home page of the website. Hidden within the pages is this insightful graph showing the decline in personal savings rates of Americans from 1959 to 2001. Another article in a similar vein from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania: “Will Baby-Boomers? Retirement Years Go Bust from a Lack of Savings?”

Matthew Yi with the San Francisco Chronicle at SFGate.com reports on the recent defeat of a shareholder proposal to expense stock options at Intel. The results were close with 47.55% of shareholders voting in favor of the proposal. The article quotes Mark Rubenstein, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, as saying that stock option expensing will have minimal effect on a company’s share price for reasons explained in the article. Also, Chris Gaither with the Boston Globe at Boston.com has this to say: “High-tech firms cut stock options.”

Professor Lessig refers us to an absolutely great article about weblogs for lawyers written by Jerry Lawson.

Thanks, Denise, for including me in your blawg news last week, and for your wonderful remarks that I am cutting “a bloggy swath” through the “legal briarpatch” of benefits and ERISA law. I love it! Where did you learn to write like that? I don’t think it was in law school.

Donna Smith for Reuters reports just now that “House, Senate Reach $350 Billion Tax Cut Deal.” More on this later . . .

Thompson Publishing provides a very good article discussing the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court case Kentucky Association of Health Plans, Inc. v. Miller, 123 S.Ct. 1471 (S Ct., April 2, 2003) which ruled that a state’s any-willing-provider (AWP) laws are not preempted by ERISA. The article discusses the possible fallout from the case and predicts that states will now be free to enact laws regulating TPAs and other service providers under the guise of “insurance” regulation.

Another article for Thompson Publishing authored by Joseph Adams, Esq., of Deloitte & Touche, LLP, discusses the recent trend of companies seeking to meet their funding obligations of defined benefit plans with in-kind contributions of stock and the exemptions being contemplated for such transactions by EBSA.

Today’s Federal Register is here. Regarding the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing yesterday, Kevin Drawbaugh for Reuters offers this report: “Senators Clash on Stock Options, Probe CEO Pay.” In addition, the Washington Post provides this op-ed on the subject–“No Accounting for Politics“–and Carlos Campos for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this to say: “McCain warns CEOs on pay.”

Michael Liedtke of the Associated Press via the DenverPost.com offers this report: “Firms resist treating stock options as expenses.” The article contains some interesting graphs showing the effect stock option expensing would have on the earnings of certain key companies. According to the article, Intel’s shareholders will vote tomorrow on the issue.

Today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal contains several articles on the battles that are being waged in the benefits area: Carol Hymowitz writes “What Riles Employees Most Is the Big Divide Separating Their Coverage and the CEO’s” (this article now published here at SFGate.com) about the growing trends of companies to cut benefits (health and pension) and at the same time to beef up benefits for their executives. Joann S. Lublin reports “Roughtly 1 in 8 U.S. Companies Reimburses its Top Executives For Out-of-Pocket Health Costs“, discussing executive health reimbursement plans, and Kelly Greene and Nicole Harris offer this report: “Retirees Score Hits Battling Executive Perks” (here at SFGate.com)