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    April 8, 2003 - 13,076 subscribers
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    (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
    IRS Moves Cash Balance/Age Discrimination Regs Hearings to Larger Forum; Extended to Two Days
    Excerpt: "Because of the number of individuals requesting to speak at the hearing, the hearing will be held on both Wednesday, April 9, 2003 and on Thursday, April 10, 2003. On both dates the hearing will begin at 10 a.m., and registration for the hearing will begin at 9 a.m. On both dates the hearing will be held in the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, 1300 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC." (Internal Revenue Service)

    Most Conversions to Cash Balance Pensions Are Cost-Neutral; 80% of Employees Fare Better
    Press release. Excerpt: "As the debate over cash balance and pension equity plans heats up following the release of proposed new rules governing these plans, experts at Watson Wyatt warn that common misperceptions still abound." (Watson Wyatt)

    Washington Post Coverage: Treasury Drops Cash Balance Proposal
    Excerpt: "The agencies will propose the rules again after obtaining additional comments. The IRS has scheduled hearings for tomorrow and Thursday to listen to comments on the proposed regulations." (Washington Post)

    American Benefits Council Calls Sanders Cash Balance Conversion Bill 'Ill-Advised' (PDF)
    Excerpt: "Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) will be introducing legislation very shortly that would mandate that employers converting from one form of defined benefit pension plan to another type of defined benefit pension plan would be required to obtain the employees' consent.... An employee choice requirement imposes an unprecedented benefit mandate on employers sponsoring defined benefit pension plans." (American Benefits Council)

    HealthSouth Employees Sue ESOP Trustees, Including CEO
    Excerpt: "The lawsuit claims that Scrushy and former chief financial officer William Owens and Senior Vice President Brandon Hale breached their legal duties by knowingly overstating HealthSouth's financial statements, said Steve Berman, managing partner at the law firm of Hagens Berman.... The suit seeks to represent all HealthSouth employees who participated in the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) from January 1, 1999 to the present." (Reuters)

    For Pension Benefits, It's a Matter of Interest -- As In Rates
    Excerpt: "Companies complain that the 30-year Treasury artificially inflates pension liabilities. They believe a more realistic measure of what their pension assets can earn is the yield on high-grade corporate bonds, which offer higher yields because they are riskier than government bonds. Advocates of using the corporate rate say it's the rate insurance companies use to price annuities they sell to pension plan sponsors." (The [Pittsburgh] Post-Gazette)

    Center for Fiduciary Studies Rolls Out Web-Based Program: 'Accredited Investment Fiduciary'
    Excerpt: "The Center for Fiduciary Studies' AIF(tm) Web-based Program is based on the classroom-based course taught at the University of Pittsburgh. Students who complete the program fulfill the Center's requirements for instruction leading to the ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY Examination." (Center for Fiduciary Studies)

    Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

    Equity Compensation in a Post-Expensing World
    There is a growing consensus that companies will soon have to expense stock options and that the best response to this is to rethink how stock options and other forms of equity compensation are used. The NCEO presents excerpts from its new book on what companies can and should do in the new environment. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

    Joint Committee on Taxation Testifies on Enron Executive Compensation and COLI Arrangements (PDF)
    42 pages. Presented by Mary M. Schmitt, Acting Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee On Taxation at a Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on April 8, 2003. (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation)

    Analysis: Labor Department Proposes New Rules for Classifying 'Exempt' Employees
    Excerpt: "In an effort to clarify and modernize rules that have become the subject of confusion and litigation, the U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed a major update of the federal regulations that define 'exempt' employees for overtime purposes under the wage and hour law known as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)." (Faegre & Benson LLP)

    Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
    Post a Help Wanted Ad

    401k Contribution Processor / Pension Assistant
    for Preferred Pension Planning Corporation
    in NJ

    Marketing Specialist
    for Principal Financial Group
    in MD
    Newly Posted Webcasts
    ( Post Yours! )

    Teleweb Seminar: How to Communicate Bad News
    on April 15, 2003
    presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

    USERRA and YOU - Military Reemployment & Pension Rights
    on April 22, 2003
    presented by SunGard Corbel
    Newly Posted Conferences
    ( Post Yours! )

    HIPAA Security Rule: The Next Steps For Your Organization
    in ALL STATES
    April 10, 2003
    Health Resources Publishing

    Investments Institute
    in NY
    May 5, 2003
    International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

    Kentucky Association of Healthplans v. Miller: Another Seachange?
    in ALL STATES
    April 24, 2003
    ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits; Other Organizations
    Newly Posted Press Releases
    ( Post Yours! )

    Pan-American Life 401(k) Now Integrates with ASC Valuation System
    (Pan-American Life)

    Standard Insurance Company Adds Enrollment Feature to INFOLINE
    (Standard Insurance Company)

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