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    December 17, 2003 - 13,655 subscribers
    Today's sponsor: ASPA

    (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) 

      ASPA Restructures Education Program 
 
As a result of exam candidate feedback and more than two years of
research, analysis, and planning, ASPA has restructured its education
program. Effective January 2004, study material will be presented
in smaller segments, in a more logical, easier-to-understand way.
While the program is changing, ASPA assures professionals that the
same high educational standards for which ASPA is known will not
change. New texts and exams for 2004 will be available soon!

Click on the banner above or visit
http://www.asppa.org/edu/restructure.htm for more information.

    (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
    IRS Will No Longer Accept Form 2848 Listing Invalid Representatives
    Excerpt: "The IRS has announced that, effective January 1, 2004, it will no longer accept Forms 2848 (Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative) that list ineligible representatives.... Occasionally, taxpayers would submit Forms 2848 that designated ineligible representatives. The IRS practice has been to accept these invalid authorizations for the purpose of allowing the third party to receive information about the taxpayer, but not to represent them before the IRS." (CCH News & Information Library)

    Judge's Decision In Enron Suit Sparks Concerns About Greater Responsibilities for Directed Trustees
    Excerpt: "Do not be surprised if directed trustees hike their fees, among other things, in the wake of a judge's ruling in the Enron Corp. 401(k) case. US District Judge Melinda Harmon ruled October 1 that the Enron retirement plan participants can sue a group including Northern Trust Corp., the plan's former directed trustee, for allegedly failing to protect them as they loaded up on company stock and as the stock's price subsequently tumbled." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

    Text of Proposed Pricing Rules for Mutual Fund Disclosure of Market Timing, Portfolio Holdings (PDF)
    19 pages; from the Federal Register of 12/17/2003. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

    Text of Proposed Pricing Rules for Mutual Fund Shares (PDF)
    13 pages; from the Federal Register of 12/17/2003. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

    Opinion: 2003 Was Year of Awakening
    Excerpt: "In 2003 the nation's 95 million mutual fund investors, as well as pension plan sponsors and other consumers of money management services, began learning of the pervasiveness of illegal and unethical behavior in the money management industry.... Investors gained insight into how the industry has been skimming money from their accounts. And every day brings new revelations that the game has been rigged." (The Benchmark Companies)

    Schwab Restoring 401(k) Match
    Excerpt: "Charles Schwab Corp. will restore its company's 401(k) match in full next year." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

    Japan to Raise Social Security Taxes to 18.35 Percent; Split Between Employer, Employee
    Excerpt: "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi intends to raise premiums in steps starting in October until the rate reaches 18.35 percent of salaries from 13.58 percent now, according to a statement released by the pension review panel. Premiums are split equally between employees and employers." (International Herald Tribune)

    PBGC Takes Control of Kaiser Aluminum Corp. Pension Fund
    Excerpt: "The government's pension insurance agency said yesterday that it will take over the management pension plan at troubled Kaiser Aluminum Corp., which had been hit by a 'run on the bank' ... Kaiser managers withdrew some $77 million from the plan last year, reducing its assets so severely that by the end of 2002 it failed to meet federal liquidity requirements and lump-sum distributions to employees were cut off." (Washington Post)

    CalPERS Hopes to Find Other Investors to Join Suit Against NYSE
    Excerpt: "The nation's largest public pension fund is seeking other private and institutional investors to join a class action lawsuit against the New York Stock Exchange." (AP via SFGate.com)

    Philly Daily News: Pension Managers Gave $1.2M to Mayor, Governor Over Past 6 Years
    Excerpt: "[T]he few who returned calls from the Daily News claimed that their political contributions have nothing to do with their work as city money managers - which earns them fees that can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. But others say the situation is another symptom of the city's 'pay-to-play' political culture - and potential trouble for taxpayers and the city pension system." (The Philadelphia Daily News)

    New York City Pension Manager Prods Halliburton for Details on Iran Involvement
    Excerpt: "William Thompson Jr., who manages the New York police and fire department pension funds, has been agitating for months for Halliburton's board to reconsider doing business in Iran because of that country's links to terrorism.... The two New York funds have about $31 million invested in Halliburton." (Houston Chronicle)

    U.S. Small Business Administration and Nationwide Team Up on Retirement Education Campaign
    Excerpt: "The U.S. Small Business Administration and Nationwide are partnering to help educate American small business owners about their retirement plan options and responsibilities, especially in their role as a fiduciary. Business owners who seek out information about retirement plans help protect themselves from risk. The information on this site can help small business owners understand roles, responsibilities and resources for retirement plans." (U.S. Small Business Administration)

    Prominent Philadelphia Law Firm Settles Alleged Malpractice Suit Involving Pension Fund Losses
    Excerpt: "One of Philadelphia's largest law firms has agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle malpractice claims alleging the firm failed to prevent losses in public pension funds in Pennsylvania and three other states. Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P.... will pay the money to its former client, the troubled, Philadelphia-based Keystone V Partners L.P. venture capital fund, to be returned to the pension funds." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

    Ignorance Is Not Bliss: the Importance of Financial Education
    Excerpt: "In this article, the authors assess the impact of participation in financial education seminars offered by TIAA-CREF on retirement goals and retirement saving behaviors. Specifically, the authors examine whether participants in these seminars revised their expected retirement age and/or their desired level of retirement income after attending a seminar.... [T]he authors also determined whether individuals actually made changes in their retirement saving behaviors." (TIAA-CREF Institute)

    Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

    Avoiding or Winning Employee Benefit Plan Lawsuits
    Nice checklist. Excerpt: "Employers and fiduciaries should take steps to minimize the risk of liability, and a good first step is a fiduciary liability review. Federal employee benefit law (ERISA) imposes a high standard of duty and care on fiduciaries to find and fix poor administrative practices that directly or indirectly result in lost benefits, and tax laws require careful plan administration to maintain tax exempt status." (Thelen Reid & Priest LLP via FindLaw.com)

    Overview: IRS Launches Executive Compensation Compliance Initiative
    12/15/03. Excerpt: "This initiative will focus on eight issues: (1) nonqualified deferred compensation; (2) stock-based compensation; (3) the million-dollar cap on deductible compensation; (4) golden parachutes; (5) split-dollar life insurance; (6) transfers of compensatory options to related parties; (7) offshore deferred compensation arrangements; and (8) executive perks." (RIA Pension & Benefits Week)

    Newly Posted Press Releases

    Clark Consulting Announces Results of Tenth Annual Executive Benefits Survey; Prevalence, Popularity of NQDC Plans Continues to Grow
    (Clark Consulting)

    dailyVest Software Drills Down
    (dailyVest Inc.)
    Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
    Post a Help Wanted Ad

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    for ADP Retirement Services
    in NJ

    Sr. Account Executive
    for Transamerica
    in PA

    Pension Administrator/Manager
    for Katz & Company, Inc./Applied Pension Services of Suffolk, Inc.
    in NY

    Retirement Plan Administrator
    for Benefit Consultants Group
    in NJ

    Client Service Representative
    for National Automobile Dealers Association
    in VA

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