Executive benefits (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Executive benefits, gathered by BenefitsLink.comGuidance Overview Interim CEO Did Not Qualify As 'Outside Director' for Purposes of Performance-Based Pay Rules- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "IRS Reg. 1.162-27(e)(3)(i) provides that an 'outside director' must not have been an officer of the publicly held corporation, among other requirements. Under the facts and circumstances presented, the interim CEO acted with the full authority of an officer and was, therefore, barred from participating on the compensation committee as an outside director, the IRS concluded." (Wolters Kluwer)http://hr.cch.com/news/pension/062608a.asp Guidance Overview Accounting for Financing Assets of Nonqualified Benefit Plans (PDF)- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Pages 6-7 of 8 pages. Excerpt: "When financed, there are typically two methods: mutual funds and Corporate Owned Life Insurance ('COLI'). Financing nonqualified benefit liabilities enables the company to establish an asset that offsets the liability, providing a certain level of comfort to plan participants." (The Cochlan Group)http://www.thecochlangroup.com/pdf/2q08/TCG.June08.pdf Guidance Overview Deadline for 409A Compliance Approaching (PDF)- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "With only six months remaining to make plans compliant with Section 409A, we advise employers to focus on their Section 409A review process now. Beginning the process now will allow sufficient time before December 31, 2008, for assessing compliance alternatives, taking advantage of the transition relief opportunities which are available only through December 31, 2008, drafting, approving, and adopting remedial amendments, and establishing operational procedures for...http://www.haynesboone.com/FILES/tbl_s12PublicationsHotTopics/PublicationPDF60/2292/Alert%... Guidance Overview Section 409A Compliance Deadline: December 31, 2008 (PDF)- (Found July 8, 2008 ) 4 pages. The newsletter provides a '409A Recommended 'To Do' List." (Powell Goldstein LLP)http://www.pogolaw.com/files/news-alerts/2582/409+Ext.Deadline+Reminder_7.08.pdf Official Guidance Text of IRS Rev. Rul. 2008-42: Premiums Paid by S Corporation on Employer-Owned Life Insurance Contract (PDF)- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "HOLDINGS: (1) Premiums paid by an S corporation on an employer-owned life insurance contract, of which the S corporation is directly or indirectly a beneficiary, do not reduce the S corporation's accumulated adjustments account, or 'AAA'. (2) The benefits received by reason of the death of the insured from an employer-owned life insurance contract that meets an exception under 101(j)(2) do not increase the S corporation's AAA." (Internal Revenue Service)http://benefitslink.com/IRS/revrul2008-42.pdf Official Guidance Text of IRS Notice 2008-62: Nonapplication of 457(f) and 409A to Certain Recurring Part-Time Compensation Arrangements (PDF)- (Found July 8, 2008 ) 4 pages. Excerpt: "The upcoming proposed section 457(f) regulations to be proposed are expected to address certain types of arrangements involving recurring part-year compensation, including common arrangements involving public school employees who provide services during a 10- month school year and elect to be paid ratably over 12 months. It is expected that the regulations would provide that if certain conditions described below are satisfied, 457(f) would not apply to such...http://benefitslink.com/IRS/notice2008-62.pdf Guidance Overview A Revenue Raiser Used to Offset Federal Revenue Losses Created by Heroes Act Includes Stiff Penalties on 'Covered Expatriates'- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Upon expatriation, the Heroes Act requires the covered expatriate to recognize income tax as if the individual had sold all of his or property, to the extent it exceeds $600,000 (indexed), on the day before expatriation. Interestingly, 'eligible deferred compensation items' that are payable to a covered expatriate by a U.S. employer generally would not be subject to immediate taxation, if the expatriate notifies the employerpayor of his or her status as a covered...http://www.winston.com/index.cfm?contentID=19&itemID=159&itemType=25&postid=70 Pensions for Executives Reach New Heights- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "(These packages are generally composed of non-qualified, formula-based benefit plans, such as a supplemental executive retirement plan, or SERP, disclosed in the pension benefits section of a proxy, and do not include deferred compensation plans, noted Equilar senior researcher Alexander Cwirko-Godycki.)" (Financial Week; free registration required)http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/REG/761349337/-1/FWDailyA... Guidance Overview Arbitration of ERISA Claims Proves Expensive Dispute Resolution Alternative- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "In this fascinating decision, the marked disparity between an arbitrated employee benefits dispute and the likely outcome were the issue litigated in federal court could not be more dramatic. The case encompassed, among other things, an ERISA Section 510 claim. One need not read ERISA cases for long before developing the impression that these claims often miss the mark." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)http://healthplanlaw.com/?p=647 Recovering Executive Pay Based on Incorrect Financial Statements- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The data on the growing acceptance of clawback provisions emerged in a study by the Corporate Library, an independent research concern specializing in executive pay and corporate governance. It surveyed 2,121 companies and found that 295 of them, or 14 percent, had clawback provisions." (The New York Times; free registration required)http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/business/08gret.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&... |