Executive benefits (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Executive benefits, gathered by BenefitsLink.comNon-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan Prevalance Remains High- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "As of 2007, 95% of respondents to Clark Consulting's Executive Benefits survey offer some type of non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan to executives, up from 91% in 2005." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type11/?RECORD_ID=41772 Companies Promise CEOs Lavish Posthumous Paydays- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Dozens of . . . companies offer lush death-benefit packages to their top executives, according to a Wall Street Journal review of federal filings. Many companies accelerate unvested stock awards after a death, which by itself can amount to tens of millions of dollars. Some promise giant posthumous severance payouts, supercharged pensions or even a continuation of executives' salaries or bonuses for years after they're dead." (The Wall Street Journal)http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121305922859459465.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone Guidance Overview Rule 10b5-1 Plan Creating Litigation - In Re Countrywide Financial Corp. Derivative Litigation- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A Rule 10b5-1 plan, when correctly designed and adopted, gives executives a safe and effective way of buying or selling their companies' securities free of insider trading concerns. However, the Countrywide case underscores the importance of proceeding with caution when adopting, modifying, or terminating a Rule 10b5-1 plan." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)http://www.winston.com/index.cfm?contentID=19&itemID=159&itemType=25&postid=66 CEO Pay Rose Higher in '07 Despite Economic Woes- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "As the American economy slowed to a crawl and stockholders watched their money evaporate, CEO pay still chugged to yet more dizzying heights last year, an Associated Press analysis shows." (AP via The Washington Post; free registration required)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061500827.html Guidance Overview Compliance Required with Section 409A before December 31, 2008- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "December 31, 2008, looms as a crucial deadline for employers to comply with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and the final Section 409A regulations (Section 409A). Further, employers must reduce unwritten arrangements that are subject to Section 409A to written plansagreements by December 31, 2008." (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)http://www.wsgr.com/WSGR/Display.aspx?SectionName=publications/PDFSearch/clientalert_409Ar... Official Guidance Text of IRS Rev. Rul 2008-32: Qualification as 'Outside Director' Under Section 162(m) After Serving as Interim CEO (PDF)- (Found July 8, 2008 ) 4 pages. Excerpt: "Section 162(a)(1) allows as a deduction all the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business, including a reasonable allowance for salaries or other compensation for personal services actually rendered. Section 162(m)(1) provides that, in the case of any publicly held corporation, no deduction is allowed for applicable employee remuneration with respect to any covered employee to the extent extent that the..http://benefitslink.com/IRS/revrul2008-32.pdf The IRS on Lost Fica Payments for Lost Deferred Compensation- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Last week, the IRS released a Memorandum from the Office of Chief Counsel (CCA 200823001) on whether certain former employees could recover FICA taxes that were withheld on their non-qualified plan benefit accruals after the former employees forfeited the benefits. The IRS concluded that they could not." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)http://www.winston.com/index.cfm?contentID=19&itemID=159&itemType=25&postid=67 Company Size and Performance Not the Biggest Factors for Executive Pensions- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The median value of accumulated pension benefits for a CEO at an S&P 500 company is $6.1 million, according to Equilar. Compensation experts say there's a good reason why executives at midsize companies can find themselves staring at outsize pensions. 'Size and performance aren't always the biggest factors in an executive's pension,' said Peter Oppermann, an executive compensation consultant at Mercer. 'Their years of service and compensation can often be the major drivers.'"...http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/25/59/57.html The IRS Targets a Popular, and Perfectly Legal, Strategy Used by Executives for Dodging the Tax Man- July 8, 2008 Excerpt: "At issue are variable prepaid forward contracts, which allow executives to get cash for their stock holdings while skirting capital gains taxes. They have served as an appealing retirement planning device for executives who want to reduce their personal financial exposure to their own companies as a result of stock option grants, although much of that diversification flies in the face of pay-for-performance demands by shareholder activists." (Financial Week; free...http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080623/REG/561776046 Executive Compensation: A New View from a Long-Term Perspective, 1936-2005- (Found July 8, 2008 ) Excerpt: "We analyze the long-run trends in executive compensation using a new panel dataset of top executives in large publicly-held firms from 1936 to 2005, collected from corporate reports." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14145 |