On behalf of the ESOPs & Employee Benefits team, we hope you’re enjoying the first days of Spring, when the longer days allow more time to ponder the ever-changing landscape of employee benefits compliance. Please find below...more
On October 4, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a new safe harbor policy that may shield companies from criminal prosecution for misconduct they uncover at companies they are acquiring or have recently...more
Report Offers Weak Insight on Causation but Lists Steps that Treasury Can and Should Take - The Department of Treasury (“DOT”) recently released its first ever strategy report (the “Strategy”) on the topic of de-risking,...more
Increased use of earnouts is likely to facilitate M&A deals across sectors in Europe. Earnouts are increasingly common in European M&A. The growing prevalence of this contractual provision — in which additional...more
A common route for property owners to effect divestiture of their real estate assets to de-risk their investments and to improve liquidity is to sell down part of the asset and form a joint venture with the buyer....more
The current banking crisis, which in significant part has been focused on regional banks catering to fintech companies, is likely to result in increasing regulatory focus on an industry already subject to regulatory scrutiny....more
Warner’s Employee Benefits Practice Group is pleased to present a webinar series on significant new retirement plan legislation, the SECURE Act 2.0. While we expect implementing the new law to take several years, some...more
September 14, 2022- U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters delivered the opening statement at the full committee hearing entitled, "When Banks Leave: The Impacts of De-Risking on the Caribbean and...more
El aumento de los costos de cumplimiento, las estructuras de clientes corporativos difíciles de entender, las multas y sanciones, el cambio de la responsabilidad corporativa a la responsabilidad individual y las...more
Rising compliance costs, hard to understand corporate client structures, fines and penalties, a shift from corporate responsibility to individual liability, and reputational concerns have led many US Financial Institutions...more
“Rejected Transactions” Reporting: Additional Compliance Obligations for Financial Institutions; New Compliance Obligations Businesses, Nonprofits, Inividuals, and Foreign Entities Owned or Controlled by U.S. Persons - The...more
Due to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) change in course published in Notice 2019-18, plan sponsors may now offer retirees lump-sum windows as another pension “de-risking” option. Plan sponsors considering pension de-risking...more
The IRS previously issued several Private Letter Rulings permitting defined benefit plans to offer lump sum windows during which retirees receiving annuity payments could elect to receive the actuarial equivalent of their...more
Defined benefit pension plans can be troublesome for sponsoring employers to maintain. The long-term liability for funding pension benefits coupled with unpredictable investment returns creates volatility. Companies...more
In Notice 2019-18, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) changed its position and now will permit employers to offer lump sum payments to retirees who are currently receiving annuity payments from a defined benefit plan....more
Litigation funding, the third-party financing of legal costs in disputes, is increasingly common in the UK. As litigants have become comfortable with sophisticated litigation funders, these funders are responding to business...more
One de-risking tool for employers with defined benefit pension liabilities is to allow participants to receive lump-sum distributions. Although lump sums result in a short-term cash drain, they reduce the plan’s long-term...more
Pension plan sponsors have been looking for opportunities to manage their growing pension liabilities for many years now. In 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) closed the door on sponsors who were considering offering...more
The Financial Action Task Force has published its report to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The report gives an overview of recent FATF work and its proposed next steps in its current workstreams. The...more
Headlines - ...Guidance Issued on Immediate Implementation of Certain Provisions of the EGRRCPA ...Federal Appeals Court Rules That the FHFA Is Unconstitutionally Structured ...OCC Issues Updated Guidance on...more
Deficiencies in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) frameworks and policies have triggered a significant number of Financial Institutions (FIs) to de-risk. ...more
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a statement earlier this week regarding testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Committee on...more
The Financial Action Task Force has launched an online private sector survey on correspondent banking and the usefulness of its 2016 Guidance on correspondent banking services. The Guidance was published in response to...more
The Wolfsberg Group has published two new standards, the Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire (CBDDQ) and the revised Payment Transparency Standards. The Wolfsberg Group was established in 2002 and comprises...more