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Berman v. Comm’r, released on July 16, 2024, is a great example of making lemonade when life hands you a lemon. Although the taxpayers lost the federal income tax deferral of a stock sale to an employee stock ownership plan...more
As part of the comprehensive “SECURE 2.0” retirement plan legislation enacted in December 2022, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to issue a long delayed and much needed regulation defining the term...more
In recent years, a growing number of construction companies have established employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). The interest in an ESOP is often generated by the need for an exit strategy for one or more of the owners of...more
ESOPs can pay fair market value for the stock: Stock purchased by an ESOP must be appraised by an independent third party expert working with a trustee for the ESOP who must also be independent from the seller. The ESOP is...more
The enactment of Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) Section 409A has resulted in significant challenges for private companies that award employee stock options. Under the final Treasury regulations, stock options that are...more
In April 2022, we wrote about the upcoming amendments to Washington's Equal Pay and Opportunity Act (EPOA). The EPOA amendments require most employers who engage in business in Washington state to include pay ranges and...more
After M&A dealmaking cranked at an all-time high in 2021 with a record breaking 60,000 publicly disclosed deals aggregating over $5 trillion (see our recent article), the waters of M&A cooled considerably in 2022, with only...more
There were several significant legal developments relating to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) last year. This information memo will summarize a few of the most important developments. ...more
On January 27, Governor Jay Inslee signed two bills passed by the Legislature making key changes to WA Cares Fund. These reforms address coverage gaps and delay program implementation by 18 months...more
The board of directors of Bowers + Kubota Consulting, Inc. recently won an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) fiduciary/breach case brought against them by the Department of Labor. See Walsh v. Bowers, et al., No....more
The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of an ERISA employer-stock drop putative class action, holding that the plaintiff’s failure to identify specific, viable alternative actions that plan fiduciaries should have...more
For many public corporations, employee stock options have historically represented the "holy grail" of equity-based employee compensation. While providing an opportunity for employees to share in their employer's growth in a...more
This White Paper highlights some of the principal annual reporting requirements for employee stock plans that multinational companies most commonly encounter when offering these programs to their employees in selected...more
Requirement to Report - For (1) any exercise of an incentive stock option (ISO) during 2019 or (2) transfer during 2019 of a share previously purchased pursuant to a tax-qualified employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), the...more
Ensure that You are Equipped with the Latest Updates and Strategies to Prevent, Manage and Defend Against Rising, Costly ERISA Disputes - This annual event is your best opportunity to gain best practices for your everyday...more
A federal trial court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a participant in an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claiming that fiduciaries of the ESOP caused it to overpay for stock of the company in a leveraged transaction....more
Last week, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) sought Supreme Court review of a Second Circuit decision favoring retirement plan participants claiming the plan’s fiduciaries breached their duty of prudence in failing...more
On August 13, 2018, as part of the John S. McCain Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, President Trump signed into law the Main Street Employee Ownership Act, which was originally introduced by Senator...more
The ESOP industry is paying close attention to a Tenth Circuit appeal that will address the deferral of corporate deductions for certain accrued expenses payable to ESOP-participating employees. This appeal, which pertains to...more
An analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that 2017 was a banner for 401(k) plan account balance. The analysis found that the average account balance for younger (25-34), less tenured (1-4 years)...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published Interpretive Bulletin (IB) 2016-1 on Dec. 29, 2016, relating to the exercise of shareholder rights and written statements of investment policy, including proxy...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court invited the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the government’s views on a petition for certiorari asking the Court to decide whether ERISA permits a cause of action for...more
Merrill Lynch has already staked out the position in response to the DOL’s retirement account fiduciary duty rule that it would no longer offer commission-based IRAs to retirement savers. Yesterday, it effectively doubled...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's Aug. 25, 2016, decision in Allen v. GreatBanc Trust Co., No. 15-3569, made it the first court in a published opinion to expressly reject Fifth Third Bancorp v....more
On Sept. 1, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued its decision in the Antioch employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) fiduciary litigation. The court held that the Antioch Board of Directors...more