In this article, we address the question of whether a successor can become personally liable for a breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA (and the federal common law of trusts), if the breach occurred prior to the fiduciary’s appointment as trustee. We ...
[Read more] about Successor Fiduciaries Can Be Personally Liable For Fiduciary Breaches
Blog
ESOP Distributions Policies: How Can You Modify Or Amend Them?
It is a fairly common practice for ESOP plan documents to contain references to ESOP distributions "policies" that are separate from the plan document itself and that are administered, or modified or amended, by plan fiduciaries (committees, trustees ...
[Read more] about ESOP Distributions Policies: How Can You Modify Or Amend Them?
ESOPs: Common Misperceptions
There are some common misconceptions about ESOPs that should be addressed and dispelled. Unfortunately, many less than fully informed business owners and advisers hold them as truths. Many business owners mistakenly think:
An ESOP is a ...
[Read more] about ESOPs: Common Misperceptions
Employee Aggregation Rules: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
First In A Series
It was not a dark and stormy night--at least it didn't start out that way. Instead, it was a sunny and calm afternoon, and a routine year-end review meeting was taking place between the owners of SMALLCO (a manufacturing ...
[Read more] about Employee Aggregation Rules: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
Employee Aggregation Rules: Controlled Groups
Second In A Series
In our last episode we left our heroes spending a dark and stormy night arguing about who screwed up and failed to recognize that SMALLCO and SMALL Vineyards had to be considered one employer for employee benefit plan ...
[Read more] about Employee Aggregation Rules: Controlled Groups
Employee Aggregation Rules: Affiliated Service Groups
Third In A Series
In the first two installments of this series on the aggregation of employers and employees, we spent a dark and stormy night with the owners of SMALLCO and SMALL Vineyards and their advisors learning about the controlled group ...
[Read more] about Employee Aggregation Rules: Affiliated Service Groups