By Greg Daugherty and Victoria Hanohano-Hong on It has been a busy end of 2023 and first quarter of 2024 for the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor when it comes to implementing qualified plan regulatory guidance. You may have heard of some or more of these changes, many of which come from the SECURE Act and more recent SECURE 2.0. … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty and Rich Helmreich on ESOPs are increasingly a popular succession planning vehicle, and well they should be. When formed properly, an ESOP transaction preserves the legacy of the business that an owner helped create, while providing tax and financial benefits to the former business owner, the company and the employees.… Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty and Deb Boiarsky on As we have explained in prior ESOP blogs, the Department of Labor (DOL) remains acutely concerned with private company employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) valuations in the formation of ESOPs. In particular, trustees who approve an ESOP trust’s purchase of shares from a seller must demonstrate that they have satisfied ERISA’s fiduciary duties with respect … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The just-released Obama budget proposal includes a proposal to eliminate the IRC Section 404(k) ESOP dividend deduction for large C corporations (or at least what the Obama administration describes as large for this purpose). … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Sixth Circuit has reversed the district court's dismissal of the GM ERISA stock-drop suit, Pfeil v. State Street Bank & Trust Co., and is allowing the case to proceed. You may recall that we cautioned fiduciaries of ESOPs and 401(k) plans allowing investment in employer stock to keep an eye on this case because it could be a game-changer. And now it is.… Continue Reading