On July 23rd of last year, I blogged on a set of proposed regulations eliminating the requirement that a taxpayer attach a copy of his or her Section 83(b) election to their individual tax return. This July, the IRS made the...more
Earlier this year the Financial Accounting Standards Board released Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09 (the “ASU”) to improve the accounting treatment of certain stock-based compensation payments. Among other updates,...more
In response to the Delaware Chancery Court’s 2012 and 2015 decisions in Seinfeld v. Slager and Calma v. Templeton and Facebook’s 2016 settlement of Espinoza v. Zuckerberg, public companies that are adopting or amending...more
In a case of first impression in the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that the Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Stock Rights Plan (“SRP”) was not subject to ERISA because its primary purpose was not to provide deferred compensation or...more
“Middle class economics means that Americans should be able to retire with dignity after a lifetime of hard work. But loopholes in the retirement advice rules have allowed some brokers and other advisers to recommend products...more
Last summer the Internal Revenue Service updated its Audit Techniques Guide (“ATG”) for nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. While the ATG provides little instruction on how the IRS will review nonqualified...more
The $1,000,000 limitation on deductions imposed by Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code applies to “covered employees.” In Notice 2007-49, the IRS defined the term “covered employees” as follows...more
As 2015 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates....more
12/11/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Ratio ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 409A ,
Year-End Planning
As 2015 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more
As 2015 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/23/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Large Employer ,
PCORI ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Section 6055 ,
Section 6056 ,
Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage ,
W-2 ,
Wellness Programs ,
Year-End Planning
The IRS has announced cost of living adjustments for health flexible spending accounts (“health FSAs”) in Section 125 cafeteria plans, contributions to health savings accounts (“HSAs”), out-of-pocket maximums under high...more
In this issue of the Corporate Communicator, we bring you an article about the SEC’s recently released proposal to adopt rules for the clawback of executive compensation. The proposal is already controversial and it may prove...more
8/20/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Clawbacks ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Statements ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Indemnification ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Section 409A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
As explained in a prior blog post, an employee who timely files a Section 83(b) election will be taxed on the fair market value of property transferred (typically restricted stock) to him or her in exchange for services on...more
As reported in a prior blog post, public company employers that are adopting or amending equity-based compensation plans should consider adding a separate annual limit on director equity awards. In a recent Delaware Chancery...more
On May 1, the IRS released a Chief Counsel Memorandum that clarifies the IRS’ position with respect to the correction of deferred compensation arrangements outside of the IRS’ formal Section 409A correction programs....more
The IRS recently released final regulations clarifying two aspects of the “performance-based compensation” exception to the $1,000,000 limit on deductible compensation paid to covered employees under Section 162(m) of the...more
Section 409A, the provision of the Internal Revenue Code that regulates the time and form of payment of nonqualified deferred compensation, contains a helpful exception for “short-term deferrals.”...more
As reported in my October 24, 2014 post, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), a leading proxy advisory firm, has adopted a new “scorecard” approach to evaluating public company equity compensation plans. In a...more
As reported in Part 3 of our 2014 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List, employers that sponsor deferred compensation programs should take action to ensure that deferral elections that apply to compensation that will be...more
As 2014 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more
As 2014 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more
As 2014 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the...more
As reported in Part 1 of our 2013 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists, Section 6039 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) requires employers to provide an information statement to each employee or former employee...more
As 2013 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part one of the...more
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) during the first half of the year issued guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (the “FAQs”) on certain...more
7/10/2013
/ Clinical Trials ,
Deductibles ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Non-Grandfathered Health Plans ,
Out-of-Pocket Expenses ,
Preventive Health Care ,
U.S. Treasury