Boxer 401(k) Bill Modified

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has modified her proposal to limit employer stock in 401(k) plans.

MidCon Corporation Does $3 Billion ESOP

In the second-largest ESOP transaction ever, Occidental Petroleum is setting up an unusual leveraged ESOP for the 1,850 employees of its MidCon natural-gas pipeline division.

New NCEO Study on Participation

A new study by the NCEO has found that publicly traded companies with more than 10% employee ownership are neither more nor less likely to involve their workers in Total Quality Management (TQM) programs, work teams, mini-business units, quality circles, or other forms of participative management

New Book on Employee Ownership in Russia

Kremlin Capitalism, a new book by Joseph Blasi, Maya Kroumova, and Douglas Kruse (Cornell University I&LR Press, 1996), provides the first in-depth look at the privatization process in Russia, a process largely accomplished through employee ownership.

ESOP Participants Do Not Have a Right to ESOP Valuation

In another appellate decision (Faircloth v. Lundy Packing Company, 4th Cir., 8/2/96), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that ESOP trustees are not required to provide a copy of the ESOP appraisal to participants who have requested it.

Merger of ESOP and 401(k) Plan Can Satisfy 30% Ownership Threshold for ESOPs

In Private Letter Ruling 9639071, for release on September 23, 1996, the IRS ruled that the employer stock owned in a 401(k) plan that is merged into an ESOP will count towards the total amount of stock owned by the ESOP for purposes of meeting the 30% threshold to qualify for section 1042 treatm

Employees Investing Heavily in Employer Stock

According to a new report from the Institute of Management and Administration, 42% of the funds employees invest in the 401(k) plans of large public firms are invested in company stock. In just the 246 companies surveyed, employer stock accounted for $133 billion in the employees' accounts.

Burlington Case Settled

Burlington Industries, NationsBank, and Morgan Stanley have agreed to pay $8.8 million each to settle a class action lawsuit brought by a group of Burlington employees. After legal fees are deducted, the remaining amount will go into Burlington's ESOP for current and former employees.

New Tax Bill Includes Significant Changes for Employee Ownership

The "Back to Small Business Job Protection Act" (the small business tax incentives feature of the Minimum Wage Bill) contains a number of provisions important to employee ownership. The bill has now been passed by the Congress and should be signed in the next few weeks by the President.