Find Your Resource

A new survey of 1,108 companies by ShareData, a provider of software to administer employee stock option plans, shows a rapid increase in the growth of plans that provide stock options to most or all employees.

According to testimony by Doug Kruse of Rutgers University before the House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations of the Committee on Education and the Workforce (2/12/02), "about 70-75% of participants in plans that are heavily invested in employer stock [ESOPs, 401(k) plans, and profit sh

On September 29, 2005, the IRS issued proposed regulations under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code detailing how companies will need to comply with the deferred compensation rules created by the American Jobs Creation Act.

The Department of Labor has released its annual report on employee benefit plans, including employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).

As of February 1, 2006, there is a new IRS determination letter procedure for qualified plans such as ESOPs and 401(k) plans. The new program requires that plans submit a determination letter to the IRS every five years based on an employer identification number used for federal tax purposes.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a stock-drop lawsuit against the fiduciaries of the KeyCorp 401(k) plan, finding that the plaintiff had not suffered net losses during the class period.

MyStockOptions.com has developed a specialized directory of financial, legal, and tax advisors with an expertise in stock compensation. It features a growing range of experts, including financial planners, lawyers, CPAs, and accountants who can help anyone receiving stock compensation.

The Assistant Labor Secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Ann Combs, has told the BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter (January 4, 2005) that the Labor Department will begin a special enforcement project on employer stock in defined contribution plans.

A new process agreement between the Department of Labor and Farmers National Bank (FNB) was made public on February 28. It lays out a much more detailed process for evaluating whether an ESOP actually has and can pay for control.

The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) reports that 36% of participants in the EBRI 401(k) plan database were in plans that offered company stock as an investment. Where company stock was an option, 18.3% of participants selected that as one of their holdings.