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In a May 31 article in Morningstar, Company Stock Ownership: The Risks Outweigh the Rewards, Mark Miller cites unpublished research by Vanguard that finds 90% of partic

The NCEO used data from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to estimate trends in the number of new ESOPs created from 2007 and 2011, as well as the average value of stock purchased per transaction.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the Tribune Company will have only a nominal effect on employee retirement benefits. The ESOP was formed in 2007 as a new plan (a prior ESOP was cashed out as part of the transaction). No existing employee funds were used to help fund the plan.

The ill-fated ESOP at the Tribune Company will be terminated and replaced with a new 401(k) plan with a 4% match for employee contributions of up to 6% of pay. The company also said it will institute a profit-sharing plan.

The proposed buyout of the Tribune Company by an ESOP and Sam Zell could possibly be derailed if certain credit covenants are not met. A stipulation in the credit agreement requires that the ratio of indebtedness to the trailing four quarters of EBITDA cannot exceed 9 to 1.

According to Hubert Alleyne of the International Communications Network, Trinidad is now considering legislation to encourage employee ownership. Alleyne previously worked for the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, a pioneer in employee ownership in Trinidad.

Neil Gorsuch, currently a member of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, has been involved in over 20 cases involving ERISA over the past ten years.

A new NCEO analysis of ESOP litigation in closely held companies over the last 10 years shows that of 74 lawsuits involving trustees, 54 were for issues dealing with a transaction. The data suggest that the risks of being a trustee in an ESOP with a high-quality team of advisors and a good third-party administrator are extremely low.

In Benefits Committee of Saint-Goban Corp. et. al vs. Key Trust Company of Ohio, N.A. (U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Div., No.

TWA, which continues to advertise itself as "employee owned," has received approval for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization that it and its unions believe will lead to a recovery. As part of the agreement, however, employee ownership will drop from 45% to 30%.