Live Webinars

The legal issues discussed in the first webinar in our series on S corporation ESOPs have important implications for the administration of your ESOP. Make sure that your company is compliant with the complex rules and procedural requirements for effectively running an ESOP in an S corporation. 

Executives who will work well in an ESOP environment have a different profile from non-ESOP leaders. Therefore, when hiring for leadership roles, ESOPs must create a different set of criteria by which to evaluate; the standard models do not apply. 

Sustainability is the concept of utilizing a resource in a manner that enables longevity. In an ESOP company, the concept relates specifically to perpetuating the ESOP while maintaining the health of the business. ESOP policy decisions are generally established at the inception of the plan when there is not a clear understanding of how such decisions will influence the business as it matures.

Recent Federal legislation resulted in increased long-term capital gains tax rates. As a result, more business owners are expressing their interest for tax-deferred sales to ESOPs. As the selling shareholder to an ESOP, you have the option to pay the capital gains tax created by the sale, or if you are eligible, you can elect section §1042 of the Internal Revenue Code. Electing §1042 allows the selling shareholder(s) to defer the capital gains tax in connection with the sale to an ESOP, and if structured properly would result in a permanent avoidance of paying the capital gains tax. 

Both ESOP and non-ESOP companies regularly provide employees with some form of individual equity compensation. What kinds of equity plans are there? How do you determine which to use? How do you decide how much to give to which people under what conditions?

The webinar reviews the different ways to finance an ESOP including the different sources of capital, how they differ from each other and when one may be more appropriate than another.  We also discuss current market conditions for the various types of ESOP financing available. 

This webinar will help you address an important question — will you have enough savings to retire or leave your job. You are working hard to save today but it is a great idea to check in to see whether you can replace your salary down the road. This webinar will take you through a quick guide to determine whether you will have enough income during your golden years. If you are on the wrong road, it may be necessary to course correct. You will learn tips to improve financial wellness today and improve your chances of retirement success. 

Most, if not all, ESOP companies also have a 401(k) plan. Employers should view these two programs together – not separately. This webinar will give you an overview of the process.

As ESOPs mature, the rules they started out with for distributions, allocations, vesting, participation, rebalancing shares, account segregation, and other issues may no longer be optimal. You may also want to change plan providers, including appraisers or hiring an institutional trustee. This webinar will explore what the law allows and requires you to do when making plan changes.

ESOPs are complicated and it is inevitable that some companies will make mistakes. Finding and correcting those mistakes yourself can save time and trouble, and the experts in this webinar will help you prevent any audits from becoming complicated, to find errors, and to decide the best way to address those errors yourself before the regulators get involved.

ESOPs benefit employees, sellers, and the organization's bottom line - in most companies. From time to time, mistakes with an ESOP have caused legal problems for the company, personal loss to plan fiduciaries, and damaged morale. This session will cover a variety of "anti-case studies" and discuss different ways companies can avoid problems before they arise.

An understanding of recent developments in litigation brought by ESOP participants and the DOL, and in DOL investigations and IRS audits, can help to avoid problems with regulators and to be prepared to deal with trouble if it comes. Join members of the McDermott Will & Emery ESOP Litigation team for a discussion of the lessons all ESOP owned companies, fiduciaries and advisors should be focusing on in 2020.