The topics below will be presented twice. Please select one topic for each breakout session.
Breakout session 1: 8:40 a.m.
Breakout session 2: 9:30 a.m
Plan Investments and Fiduciary Responsibility
A discussion of fiduciary responsibility for plan investments, including allocation of fiduciary duties among boards of directors, investment committees, and individual employees, and the requirements for the limited relief provided under section 404(c) of ERISA.
COBRA and Reimbursements for Over The Counter Drugs: Regulatory Update
This summer the Department of Labor, for the first time ever, issued proposed regulations addressing employers' notice obligations under COBRA. The regulations include model initial and election notices as well as requiring two new COBRA notices. They also specify that certain information about COBRA be included in sumary plan descriptions. Ths session will provide an overview of the new regulations and strategies for employers' responses. This session will also address the recently issued IRS Revenue Ruling that permits participants in healthcare reimbursement accounts to be reimbursed for over-the-counter drugs. While the Ruling provides a welcome expasion of coverage, there are a number of unresolved legal and design issues employers should consider before permitting reimbursements.
Lessons Learned from Enron and the Results of Our Education
An understanding of the tax rules for executive compensation and how the rules factored into Enron's compensation practices is very helpful in understanding the proposed legislation being considered by Congress, and the impact on the design and structure of deferred and executive compensation. This presentation will address issues related to deferred and executive compensation, the proposed legislation, and the direction of deferred and executive compensation.