It is said that bad news seems to come in threes. For those of us who work with Employee Stock Ownership Plans, that certainly felt true in June.
On June 3, the Department of Labor reached a $5.25 million settlement with Greatbanc Trust over allegations that ERISA was violated in an ESOP transaction. This was followed by a June 22 Wall Street Journal article that was critical of ESOPs. Finally, on June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a special presumption of prudence for ESOP fiduciaries in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer.
Does this mean you should steer clear of ESOPs for your clients? Absolutely not! ESOPs continue to be an attractive option for business owners looking to sell all or a portion of their company as part of their overall financial plan.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.