As of December 20, 2017, both the House of Representatives and the Senate have voted to approve the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in substantially the form released by the Conference Committee on December 15th. The bill is expected to be presented to the President for signature before Christmas, making US tax reform a reality for 2018.
U.S. tax reform continues to move through the Halls of Congress at a brisk pace. Yesterday the House approved the bill proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee. For a discussion of the compensation-related provisions of the House bill, please refer to our alert dated November 13, 2017. The current draft of the conceptual mark-up under review by the Senate Finance Committee (the “Senate Mark”) has been amended in a way that generally aligns…
If you have been following the progress of U.S. tax reform, you will know that one of the most significant proposed changes in the compensation arena is currently up in the air, with a conflict between the final bill approved last week by the House Ways and Means Committee and the conceptual mark-up now under review by the Senate Finance Committee (the “Senate Mark”). Specifically, the final House bill eliminated proposed changes that would have…
We know we are not supposed to get too excited about a proposed tax bill, but The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the amended version of which was released by the House on November 3, 2017, is no ordinary tax bill. Not only does it propose sweeping changes to the taxation of executive compensation and employee benefits, it aims to be effective as of January 1, 2018 – which means limited time to mobilize against…
Pursuant to Department of Labor guidance, a “statement of investment policy” provides fiduciaries responsible for plan investments with written guidelines or general instructions concerning various types of investment management decisions. Typically, an investment policy will establish criteria and procedures for the selection, monitoring, removal, and replacement of plan investments. Unlike the “funding policy” required for plans under Section 402(b) of ERISA, there is no requirement under ERISA that a plan have a written investment policy…
On April 21, 2017, the Trump Administration issued Executive Order 13789, which instructed the IRS to review all “significant tax regulations” issued on or after January 1, 2016 to identify as targets for modification, rescission or delayed effectiveness any regulations that (i) impose an undue financial burden on U.S. taxpayers; (ii) add undue complexity to the Federal tax laws; or (iii) exceed the statutory authority of the IRS. Having completed this review, earlier this month,…
Companies preparing CEO pay ratio disclosure for the 2018 proxy season should not assume they will be able to rely on the Privacy Exemption with regard to gathering information about non-US employees. For a summary of the key provisions of the SEC’s final CEO pay ratio disclosure rule and the limited exemptions provided for non-US employees, see Baker McKenzie’s recent client alert. Invoking these exceptions will likely be difficult in practice. Companies should, however, generally be…
The establishment of prudent processes is a fundamental element of appropriately discharging fiduciary duties under ERISA. Where a committee acts as the primary plan fiduciary, a written committee charter will typically form the basis for all committee operations. The committee charter effectively provides the “by-laws” and operating guidelines that will govern how the committee discharges its obligations. The Charter’s Role Charters will typically address how committee members will be appointed and replaced, term limits, quorum,…
Where you have employer subsidized self-insured medical benefits being provided to highly compensated individuals (“HCIs”) after employment and that subsidy is only offered to HCIs, you run the risk that the actual medical benefits provided (not the premiums) may be taxable to the executive under 105(h).