S. 2914: A bill to provide for the establishment of the United States Employee Ownership Bank, and for other purposes was introduced on December 18, 2009, by Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT] and co-sponsored by Sherrod Brown [D-OH], Patrick Leahy [D-VT], and Robert Menéndez [D-NJ]. It has been referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee.

S. 2909: A bill to provide State programs to encourage employee ownership and participation in business decision-making throughout the United States, and for other purposes was introduced on December 18, 2009, by Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT] and co-sponsored by Sherrod Brown [D-OH], Patrick Leahy [D-VT], and Robert Menéndez [D-NJ]. It has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee.

Most 401(k) plan sponsors have become accustomed to performing a due diligence review of plan expenses every one to five years. This review is done primarily because ERISA provides that qualified retirement plans are solely for the benefit of the participants and that plan expenses must be reasonable. The review also helps ensure that fees as well as the supplementary tools provided are competitive with the marketplace.

The December 15, 2009 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

One of your most important responsibilities is to ensure that your plan documents are updated as required by law and are consistent with the way the plan is actually being administered. Plan documents include, but are not limited to, the plan document, trust document, summary plan description (SPD), and loan documents. While your review of the plan documents should be an ongoing process, you generally need to make sure that any amendments or restatements are executed by the last day of the plan year if you intend for them to be effective for that plan year. You should start by answering the following questions and using your answers as a starting point to a discussion with your ESOP consultant or ESOP counsel:

Required Amendments (Revised 6/12/2009) is a chart with a list of required amendments and due dates for defined contribution plans since the GUST restatement:

2009 End of Year Plan Sponsor "To Do" Lists provides a checklist of items for plan sponsors to address by the end of the year. If you have a different plan year, some of the due dates will be different.

Chronological Summary of Major Post-ERISA Benefit Legislation provides a summary of the major employee benefits legislation since ERISA:

The annual employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) allocation process involves many different parties and many different moving parts. In order to complete the ESOP allocation in a timely manner, it is important to effectively manage the allocation process. One of the easiest and most effective ways to manage the ESOP allocation process is by preparing and maintaining an allocation timeline.

We are already into the second week of December and 2010 will be here before we know it. Many of you are preparing for the end of the year and the start of a new year by going through a planning process:

One of our regular discussion topics is ESOP Corporate Governance. As you know, most .published corporate governance information is geared towards public companies. Fortunately, if put in the proper context, this information is still very useful and relevant for ESOP companies. What Boards Should Be Doing Right Now takes a more detailed look at the Responsibilities of the Board of Directors and shares a memo that highlights some of key actions that boards should consider.

We recently discussed an article by an influential tax journal that proposes the repeal of ESOPs. The Employee Ownership Blog shared Yes, ESOPs Really Are Good Retirement Policy, a letter to the editor in response to the article:

The December 1, 2009 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

Not All Gloom and Doom shares the remarks delivered by the ESOP Association president J. Michael Keeling at the 2009 Las Vegas Conference. He discussed his assessment of ESOP support within the Obama administration: