Each year we review your ESOP plan document action items in our annual ESOP Planning: Plan Documents and Disclosures article. Reminder – Required 2010 Tax-Qualified Plan Amendments and January 2011 IRS Determination Letter Filing Deadline provides a summary of the 2010 amendments that may be needed, for design changes, to comply with the latest "cumulative list" as provided in IRS Notice 2009-98 – 2009 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements, or for Cycle E filers:

The May 14, 2010 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

IRC Section 401(a)(35) was added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) (Public Law 109–280—Aug. 17, 2006). The rules apply to plans holding "publicly traded employer securities" and are therefore not applicable in most closely held ESOPs. If your company is thinly traded, you may be impacted by the regulations. See our Analysis of the IRC Section 401(a)(35) Proposed Regulations for more details.

The Retirement News for Employers – Spring 2010 Edition discusses how the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) will be sending a 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire (to be completed online) to 1,200 employers sponsoring 401(k) plans:

Last week we discussed H.R. 5207: Employee Stock Ownership Plan Promotion and Improvement Act of 2010. An ESOP Association press release summarizes the bill:

We recently shared the 2010 AACE Award Winners and 2010 Silver ESOP Award Winners. The ESOP Association announced this year's ESOP Association Award Winners at the 33rd Annual Conference:

I will be presenting The Ownership Culture Check-Up on Thursday, May 13, in Washington D.C., as part of the ESOP Association's 33rd Annual ESOP Conference – ESOPs: When the Going Gets Tough We Grow Stronger:

The May 3, 2010 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

The DOL issued its Spring 2010 Regulatory Agenda on April 26, 2010. Here are the ERISA-related topics:

We have recently discussed some of the statutory ESOP distribution rules: