New requirements for German insured pension schemes Out of five different pension funding vehicles in Germany, the insurance-based ways are most popular because they provide the opportunity to offer DC pension plans. Recently, the German Federal Labour Court (BAG) passed a consequential law regarding insurance-based solutions, according to § 2 par. 2 sentence 2 BetrAVG…Read More
Securing a better future for long-term savings While the short-term impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU is apparent, the long-term picture remains unclear. What effect will Brexit have on broader long-term savings and the State pension; and what can we do now to ensure a better future for employers, trustees and individuals?…Read More
The vote by the United Kingdom to exit the European Union (Brexit) on June 24th has created a lot of turmoil in financial markets. In this article we briefly discuss its possible effect on defined benefit plans. Brexit and interest rates For all critical purposes – minimum funding, accounting, PBGC variable-rate premiums and lump sum…Read More
On May 13, 2015 Senators Isakson (R-GA) and Murphy (D-CT) introduced the Lifetime Income Disclosure Act, a bill that would require defined contribution plan sponsors to provide participants an annual estimate of the ‘lifetime income stream equivalent’ of their accrued benefit. The bill would require the Department of Labor to issue implementing regulations within a…Read More
Effective January 1, 2016, employers will become directly responsible for obtaining private sector insurance for their employees and paying at least 50% of the premiums. Historically, France’s health care system has been primarily funded by the French government and supplemented with optional private insurance policies. In an attempt to provide greater coverage to all employees,…Read More
On June 16, 2011, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) released final amendments to IAS 19 Employee Benefits. The new rule dramatically revises accounting for defined benefit plans, moving plan sponsors away from the current approach, which involves considerable “smoothing” of period-to-period measurements. It does not, however, require marking to market DB performance in operating…Read More