Article Abstract:
Courts deciding claims brought by employees who relied on oral modifications of their ERISA plans should use doctrines developed to interpret the Parol Evidence Rule and the Statute of Frauds. These include allowing recovery for ambiguity in the written plan instrument, allowing tort-like remedies for misrepresentation, and allowing breach of contract remedies for part performance. Upholding state estoppel claims despite ERISA preemption and universal upholding of the Nachwalter rule forbidding oral modifications of ERISA plans are misguided.
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Article Abstract:
Determining the fair market value of a limited partnership (LP) which is part of a pension plan's assets is required for IRS reporting in order to keep the plan qualified. With LPs, what is of value is its distributions, so valuing an LP's assets is not straightforward. The assets can be valued by the market approach, which determines what the LP would bring on the open market, or the asset value approach, which determines the value of the LP's securities, or a combination of the two methods.
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Article Abstract:
Pension plan fiduciaries charged with evaluating limited partnership rollups and tender offers should be aware of Department of Labor standards for evaluating the same. They should only vote affirmatively on a rollup when it is the best option and the division of the company's finances is fair. The fiduciary's decision whether or not to go along with a tender offer will depend on the plan's particular circumstances. They should be aware of possible bias in tender offers from general partners.
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