Compliance April 30, 2013

IRS Updates DB Forms and Documents

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been updating a number of documents and forms for defined benefit (DB) plans.
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On February 1, the IRS began accepting applications for opinion and advisory letters for preapproved DB plans for the second six-year remedial amendment cycle. Plan sponsors and practitioners should use Form 4461-A (revised in March 2013), Attachment 1-A, and Form 8717-A (revised in February) when submitting a preapproved DB plan to the IRS.

In April, the IRS also updated information for their Defined Benefit Listing of Required Modifications and Information Package (LRM). This information package contains samples of plan provisions that have been found to satisfy certain specific requirements of the Internal Revenue Code and the 2012 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements (Notice 2012-76, 2012-52 I.R.B. 775).

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According to the IRS, such language may or may not be acceptable in different plans depending on the context in which used. The package is to assist plan sponsors who are drafting or redrafting plans to conform to applicable law and regulations, and is designed with the intent of enabling the IRS to process and approve master and prototype (M&P) plans more quickly.

The DB LRM contains sample language that plan sponsors and mass submitters of DB M&P plans may use in drafting their plans. M&P plan sponsors and mass submitters are encouraged to use LRM language and to identify where the LRM is used in their plan documents. In addition, practitioners and mass submitters of Volume Submitter plans may find the language useful in drafting plans.

More information about the forms, as well as the forms themselves, can be found here.

Deals & People April 30, 2013

FINRA Chooses Chief Economist and SVP

Jonathan S. Sokobin has been named chief economist and senior vice president of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
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Sokobin will head FINRA’s Office of the Chief Economist, which will work closely with the Office of General Counsel and other departments to develop new rules, and analyze the costs and benefits of existing and potential rulemakings. Sokobin’s division will be responsible for gathering and analyzing data on securities firms and markets.

In 2011, Sokobin joined the Treasury Department as chief of analytical strategy in the office of financial research. Before joining the Treasury, Sokobin was acting director of the Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation (Risk Fin) at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He joined the SEC as a full-time staffer in 2000 and was named deputy chief economist in 2004. From 2008 to 2010, Sokobin served as director of the former Office of Risk Assessment.

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Sokobin holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University. He was awarded a master’s degree in business administration in finance and a doctorate from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. Sokobin began his career as a member of the faculty of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

Sokobin currently is acting deputy director of research and analysis in the Office of Financial Research at the Treasury Department. He will report to Richard Ketchum, FINRA’s chairman and chief executive. Sokobin starts on May 20.

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