Alberta government lawyers have asked a judge to strike down a lawsuit from the Alberta Society for Pension Reform, which seeks $1.25 billion in damages. They say the suit by active and retired civil servants that alleges mismanagement of their pensions has no basis. The society claims its members are not receiving the pension benefits […]
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation(PBGC)is holding US$133 million in unclaimed pension benefits for 32,000 individuals owed money from terminated defined benefit(DB)plans. For those still missing, individual benefits range from $1 all the way up to $611,028, and average about $4,950. “Although the vast majority of workers receive their full pension,” says Vince Snowbarger, the PBGC’s […]
American companies are changing their equity-based employee compensation plans by adopting and expanding restricted equity award and performance share programs, according to research from Greenwich Associates. Firms have begun to scale back on existing stock option plans after the Financial Accounting Standards Board revised its rules on the reporting of equity-based employee compensation plans, requiring […]
The Joint Forum plans to undertake a review of the Capital Accumulation Plan Guidelines released in 2004. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario—a member of CAPSA, which is a member of the Joint Forum—made the announcement in its draft of the Statement of Priorities for 2007. The review will be conducted to measure the success […]
The Accounting Standards Board’s proposed changes will have a significant impact on how employers account for their pension and other post-retirement obligations, says Buck Consultants. Last week, the AcSB released an Exposure Draft that requires the net funded position of the plan, now generally disclosed only in the footnotes to the financial statements, to be […]
Philippe Ithurbide has been appointed executive vice-president, fixed income at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. He will be responsible for the teams that manage four specialized portfolios: short-term investments, real return bonds, bonds, and long-term bonds. The currency management team will also report to him. Ithurbide will also be responsible for management […]
Fidelity Investments plans to eliminate its defined benefit(DB)plan for its U.S. workers later this year. Instead, the company will offer an increased profit-sharing plan and a 401(k)plan with a 7% match, up from the current 5% match. When the pension plan is eliminated at the end of May, employees will have the option of rolling […]
The federal government hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a full judicial inquiry into the RCMP pension scandal, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told the House of Commons on Friday. However, he said the process could take years to complete. The government has already announced plans to appoint an independent investigator to look into the […]
The number of chief financial officers who believe there is a defined benefit(DB)pension crisis in Canada continues to grow, according to a survey. The Conference Board of Canada’s 2006 Survey on Pension Risk, in collaboration with Watson Wyatt Worldwide, found that 80% of CFOs believe there is a widespread crisis, up from 59% two years […]
The Commons public accounts committee plans to hold an emergency meeting today concerning fraud and abuse allegations of the RCMP pension and insurance plans. Current and former officers claim that senior RCMP officials tried to stop investigations into the management of the plans. The deputy commissioner in charge of human resources at the RCMP has […]