Blue Ridge ESOP Associates Industry News

Scott J. Freund, QPA, QKC

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Don't Forget the Share Certificates

Posted by Scott J. Freund, QPA, QKC

Jul 20, 2016 11:54:27 AM

Most privately held companies rely on physical share certificates which serve as the official record of ownership. This practice requires ESOP Companies to maintain share certificates in the name of the ESOP for the shares owned by the ESOP.  Those share certificates are generally held by the trustee of the ESOP.

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Topics: Certificates

Electronic Disclosure Requirements for Plan Notices

Posted by Scott J. Freund, QPA, QKC

Feb 20, 2015 5:17:20 PM

email_vs_mailIn this day and age we are increasingly reliant on receiving information electronically. With the desires to “Go Green”, many companies rely on electronic delivery of information to their clients. With respect to required ESOP notices, however, it is important to understand the rules of what can be delivered electronically to participants, and how those notices must be delivered. As an example, just putting a copy of your Summary Plan Description (SPD) on your company website may not be a sufficient method of delivering that document to your employees.

The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a regulation in 2002 which is commonly referred to as a “Safe Harbor” method for delivery of plan disclosure documents. Documents such as the SPD, Summaries of Material Modification to the SPD (SMM) and Summary Annual Reports (SAR) can be electronically posted to a website for participants to access. These electronic accesses to those plan documents though are limited to two categories of participants:

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Topics: Government & ESOPs

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