Accounting for benefits, incl. FASB, GASB (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Accounting for benefits, incl. FASB, GASB, gathered by BenefitsLink.comFASB to Propose Increased Disclosure of Pension Plan Asset Classes and Value Assumptions- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has instructed its staff to issue an FASB Staff Position (FSP) paper that proposes to improve disclosures about postretirement benefit plan assets now required by Financial Accounting Statement (FAS) No. 132(R), Employers' Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)http://hr.cch.com/news/pension/031208a.asp Guidance Overview Proposed FASB Staff Position to Amend FASB Statement No. 132 (revised 2003), Employers' Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postret- (Found July 11, 2008 ) 19 pages. Excerpt: "This proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) would amend FASB Statement No. 132 (revised 2003), Employers' Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, so as to improve a public and nonpublic employer's disclosures about postretirement benefit plan assets. Additionally, this proposed FSP includes a technical amendment to Statement 132(R) that would require a nonpublic entity to disclose net periodic benefit cost." (Financial Accounting Standards Board)http://www.fasb.org/fasb_staff_positions/prop_fsp_fas132r-a.pdf Health Trust Needs Approval - Automakers Want Bookkeeping OK'd- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The $51-billion health care trust set up by Detroit automakers and the UAW can't go into effect until Detroit automakers get their preferred bookkeeping vetted by federal bureaucrats -- and if they object, automakers can quit the deal on short notice." (Detroit Free Press)http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080314/BUSINESS01/803140424 Opinion American Benefits Council Letter Urging Asset Smoothing Clarification with PPA Technical Corrections (PDF)- (Found July 11, 2008 ) 2 pages. Excerpt: "I am writing on behalf of the members of the American Benefits Council (Council) regarding legislation to clarify the 'asset smoothing' rules for defined benefit pension plan funding, since such legislation may be considered with the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) technical correction bill (H.R. 3361) this week." (American Benefits Council)http://www.americanbenefitscouncil.org/documents/smoothing_houseltr_031208.pdf Opinion Warren Buffett's Musings Hold Economic Lessons for All of Us- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "This year he takes aim at corporate pension accounting. He notes that 363 of the 500 companies in the S&P 500 have pension plans, and that on average they assumed an 8% annual return on pension plan investments in 2006. So, since 28% of pension plan assets are held in bonds likely to return 5% or less, the remaining 72% of assets held must achieve a rate of return of 9.2% to hit that overall 8%. As he goes on to state, during the 20th century the Dow rose from 66 to 11, 497....http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200803110040DOWJONESDJONLINE000021_FOR... SEI Addresses Implications of Recent Pension Disclosure Proposal- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A CFO Summary just released by SEI Global Institutional Solutions outlines the potential impact on financial executives of the recently proposed pension disclosure guidelines from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=40610 Guidance Overview The 5500's Final Schedule C Includes Extensive New Codes- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "In addition to more fulsome disclosure of revenue sharing and other types of indirect fees that plan service providers charge, the final revisions to Schedule C of the Form 5500 will require plan administrators and TPAs to spend a lot of time with their systems administrators over the next year. Take a look (if you haven't already) at the extensive list of new fee codes to be used for different types of compensation." (Baker & Daniels LLP)http://www.benefitsbizblog.com/2008/03/read-em-and-weep-list.html International Accounting Standards Board Mulls Changing Accounting Regs for Pensions- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The International Accounting Standards Board today published a discussion paper on International Accounting Standard 19, on accounting for employee benefits, that sets out the board's initial views on how the accounting for some post-employment benefits, including pensions, could be improved." (Financial Week; free registration required)http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080327/REG/209236302/-1/FWDailyA... U.S. Public Pensions - Should Liabilities Be Valued Same Way Financial Markets Value Government Debt (PDF)- (Found July 11, 2008 ) 8 pages. (The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation)http://www.melloninstitutional.com/public/library/documents/knowledge/pdfs/US_Public_Pensi... Recent Developments Regarding Global Accounting Convergence and FASB Restructuring- (Found July 11, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Global accounting standards might be adopted much sooner than anyone expected (within years versus decades). Recent events and public statements from various accounting constituencies suggest an intensified focus on convergence and an uncertain future for the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)http://www.watsonwyatt.com/us/pubs/insider/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=18878 |