
Episodes

Tuesday May 17, 2022
Episode 47: Cross-Border Asset Deals
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner David Teigman, senior counsel Nick LaSpina, and special international labor & employment counsel Nicola Bartholomew, discuss differences between asset sales in the US and the UK, with respect to transfers of employees. In short, there are significant differences that are not necessarily intuitive to US practitioners. In the US, parties will have commercial freedom to make offers of employment and negotiate terms, whereas in the UK employees will transfer automatically as a result of TUPE and a number of significant protections and obligations apply that will need to be factored into the deal. So be sure to tune into this informative discussion about employment and benefits issues in asset sales in the US and the UK.

Friday Feb 18, 2022
Episode 46: Employee Retention Issues
Friday Feb 18, 2022
Friday Feb 18, 2022
In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partner David Teigman, senior counsel Nick LaSpina, and special guest Michelle Garrett, a principal at the compensation consulting firm Semler Brossy, discuss employee retention. It seems like there is an article almost every day talking about the “great resignation.” In a nutshell, there have been far more job transitions recently than there have been in the past. Tune in as we discuss what employers can do to help retain employees in this working environment.

Thursday Feb 17, 2022
Thursday Feb 17, 2022
In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Myron D. Rumeld, partner and co-chair of Proskauer’s ERISA Litigation group and senior associate Tulio D. Chirinos, review the current state of affairs with respect to the litigation challenging the fees charged and investments offered in defined contribution plans; and The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University where the court reversed and remanded the Seventh Circuit’s decision affirming dismissal of a 403(b) plan excessive fee litigation.

Monday Sep 13, 2021
Monday Sep 13, 2021
This episode is the final installment of our three-part series on a new special financial assistance program created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for troubled multiemployer plans and the interim guidance issued by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation regarding the program. Be sure to listen as Rob Projansky and Justin Alex cover the special rules that apply to plans that receive the assistance and other details including how the program impacts withdrawal liability for employers.

Friday Aug 20, 2021
Friday Aug 20, 2021
This episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief is the second of our three-part series analyzing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) guidance on the new special financial assistance program for troubled multiemployer pension plans that was created by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Tune in as Rob Projansky and Justin Alex dig into more details on the guidance and the program.

Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
This episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief is the first of our three-part series analyzing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) guidance on the new special financial assistance program for troubled multiemployer pension plans that was created by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In this initial episode, partner Rob Projansky and senior counsel Justin Alex cover the basic contours of the program.

Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Episode 41: Cyber-theft of 401(k) accounts
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Robert Projansky and special guest Garrett Fenton, senior attorney at Microsoft Corporation, discuss cyber theft of 401(k) plan accounts. Tune in as we discuss why 401(k) plans are vulnerable to cyber security breaches, what kinds of cyber security frauds we are seeing in 401(k) plans, evolving litigation on these issues and steps plan sponsors can take to mitigate risk.

Friday Feb 28, 2020
Episode 40: ERISA Plan Asset “Hard-Wired” Conduit Feeders
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
For a number of ERISA, tax and other regulatory reasons, it may be desirable for the manager or sponsor of an investment fund or other structure to utilize what is often referred to as a plan asset "hard-wired" conduit feeder. Tune in to this podcast as partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll discuss more about these structures, and the advantages they can provide.

Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Episode 39: VCOC Management Rights
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll discuss VCOC "Management Rights." For VCOC compliance purposes, "management rights" are contractual rights directly between an investing entity and an operating company by which the investing entity can substantially participate in, or substantially influence the conduct of, the management of the operating company. Unfortunately, there is not a ton of guidance out there explaining what constitutes sufficient VCOC "management rights," so make sure to tune in to this podcast to hear our views.

Wednesday Oct 23, 2019
Episode 38: Considering ESG Factors When Investing ERISA Plan Assets
Wednesday Oct 23, 2019
Wednesday Oct 23, 2019
In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll discuss when and how an ERISA plan fiduciary may consider “ESG factors,” (i.e., environmental, social and governance factors) when investing ERISA plan assets. As these circumstances are fairly limited, we advise ERISA plan fiduciaries to proceed with caution in this regard. Tune in for more important information in this episode.