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While Congress has shown a propensity to move very quickly on options legislation (witness the Boehner bill and the rapid passage of legislation to exempt options pay from overtime compensation rules), it is moving more deliberately on ESOPs.

The NCEO is creating an ESOP lenders list that will be available in the members area of our website.

In another appellate decision (Faircloth v. Lundy Packing Company, 4th Cir., 8/2/96), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that ESOP trustees are not required to provide a copy of the ESOP appraisal to participants who have requested it.

In a study of over 5,000 participants in nine ESOP companies, Robert Buchele, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi found that employees in ESOP companies appear to be more engaged than employees in general.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on proxy voting of shares in retirement plans, including on environmental, social, and governance metrics, includes a brief section addressing whether trustees can and should override participant directions on offers to buy shares in a proposed acquisition of an ESOP company.

Q: In a leveraged ESOP, loan principal and interest payments were made during the year from cash contributions and S distributions deposited during the year. On the last day of the plan year, however, a final loan interest payment was made from the trust. Does the employer have the ability to deposit and take a deduction for an additional cash contribution (which is intended to cover the final interest payment made on 12/31) by their tax filing deadline? I’m assuming there are no 415 or 404 deduction limits being exceeded.

In Beal Bros. Management Corp. v. Commissioner (T.C., No. 10871-99R, T.C. Memo. 2001-234, 9/6/01), the IRS ruled that Beal Brothers Management Corporation's ESOP did not meet minimum participation standards.

Data from our transaction survey shows that most ESOP transactions work out well for the seller, the company, and employees, but sometimes the phone rings at the NCEO with a story that went the other way.

Legislation that would treat Subchapter S corporation ESOPs the same as C corporation ESOPs has been introduced in the House and the Senate. Both bills would also add other incentives to ESOPs.

The Office of Management and Budget has calculated the costs of special ESOP tax benefits at $1.89 billion for 2007, rising to $2.67 billion by 2012.