Candace Quinn and José Jara Published in Pension & Benefits Reporter "Exempt Organizations: Modernization of the Section 403(b) Plan and Its ERISA Implications"

Candace Quinn and José Jara’s article, “Exempt Organizations: Modernization of the Section 403(b) Plan and Its ERISA Implications,” was published in the July 7, 2008 issue of Pension & Benefits Reporter.

Candace and José discuss how employers and plan sponsors will be effected by the new regulations under tax code Section 403(b) released last year, which will go into effect January 1, 2009. The goal of the new regulations was to "increase the oversight of 403(b) plans and eliminate many types of abuses of such programs that had been discovered during IRS audits of the 403(b) plans." Candace and José outline the important steps that employers and plan sponsors must take in order to satisfy all of the regulations, such as ensuring that they are working with approved vendors and "disclosing the same detailed financial information as traditional defined benefits plans and 401(k) plans." According to the authors, "plan sponsors and fiduciaries of Section 403(b) plans need to quickly come up to speed and understand the new tax code requirements as well as ERISA's impact on any actions taken" in order to become compliant by the deadline.