Stitt Addresses Regional ESOP Experts

Presents to Ohio/Kentucky Chapter at Spring Conference

March 18, 2010 (Columbus, OH) — Nationally recognized ERISA and ESOP attorney Scott J. Stitt addressed some of the top regional experts on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) at the Ohio/Kentucky Chapter of The ESOP Association’s annual spring conference at the Bridgewater Conference Center in Powell, Ohio.

Stitt talked at length about several items in committee in Washington, including the likelihood that a new law regarding disclosure of fees incurred by ESOP and other ERISA plan fees would pass this year.

The most likely to pass, Stitt warned, was the Fee Disclosure Legislation — H. R. 2989, nicknamed the "Fee Bill." It enhances fee disclosures, which is designed to make transactions more transparent to the investor, thereby promoting a new level of financial literacy. The Fee Bill also looks to prohibit "conflicted investment advice" and provides fee limits. It will affect all ERISA-based individual retirement plans, 401(k) plans, cash balance plans, 403(b) plans, ESOPs, and others.

"This year is likely to be a watershed year for this industry, as the new fee disclosure law will have a dramatic impact on every ERISA service provider," according to Stitt, who is an attorney at James E. Arnold & Associates. "But for groups managing the millions in employee benefits, knowing why these changes are happening will help protect the assets they are retained to protect."

Stitt added that if the Fee Bill passes, it means will require more disclosure than is currently provided, and is likely to make fees more understandable, and, ultimately lower.

An ESOP is an employee benefit plan, which makes the employees of a company owners of stock in the company at which they work. Several features make ESOPs unique as compared to other employee benefit plans. First, only an ESOP is required by law to invest primarily in the securities of the sponsoring employer. Second, an ESOP is unique among qualified employee benefit plans in its ability to borrow money. As a result, — leveraged ESOPs — may be used as a technique of corporate finance.

About James E. Arnold & Associates, LPA

James E. Arnold & Associates, LPA specializes in trial practice for a diverse client base including individual, corporate and non-profit clients. In the past several years, the firm’s lawyers have obtained numerous multi- million-dollar verdicts. James E. Arnold & Associates, LPA attorneys are regularly recognized for excellence by clients and peers in national publications, including Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. For more information about James E. Arnold & Associates, LPA, visit www.arnlaw.com.