Articles by IPEBLA Members

The purpose of this page is to supplement the IPEBLA Journal and to give IPEBLA members an additional outlet to share and acquire knowledge. If you are interested in writing an article to be featured on this page, please contact contactIPEBLA@redstoneagency.ca

COVID-19 Benefit Insights From Around the World - Regulatory Liaison Committee, May 2020

At the link above, IPEBLA’s Regulatory Liaison Committee is aggregating information from IPEBLA members around the world on special provisions for employee assistance in response to COVID-19 in order to assist and encourage multinational employers in helping their employees in this difficult time.  If you would like to add any insights on your particular jurisdiction, please contact the chairperson of the Committee, David W. Powell, at Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C.

IRS Issues Proposed Regulations Clarifying What Foreign Pension Funds are Eligible for Tax Exemption on US Real Property Investments - David Powell, June 2019

The IRS has recently issued long-awaited (but still only proposed) guidance on which foreign pension funds may be eligible for exemption on US taxes on foreign investment in real property under a law passed in 2015. 84 Fed. Reg. 26605 (June 7, 2019). Information on the passage of the original statutory exemption can be found here. The new proposed regulations would clarify a number of important areas in the exemption.

U.S Tax Law and Public Pensions - Tony Roda, August 2018
This article stems from a presentation entitled “Demystifying the Tax Legislative Process,” which I made to the U.S.-based, National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA) in February 2018 at their annual winter meeting in Tempe, Arizona. Demystifying is the key word. Even for practicing lawyers in the United States, if you are not engaged directly in the federal legislative process on tax issues, the process of making new law is opaque. In the course of this article I will take the reader from the basic constitutional mandate through the multi-step, Congressional tax-writing process. 

Planning for a flexible future - Mark Lindsay and Nancy Chien, May 21, 2018

UK legislative changes have caused a fundamental shift in the types of pension products that can be offered by International Finance Centres (IFCs) such as the Channel Islands. The Jersey Pensions Association (JPA) has proposed an amendment to the Jersey law that will make Jersey-managed international savings plans an attractive proposition to providers around the world. Here, Client Director of our Retirement and Savings Plan Team and JPA member Mark Lindsay and JPA chairman and Partner at Bedell Cristin Nancy Chien outline their proposal and explain why a flexible future is the best option for the island.

Recent Regulatory Developments - Tony Roda, May 20, 2018

There are two developments on the tax policy regulatory front that deserve the attention of the public pension community. First, the Office of Management and Budget will now be reviewing certain tax regulations following the formulation and review of those regulations at the Department of the Treasury. Second, the Treasury Department is requesting public comments on the expansion of the determination letter program.

ESGs - Perspectives of the OECD and New US Guidance - David Powell, May 8, 2018

We’ve been writing about trends in application of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in pension investing for a while. For some time, the OECD Working Party on Private Pensions (WPPP) has been exploring the application of the fiduciary rules to ESG investing, including issuing papers arguing that the traditional fiduciary rule may be hindering the application of ESG factors in pension investing and that laws should perhaps move towards the “universal owner” theory of investing (investing to support “global economic health”). Read more by clicking the title above.

Apples and oranges: a comparison of the key features of the legislative and regulatory framework for UK and Dutch defined benefit pension schemes (including Dutch CDC Schemes) - Philip Bennett and Hans van Meerten, April 2018

The UK and the Netherlands have different legal and regulatory regimes for defined benefit pension schemes. This paper compares and contrasts the key features of those regimes. The paper also looks, briefly, at the issue of intergenerational fairness in Dutch defined benefit pension schemes/CDC Schemes as between younger and older employees in relation to the level of the employer contribution. It raises the issue whether, as a matter of strict analysis, this aspect of intergenerational fairness is based on conflating the concept of the employer contribution rate as an average of individual age related contribution rates with an employer contribution rate which is the same for all employees of all ages. 

I’ll Take the Macaroni, But Hold the UBIT, Please - The Nappa Report - Tony Roda, April 20, 2018

US Government Accountability Office Recommends Changes Regarding US Participants in Foreign Retirement Plans - David Powell, March 27, 2018

The US Government Accountability Office (known as the GAO) recently issued a report (GAO18-19) recommending, among other things, that the IRS clarify how US taxpayers report their participation in foreign plans for US tax purposes, and further analyze the information that is being reported to them in order to gain a better understanding of such plans that might lead to possible exemption. The report also recommends that Congress consider changing the tax law to allow tax-deferred transfers between foreign plans.