Pension reforms enacted by congress; AICPA helps CPAs understand new rules.The Pension Protection Act of 2006, the most comprehensive pension reform legislation since 1974, was signed into law on Aug. 17. The Act aims at strengthening pension funds, encourages greater participation in 401 (k) and other retirement plans, strengthens plan reporting and participant disclosure rules, resolves legal uncertainty surrounding sur·round tr.v. sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds 1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle. 2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication. n. cash balance and other hybrid hybrid (hī`brĭd), term applied by plant and animal breeders to the offspring of a cross between two different subspecies or species, and by geneticists to the offspring of parents differing in any genetic characteristic (see genetics). plans, allows plan fiduciaries to provide participants with investment advice, and makes permanent significant tax retirement savings incentives enacted under prior law. The new law will lead many companies to change the way their plans are designed and administered, amend plan documents, increase plan funding, and make additional plan disclosures in regulatory reg·u·late tr.v. reg·u·lat·ed, reg·u·lat·ing, reg·u·lates 1. To control or direct according to rule, principle, or law. 2. filings and to plan participants Plan participants Employees or other beneficiaries who are eligible to receive benefits from a company's employee benefit plan. . Companies and plan administrators will need to understand the effects of the new law on their plans and seek professional advice and assistance in implementing the new requirements. The AICPA AICPA See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center has prepared a summary of the Act to assist members in obtaining a general understanding of key provisions. Visit: www.aicpa.org/EBPAQC |
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