From the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), “Regulators Not Finished With Mutual-Fund Investigations“:
Despite resistance from the fund industry, more law-enforcement actions against mutual funds, managers, directors and their financers are on the way, state and federal regulators said at a conference Wednesday. . . Eight months later, “there is more to come,” New York Deputy Attorney General Beth Golden said at an Institutional Investor mutual fund conference Wednesday. She said targets might include fund directors and firms that knowingly financed abusive trading in mutual funds.”
Also from the Wall Street Journal, “Spitzer Studies New Conflicts on Insurance“:
Since Mr. Spitzer’s inquiry became public last month, most attention has focused on insurance companies paying brokers and consultants for arranging certain property-and-casualty insurance policies, not employee life-insurance and health-benefit plans. . . Mr. Spitzer’s office has said almost nothing publicly about the focus of its investigation, but people familiar with subpoenas sent to the brokers said they appear broad enough to encompass areas beyond property and casualty insurance, including benefits programs.
From CFO.com, “Pension Funding Levels Improving“:
The aggregate funding ratio of the 340 or so companies in the S&P 500 with defined benefit pension plans rose by 6 percentage points by year-end 2003, to 87 percent, from 81 percent the prior year, it noted. However, this is still significantly below the peak of 128 percent at the end of 1999, the last very strong year for the stock market before the ’90s tech bubble burst.
From Steptoe & Johnson LLP via Mondaq, “VEBAs: Possibilities For Employee Benefit Funding.”
From CNET News.com, “Poll shows support for offshoring tax“:
More than 40 percent of U.S. technology executives surveyed would be willing to pay higher taxes to compensate for jobs they send offshore, according to a nationwide poll conducted jointly by CNET News.com and Harris Interactive. These executives agree with the proposition that companies should be required to pay a “per-head tax” for every position sent to another country.
This will never happen, although it provides some interesting food for thought: “Outsource CEOs, Not Workers.”
American companies are busily outsourcing workers when they should be insourcing CEOs from other countries. U.S. CEOs are way too expensive. U.S. CEOs make 23 times as much as CEOs in mainland China, 10 times as much as CEOs in India and 9 times as much as CEOs in Taiwan, according to the latest Towers Perrin worldwide survey.
From the Blogosphere:
A dormant blogger has awakened. Welcome back, Mike!
From the TaxProf Blog, “IRS Offers Amnesty for Investors in “Son of Boss” Tax Shelter.”