Many people do not know what an ESOP is, let alone what one is used for, and the ways ESOPs can benefit employees. The following is summary of how ESOPs are used. To buy the shares of a departing owner: Owners of privately held companies can use an ESOP to create a ready market for…
Read MoreInfographic by National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) from What Is an ESOP?
Read MoreIn most cases, the trustee is the fiduciary, but the two functions are not necessarily the same. Plans must designate who the fiduciary is; they can designate this for all issues or have different fiduciaries for particular issues. A fiduciary is anyone who makes decisions about plan operations, including its management or the disposition of…
Read MoreCourts have generally said no, but in the Department of Labor’s August 2003 lawsuit against Enron (the case was settled out of court), it asserted that the board and management did have fiduciary responsibility for Enron’s stock ownership plans because they appointed and had the right to change fiduciaries for the plans. In this case…
Read MoreA fiduciary is anyone who makes decisions for the plan, causes someone to make a decision about the plan, or, in some cases, provides advice to someone making decisions about the plan. Put differently, it is anyone who exercises control over plan assets, directly or indirectly. Any person (or any group of people) can be…
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