Our speaker will be John Walch who  focuses on all aspects of qualified and non-qualified benefit plans, including equity-based incentive and compensation plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, qualified profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, ESOPs, pension and welfare benefit plans. John will address specific, real-world issues and answers regarding counting employees, exchange eligibility, enrollment and subsidies, how to continue providing employer-funded, account-based benefits that count (towards meeting a large employer’s coverage requirements), and what employers should do or not do as they begin open enrollment and full implementation of PPACA, including what to tell employees eligible to benefit under a fiscal year plan.  He will also explain the enforcement delays of certain key PPACA reporting and penalty provisions, and whether an employer should change its PPACA implementation strategy as a result.

For nearly 20 years, John has designed, drafted and obtained IRS approval of hundreds of qualified retirement plans. For plans facing disqualification, he has obtained compliance statements from the IRS’s Voluntary Compliance Program or negotiated positive resolutions to audit or determination letter issues. He also advises plan fiduciaries on operational issues involving QDROs, plan investment policies and fiduciary liability issues.  John also works with employers to design deferred compensation, stock option, stock appreciation right, phantom stock and other incentive plans. He advises businesses on issues related to parachute payments, COBRA, and other benefit plan issues.  John also has extensive experience obtaining individual prohibited transaction exemptions from the U.S. Department of Labor, defending IRS audits of qualified plans and litigating ERISA cases.