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The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy
maintains an active presence in the
retirement plan and benefits community
through speaking engagements, training
seminars, presentations, and webinars
for our individual clients and for benefits
and retirement professional organizations’
conferences, both locally and nationwide.

Below you will find a list of both upcoming
events and recent events.

UPCOMING EVENTS

LOS ANGELES ASPPA BENEFITS CONFERENCE

During the annual Los Angeles Benefits Conference January 11-13, Ilene Ferenczy will be co-presenting "Mergers & Acquisitions, Partial Termination" with Rhonda Migdail of the IRS. In addition, she will co-present "Prohibited Transactions; Parties-in-Interest Transactions; and Wacky Assets" with a to-be-determined DOL representative. Ilene will also co-host a Q&A session and direct timely and relevant retirement plan questions to several IRS members.

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STRAFFORD PUBLICATIONS WEBINAR

Ilene Ferenczy will be co-presenting "401(k) Plan Audit Preparation Strategies: Navigating IRS and DOL Standards, Taking Corrective Actions and Minimizing Risks of Penalties" for a webinar sponsored by Strafford Publications on January 18th. There will be three speakers as part of a panel, and several minutes of interactive Q&A with the participants.

SUNGARD ORLANDO ADVANCED PENSION CONFERENCE

During the 2012 Advanced Pension Conference sponsored by SunGard in Orlando on Feb. 15-17, Ilene Ferenczy will be presenting several workshops or a variety of benefits subjects and will also be participating on an "Ask the Experts" panel, as well as be one of the contestants on the ever-popular "Pension Jeopardy."

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RECENT EVENTS

TRANSAMERICA WEBCAST

On December 1, Ilene Ferenczy presented a 90-minute training webcast sponsored by Transamerica covering "Employee Benefits Issues in Mergers & Acquisitions," and "408(b)(2) Impact on TPAs and Advisors."

BUYING AND SELLING PRIVATELY HELD BUSINESSES

Gina Farmer and Barbara Murphy co-presented "Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions" at this State Bar of Georgia seminar on November 9th.

CINCINNATI PENSION CONFERENCE

Ilene Ferenczy presented "Wacky Assets" and "Retirement Plans: M&A and Spin-Offs," and was part of the "Ask the Experts" panel during the annual conference for area practitioners on November 14-15.

ASPPA BENEFITS COUNCIL OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST

Seattle was the location of a day-long training seminar for practitioners of the Great Northwest ABC on November 10, and Ilene Ferenczy was the presenter for this intensive session. She covered "What's New in Pensions," "Client Service Agreements Incorporating 408(b)(2) and More," "Compensation Consternation," " Fiduciary Cornucopia," and " Practical EPCRS Magic."

LINCOLN FINANCIAL TPA ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING

Ilene Ferenczy presented a legislative update, "What's New in Pensions?", to the meeting attendees on November 3 in San Antonio. Ilene was also put on the "hot seat" as she accepted questions from the audience on a wide variety of benefits issues during an "Ask the Expert" session.

ASPPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

ASPPA News from the Field 2011 Annual Conference WASHINGTON (October 24, 2011) – The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) held their Annual Conference at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel October 23 – 26. Monday's sessions kicked off with an update on current legislation, regulations and guidance particular to retirement plans. Ilene H. Ferenczy and S. Derrin Watson, both ERISA attorneys and well known speakers, presented the technical update.

Ferenczy and Watson have paired up for the annual conference technical update for several years and though a lot of information is covered in a short span of time, the pair play off of each other well and are able to add humor and interest amid discussion of tax code and ERISA regulations. Watson is known to set current regulation issues to tune, so those familiar with his presenting style enter the room wondering if there will be a song before the session is over.

The increase in the Cost of Living Allowance was a hot topic, given the contribution and compensation limits will increase for 2012 for the first time since 2008. The Puerto Rico tax code has also been updated to modify their contribution and compensation limits to be more in line with the U.S. tax code limits.

In December 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance regarding conversion of pre-tax dollars to Roth dollars by performing a rollover within a retirement plan. The intricacies of managing the pre-tax to post-tax maneuver were outlined.

Many other topics, including Multiple Employer Plans (MEPS), new prototype document approval cycles and new fee disclosure requirements were also discussed, providing attendees resources at additional workshops and sessions throughout the conference, as well as citing the appropriate regulations.

True to form, Ferenczy and Watson provided a fast-paced review of the hottest topics in the retirement plan industry. Yes, Watson did burst forth in song before it was all over, set to the tune of Disney's Pocahontas theme song, lamenting the volumes of paper required for proper fee disclosure. And the audience was well pleased.

This conference is ASPPA's biggest event of the year, covering all aspects of the retirement plan industry. There were over 1,600 participants and the conference involved more than 60 workshops and over 80 exhibiting vendors. In addition to the opening general session described above, Ilene also conducted a workshop on "Mergers & Acquisitions," as well as participated as one of the panel of experts in the closing general session, "IRS/Treasury Q&A - DC Plans." Ilene is also on the ASPPA Board of Directors attended Board and committee meetings during the weekend prior to the conference.

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PENSION PROFESSIONALS AND ACTUARIES WEBCAST

On October 19, Ilene Ferenczy presented a webcast on “Employee Benefits Issues in Mergers & Acquisitions” to a national audience of ASPPA members. Comments from her presentation were picked up and quoted in the BNA Pensions & Benefits Daily, 10.20.11. “Mergers work really well if they're well organized, and really horribly if they're not,” said Ilene. “All involved parties should appoint one individual as the ‘appointed quarterback,’ and that person could be someone in human resources, a third-party administrator, or an attorney in the transaction. The ‘quarterback’ would be responsible for coming up with a checklist of everything that needs to happen for the merger to successfully take place, for providing that document to all key parties in the merger, and for coordinating with fund holders and recordkeepers for plans at both companies. One item that is often overlooked following a plan merger is a determination of who will prepare the final Form 5500 for the plan that will no longer exist following the transaction. When delegating the Form 5500 duty, “we make people sign in blood, and a high percentage of the time, they still forget to do the Form 5500,” so it's important to keep track of that,” Ilene said.

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