The Federal Reserve’s prolonged historical low interest rate policy combined with its recent decision to maintain current rates due to the global economic uncertainty – primarily in China – continues to adversely impact financial services firms, including insurers. But low interest rates are not the sole factor driving a stalled insurance market. The combined forces of a benign catastrophe loss cycle, excess capital and influx of alternative capital have caused many insurers to lower premium prices in an attempt to maintain market share.

On July 23, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations under Section 707(a)(2)(A) that could have broad implications for how a partnership can structure a valid “profits interest.”

As tightened regulatory controls continue to squeeze the banking industry, institutions must juggle providing continued service while identifying potentially high-risk customers.

Many companies maintain “top hat” plans to provide supplemental pension benefits to their top-paid employees. A recent brief filed by the Secretary of Labor in pending litigation suggests that sponsors of such plans may want to rethink the population that is allowed to participate in such plans.

2015-Issue 29—Starting this fall, nine states are instituting tax amnesty programs for reporting unpaid taxes.

In a pair of rulings issued recently, the IRS announced some significant changes impacting qualified retirement plans.

In the years since the economic downturn, many U.S.-based multinational companies have been utilizing their large net operating losses to fully offset taxable income. However, as these companies utilize their NOLs and return to their status as “U.S. taxpayers,” many tax directors are being forced to reignite their relationship with a long-forgotten friend: foreign tax credits (FTCs).

Changing economic models in law firm partner retirement packages have brought significant change to the profession. As law firms shift financial obligations to partners, post-retirement benefits once seen as a way to attract and retain professionals to the industry grow more precarious. In this edition of Action Matters, Bud Schiff, Managing Director and CEO of A&M’s Executive Compensation and Benefits practice, discusses the growing financial planning concerns of both firms and retirees.

2015-Issue 25—State legislatures are working hard to make changes to their tax systems in an attempt to stay competitive with their neighboring states and broaden their tax base.

A recent decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery should cause many employers to at least consider amending incentive plans that cover their directors and to review their peer groups.

A recent decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery should cause many employers to at least consider amending incentive plans that cover their directors and to review their peer groups

Whose refund is it? What happens if the parent of a consolidated group receives a refund that came about from the use of a subsidiary’s loss — must it be paid to the subsidiary? When the group is one big happy family, perhaps this seems a rather odd question to ask. But what if things unravel, the family is no longer happy, and the members are pit against each other?

This edition of the Tax Advisor Weekly describes a new process for mitigating certain tax liabilities due in the pre-closing period, and surveys the newly proposed rules that clarify the period in which certain transaction costs may be deducted.

A common structure for U.S.-based multinationals entails the use of holding companies in certain jurisdictions such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland or Luxembourg.