Entries by lisa

Pension De-Risking State Legislative Update

With interest rates low and the corporate desire to reduce liabilities high, pension de-risking transfers continue at a rapid pace.  While Verizon was one of the first, since 2012 many companies including GM, J.C. Penney, United Technologies, PPG Industries and Lincoln Electric have de-risked by transferring their pension liabilities to an insurance company.  These pension […]

Favorable Vote for Connecticut Pension De-Risking Bill

In January of 2017, ProtectSeniors.org  worked with Senator Carlo Leone to introduce a new bill providing expanded protections for retirees affected by pension de-risking transfers.  In January, 2017 Senator Leone introduced Proposed Bill 493 and a public hearing was held on February 16th. The Joint Committee on Insurance and Real Estate voted 16-5 in favor […]

Public Hearing on Connecticut De-Risking Bill

Edward Stone, as special counsel to ProtectSeniors.org provided testimony at a Public Hearing in Hartford, Connecticut on February 16, 2017 in support of Proposed Bill No. 493 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OF AN ANNUITY TO FUND PENSION AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS”.  Jack Cohen, Chairman of the Association of Bell-Tel Retirees, Inc. and Bill Jones, Co-founder and […]

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New Proposed Pension De-Risking Bill in Connecticut

Connecticut State Senator Carlo Leone (D – 27) has introduced Proposed Bill No. 493 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OF AN ANNUITY TO FUND PENSION AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS”. This proposed bill requires an insurance company to provide certain annual disclosures to employees and retirees impacted by pension de-risking transfers involving the purchase of a group annuity […]

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CFPB Files Suit Against Access Funding

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed suit in federal court in Baltimore accusing Access Funding of violations of the federal Consumer Protection Act.  Access Funding (now Reliance Funding) is a purchaser of structured settlement payment streams whose alleged predatory business practices involving people who had been poisoned by lead paint as children were […]

Revised Tennessee Structured Settlement Protection Act

Earlier this year Tennessee joined the many states revising their Structured Settlement Protection Acts to provide more robust protections to those people seeking to sell some of their periodic payments to factoring companies.  Under the Tennessee Structured Settlement Protection Act, the seller is called the “payee” and the factoring company is known as a “transferee”.  The […]

United Technologies Corp. Announces Pension De-risking

The pension de-risking trend continues. Farmington, Connecticut based United Technologies Corp. (UTC) will transfer $775 million of its outstanding pension benefit obligations under two of its retirement plans to The Prudential Insurance Company of America.  HartfordBusiness.com, a publication of The Hartford Business Journal quoted Robin Diamonte, UTC’s chief investment officer as saying “This transaction is […]

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Maryland’s New Structured Settlement Transfer Laws

Maryland Senate Bill 734, which amends the procedures for structured settlement transfers took effect on October 1, 2016.   Senate Bill 734 requires that factoring companies register with the Maryland Attorney General before filing transfer petitions or applications within the State of Maryland. The bill further requires that factoring companies (known as transferees under the structured […]