Sears formally filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, October 15, 2018 in the Southern District of New York, after being unable to repay $134 million in loans. According to media reports, Sears plans to close about 142 of its 700 stores by year end. But the Sears bankruptcy filing could do more than just leave […]
Edward Stone, Special Counsel to ProtectSeniors.org was a guest speaker at the 2018 annual membership meeting of the Association of BellTel Retirees in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 6, 2018. Mr. Stone’s presentation on pension derisking offered retirees information on the status of state legislative initiatives in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, […]
Virginia is the latest state to enact legislation protecting retirees in pension derisking transfers. Senate Bill SB755 introduced by Senator Glen Sturtevant (R-Midlothian) with support from Delegate Dawn Adams (D-Richmond) received unanimous support in both the Virginia House and Senate. Virginia law now provides that (1) amounts payable to a participant under an annuity providing […]
Earlier this year we reported on MetLife’s failure to pay retirees to whom it owed benefits resulting from pension de-risking transfers. A lawsuit has now been filed against MetLife by Edward Roycroft, a former Martindale-Hubbell employee who retired in 1999. Roycroft was supposed to receive his benefits in 1999, but MetLife did not pay him […]
Prudential Financial Inc. has reported that it has lost track of some of its annuity clients. This announcement comes on the heels of MetLife’s announcement in December, 2017 that it had lost track of about 30,000 people to whom it owed pension payments as a result of pension de-risking transfers. According to BloombergMarkets, Prudential will […]
In December, 2017 MetLife revealed that it had failed to pay approximately 30,000 people to whom it owed benefits resulting from pension de-risking transfers. Now, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into this failure to pay pensions. MetLife is also facing inquiries from several state insurance regulators, including the Superintendent of Financial Services in […]
In a recent interview with PlanSponsor, Jack Cohen, Chairman of the Association of BellTel Retirees, spoke out about the need for protections for retirees in pension de-risking transfers. “It’s really an unfortunate picture, but we also have to be realistic and keep working hard,” Cohen concludes. “I know that de-risking is a phenomenon whose time […]
On January 3, 2018, Assembly Bill, A7071 – AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to providing protection to certain retirees from pension de-risking transactions; and to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to statutorily exempt payments – was referred to the Insurance Committee. This is the first step in working […]
In early October, 2017 International Paper continued its pension de-risking, transferring approximately $1.3 Billion in pension liabilities to Prudential Insurance Company of America through the purchase of a group annuity contract. This purchase impacted 45,000 retirees and beneficiaries. This followed on the heels of an offering of a lump sum buyout in 2016 to 47,000 […]
On October 24, 2017 Pension & Investments reported that the New York Times Co. would purchase group annuity contracts from Massachusetts Mutual life Insurance Company to divest itself of $225 Million in pension liabilities under two of its defined benefits plans. This transfer reportedly affects 3,800 retirees and/or their beneficiaries. MassMutual is scheduled to take […]
© Edward S. Stone 2014-2022.
