Virginia Pension Derisking Legislation – Effective as of July 1, 2018

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 […]

Lawsuit Filed in the Wake of MetLife’s Failure to Keep Track of Retirees

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 Loses Track of Annuity Clients

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 […]

Annuity Sold – Structured Settlement Factoring Scam

On January 8, 2018, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced that Maryland’s Consumer Protection Division had entered into a settlement resolving an investigation into  deceptive marketing  practices by Annuity Sold, LLC and its many affiliated companies:  Uber Funding,LLC; Bendermere Capital Solutions, LLC; Axis Funding, LLC; Stonebridge Capital, LLC; Greenspring Funding, LLC; LSG, LLC; Preak […]

“Concussion Protocol”

If you weren’t worried about concussions before,  “Concussion Protocol“, directed by Josh Begley of The Intercept and produced by Laura Poitras should do it for you.  The masterful film contains footage of each concussion reported during the 2017-2018 NFL season. 281 reported concussions – the most reported in the past 6 years. The NFL Concussion Settlement is […]

Structured Settlement Fraud Continues

Fraud in the structured settlement secondary market appears to continue unabated. One of the latest scams seems to involve transfer companies that obtain court orders authorizing an annuitant to sell his/her periodic payments, and then the company fails to pay the seller.  The seller is then faced with chasing down the company or figuring out […]

MetLife Fails to Pay Pensions

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 […]

Association of BellTel Retirees Chairman Speaks Out on Pension De-Risking

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 […]

New York – Pension De-Risking Legislation

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 […]

International Paper Continues Its Pension De-risking

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 […]