Pension Fiduciary Primer

Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Time: 12:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM CT / 10:00 AM MT / 09:00 AM PT [Prevailing Time]
Presenter(s): Mary Samsa, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Learning Objectives:
This one hour course is designed to help you understand retirement plan fiduciary responsibilities.
Field of Study: Finance
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 1 Credit Hour
Delivery Method: Group Internet-based
Prerequisite(s): No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
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Course Description

Pension Fiduciary Primer is a one-hour course on the role of the retirement plan fiduciary and the reasons why it is continually becoming more and more challenging. Not only do the fiduciaries need to focus on regulatory compliance but the increased scrutiny on compliance from recent case law decisions and public discussion repeatedly places the fiduciary role and responsibilities in the spotlight. Many plan sponsors and their delegates may not have a full understanding of their roles and responsibilities to the plan and its participants and beneficiaries. Whether a person is first being exposed to the role of retirement plan governance or whether they are veterans in the retirement plan arena who simply need a refresher, this course will evaluate the key fiduciary concepts that these individuals need to understanding when making decisions on how their plan should be administered and operated.

Presenter and Moderator Bios
Mary K. Samsa is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP
and is based in the firm’s Chicago office.

Mary has more than 15 years of experience and has represented a wide range of organizations including, but not limited to, Fortune 100 public companies, privately held companies, multinational organizations and not-for-profit hospital systems as well as educational institutions. Mary’s primary practice focuses on executive compensation (for both taxable and tax-exempt entities) where she regularly advises on nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, executive employment arrangements (including the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness for tax-exempt entities), equity compensation arrangements, reporting and disclosure of compensatory arrangements, severance arrangements and change in control issues, to name just a few.

Mary has also developed significant experience in international employee benefit issues, whereby her relationships with attorneys in over 100 countries enables her to provide rapid turnaround on time-sensitive international mobile employee tax and employment issues.

She also maintains a core practice with respect to qualified retirement plans for both taxable and tax-exempt entities (including defined benefit, 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b)). She frequently interfaces with Boards of Directors, Compensation Committees and Retirement/Investment Committees on employee benefit governance matters and fiduciary counseling with associated risk assessment with respect to legal and regulatory compliance. The Legal 500 United States writes that Mary provides “practical and thorough advice on retirement and executive compensation” matters.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Mary was a Certified Public Accountant for approximately nine years with an emphasis in corporate tax strategy and planning. Consequently, she is versed in financial statement preparation and the financial impact of varying corporate strategic scenarios. Mary is involved in the Tax and International Sections of the American Bar Association, Empowering Women Network (EWN), Founder of the Midwest Chapter of the Global Equity Organization, the Employee Benefits Section of the Illinois State Bar Association, National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Mary is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Cost
$56.00 for NSAC Members / $70.00 for Non-Members

Delivery System

• All programs are delivered using the Zoom platform.
• Confirmations will include log-in instructions.
• Participants are able to participate using any device with an Internet connect (if the device does not have speakers, the participant can also dial-in) or they can participate with audio only by dialing in.
• All registrants will receive a link to the CLN’s recording by email within 48 business hours of event’s conclusion.
• There will be assistance available to help with technical and connectivity issues up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the presentation.

Registration

All registration is done on-line and each guest must provide their name and email address to participate. All NSAC members may register for free. Non-members may register for a nominal fee.

Refund Policy

NSAC will not issue refunds for CLNs. If a registrant is unable to participate in the CLN and provides notification to info@nsacoop.org 48 hours prior to the session, a credit will be provided for a future CLN. Alert the NSAC staff member monitoring the CLN if technical difficulties are encountered and technical support will be provided to eliminate problems with future CLNs.

Additional Information

Live participation is required for CPE credit and polling questions must be answered to document your active participation. All registrants will receive an email following the session with links to the slides and/or handouts, and a link to the CLN recording (unless otherwise stated). If you are unable to participate in the live session, you can still watch the recorded session, but you will not be eligible for CPE credits. Those eligible for credits will receive their certificate by email with 7 business days.

For more information regarding NSAC CLNs or administrative policies such as complaint and refund, contact the NSAC Headquarters, 7946 Clyo Road, Suite A, Centerville, OH 45459, 937-222-6707, or info@nsacoop.org.