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Overview:

With today’s major economic recession faced by businesses due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) continues to be an attractive option for companies seeking to address the need for succession planning to sustain competitive advantage in the market and looking to provide their employees with an ownership interest through a retirement plan.

While ESOPs offer several advantages it offers, including significant tax benefits, as an ESOP is an ERISA-covered retirement plan, those regulations must be carefully considered and addressed. Now more than ever, companies, sellers, fiduciaries and their lawyers must be conversant with the implications of implementing ESOP to ensure that risks are mitigated, while having a favorable market position in a post-coronavirus environment, that the ESOP and its participants receive fair market value and that other ERISA requirements are followed in this post-coronavirus environment.

In this LIVE Webcast, ESOP experts David Johanson (Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP) and Joseph Barton (Block & Leviton LLP) will provide an in-depth discussion of ESOP formation post-COVID-19. Speakers will also offer helpful succession planning tips in maximizing the potentials of ESOPs, ensuring that ESOPs provide the proper benefits to participants, follow ERISA’s requirements and navigating possible challenges along the way.

Some of the major topics that will be covered in this course are:
- ESOP Formation Post-COVID-19
- Recent Regulatory Trends and Developments
- Legal Risks and Challenges
- Practical Tips and Best Practices
- Outlook