The Markets January 8, 2009

Louisville Bank Ups 401(k) Match

In contrast to most recent news reports regarding employer matching contributions, Louisville, Kentucky-based Republic Bank has increased its 401(k) match.
Reported by

The bank is also vesting its workers in the match funds faster.

Republic Bank Chairman and CEO Steve Trager told the Louisville Courier-Journal the move was done in light of the company’s strong results last year.

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Since January 1, Republic has matched 100% of employee 401(k) contributions, up from half, the newspaper said. Also, employees will be vested in the funds after two years, rather than the current six years.

The bank’s announcement is a sharp contrast to recent news reports indicating companies are cutting or suspending their matching contributions to save money during the economic downturn (see “Sears Suspends 401(k) Match in Face of Declining Sales“).

Compliance January 8, 2009

Pharmaceutical Company Could Face Company Stock Suit

The law firm of Stember Feinstein Doyle&Payne, LLC, is investigating conduct that it believes might have caused losses to the KV Pharmaceutical Company Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.
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An announcement from the law firm said it is investigating whether certain fiduciaries of the plan knew or should have known that its statements regarding its financial health and manufacturing processes were inaccurate, which may have caused the price of KV’s shares to be artificially inflated.

Specifically, the firm is investigating whether KV breached its fiduciary obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA):

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  • by continuing to offer KV common stock as an investment option for participant contributions when it was imprudent to do so;
  • by failing to take action to sell KV stock or otherwise protect the plan’s assets;
  • by failing to adequately disclose alleged problems with manufacturing processes and alleged non-compliance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.

Ellen Doyle of Stember Feinstein Doyle & Payne has been appointed class counsel to represent numerous classes of ERISA plan participants.

More information is available at www.stemberfeinstein.com.

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