Robert Reilly (Willamette Management Associates) will provide testimony at a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) public hearing on the proposed rule that would consider business appraisers who value sponsor company stock for employee benefit plan purposes as fiduciaries.  Reilly is testifying on behalf on the AICPA, whose recommendations address the DOL concern regarding the quality of employee benefit plan valuations. The AICPA recommends that such valuations:

• be performed credentialed professionals (like the AICPA’s ABVs), and
• be performed in compliance with promulgated professional standards, such as the AICPA valuation standards.

“A DOL rule that requires that sponsor company valuations be performed by credentialed professionals in compliance with promulgated valuation standards can only benefit plan participants,” Reilly says.