FASB releases final rules on multiemployer plan disclosures

October 4 2011

The Financial Standards Accounting Board (FASB) late last month released the final set of revised rules for disclosing an employer’s participation in a multiemployer pension plan.

The revisions were first announced in July (see here for more info). Their final publication on Sept. 21 represented a victory for contractors because they do not require participants in MEPPs to disclose their withdrawal liability, something FASB had originally wanted to include.

TAUC believed the withdrawal liability proposal was seriously flawed because it would have required disclosure of information that was two years out of date, not auditable and ultimately misleading to any end-user of financial statements. TAUC joined with other trade associations to form the Construction Industry FASB Coalition (CIFC) to engage in positive and constructive collaboration with FASB regarding changes to the reporting requirements, and our efforts finally paid off.

FASB also declined to require that employers provide a “point-in-time” estimate of obligations with respect to the underfunded status of individual plans.

To download the revised rules, click here (note: this link directs to a PDF file).