Products August 9, 2010

U.S. Bank Launches Online Expense Product

August 9, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – U.S. Bank is introducing an electronic expense reporting tool for mid-size companies that it says allows employees to manage travel expenses online while enabling travel managers to better track spending patterns and identify savings opportunities.
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A news release about the U.S. Bank Expense Management said among its benefits are:

  • Travelers get a time-saving tool that posts all their U.S. Bank commercial or corporate card purchases into an online account, so they can submit accurate expense reimbursement requests fast, from anywhere – including Web-enabled mobile devices.
  • Managers and travel program administrators get the ability to quickly approve traveler expenses and ensure they comply with company policy.
  • Procurement professionals get to see exactly where the travel dollars are going.

“Most mid-sized companies still use manual or paper-based expense reporting systems,” said Jeff Rankin, senior sales and marketing officer at U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems, in the announcement. “They see the savings captured by larger companies through automated expense reporting and want to the same opportunity.”

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Benefits August 9, 2010

Initial Comp Policy Risk Disclosures Found Lacking

August 9, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – While 67% of the companies studied by Buck Consultants reported a compensation risk assessment according to new requirements, no adverse risks were disclosed.
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A Buck news release about its study of proxy statements filed after February 28, 2010 that included the compensation risk assessment mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the companies did not explain the rationale for their judgment.

The study also found that disclosures and coverage lacked consistency and that Board and Compensation Committee role was limited to oversight.

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“Corporate boards and their compensation committees have almost universally left day-to-day risk management in the hands of management,” Buck commented in the news release.

Buck researchers posed two questions based on their results:

  • If companies do not apply a consistent approach towards risk assessment and disclosures, can investors truly benefit from the SEC’s requirement to provide narrative disclosures where compensation practices and policies create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect?
  • Is the lack of overall consistency within proxy disclosures creating confusion and thus achieving the opposite effect of what had been intended by the SEC?

Buck asserted that additional corporate disclosure would be consistent with the SEC and other stakeholders’ intent with the new rule.

“Over time,” Buck concluded, “we would expect to see a greater degree of disclosure about plan design, as well as processes that have helped companies and their boards determine that there are no material adverse risks within their compensation plans. Although this level of disclosure is not technically required, it would be consistent with the SEC’s comment letters and requests for additional information and with the continuous scrutiny and media attention being placed on executive pay.” 

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