Steven W. Rabitz

After spending six years as part of a dedicated team of ERISA and compensation lawyers internally at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Rabitz pioneered and led the ERISA, executive compensation and benefits legal function at Lehman Brothers, and most recently, has served at Barclays Capital in a similar substantive capacity. While in house, Mr. Rabitz focused extensively on the ERISA considerations relating to his employers' principal businesses and product lines, from both the "sell side" and the "buy side," including ERISA issues relating to brokerage, prime brokerage, futures, securities lending, repos, swaps and other derivatives, structured debt and similar financial products, asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities, as well as the ERISA considerations relating to asset management and investment advisory products and services, including separately managed accounts, the formation of, the investment by, and the ongoing operation of alternative investment vehicles like private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, fund of funds, other collective investment funds, and "wrap" and other similar products and services developed for both institutional and high net worth markets. He concentrated equally on his employers' executive, deferred and other incentive-based compensatory programs, and other legal and regulatory aspects of compensation, as well as their retirement, health and other benefit programs. He focuses on the U.S. Federal income tax provisions (including Section 162(m), Section 409A and Section 457A of the Internal Revenue Code), corporate governance, and securities law (including Securities Act, Securities Exchange Act and proxy-related disclosure considerations), and other design and implementation-related considerations associated with companies’ incentive, equity and deferred compensation arrangements, whether for private or public companies, domestic or cross-border.

Mr. Rabitz is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for 2010, 2011 and 2012 as a leader in the field of employee benefits and executive compensation.

• Member, Board of Directors, New York University School of Law Alumni Association, 2005 – present
• Member, Board of Directors and Co-Chair, Public Policy Committee, Anti-Defamation League, New York Region, 2006 – present
• Member, Steinberg Leadership Institute, 2004-2005

• Speaker, "DOL's Final Answer on ERISA Section 408(b)(2): Some Assembly Required," Practising Law Institute, March 20, 2012
• Speaker, "Commingled Investment Vehicles," Practising Law Institute, PLI ERISA Fiduciary Basics, May 2011
• Speaker, "DOL Hot Topics," Worldwide Employee Benefits Network, October 21, 2010
• Panelist, "ERISA Fee Disclosure Rules Impacting Providers and Plans," BNA Webinar, October 14, 2010
• Speaker, NYU Graduate Tax Program Lunch Series, New York, NY, October 26, 2010
• Speaker, "Section 409A: Taking Stock of Relief for Compliance Failures," presentation to the New York/New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), February 26, 2010
• Speaker, "Gifts and Entertainment: Should ERISA Dampen Your Clients' Holiday Spirit?," American Bar Association Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, December 17, 2009
• Speaker, "Current ERISA Fiduciary Issues for Financial Institutions," Lorman Education Services, September 9, 2009
• Speaker, "Pension Investment in Asset-Backed Securities: Reverberations of the Credit Crisis," Practising Law Institute’s "Pension Plan Investments 2008," May 2008
• Speaker, "QPAM and INHAM Exemptions," West Legalworks’ "ERISA for Money Managers," April 17, 2008

• "Isn’t That Special? CFTC’s Final Business Conduct Rules," Derivatives (Financial Products Report), April, 2012
• "Deducting from Flexibility Under §162(m)—New Proposed Treasury Regulations Released," Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, November 2, 2011
• "The Results Are In: Comment Letters Identify Serious Concerns With DOL Proposed Fiduciary Rule," Pension & Benefits Daily, March 1, 2011
• "On Being Reasonable: DOL’s Interim Final Fee Disclosure Rules," BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter, August 5, 2010
• "ERISA’s Revised Schedule C: Many Tentacles and Lots of Ink," BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter, April 22, 2010
• "The Top Five ERISA Related Traps for Investment Managers— Even When They Are Not Managing Plan Money," BNA Pension & Benefits Daily, January 20, 2010
• "Roth On! Window Opens in 2010 for Individuals Historically Closed Out of Roth IRA Conversions and Rollovers," Employee Benefit Plan Review, December 2009
• "ERISA Update: Preparing for New DOL Reporting Requirements for Gifts and Entertainment," Complinet, November 2009
• "The Oneida Decision: Second Circuit Holds Premiums Payable to PBGC Not Dischargeable in Bankruptcy," Bloomberg Law Reports - Bankruptcy Law, Vol. 3, No. 31
• "The Outplacement of Placement Agents? SEC Proposes New ‘Pay-to-Play’ Rules," Journal of Investment Compliance, Vol. 10, No. 4
• “Chapter 9: Retirement Benefits,” Manning on Estate Planning, Sixth Edition, Practising Law Institute, 2008
• "ERISA Considerations in Structured Finance Transactions," PLI Pension Plan Investments 2008, May 2008
• "Proposed Amendments to the Securities Lending Exemption," PLI Pension Plan Investments 2004: Confronting Today’s Issues, June 2004
• "The Role of the Compensation Committee and Experts in Dealing with Compensation Issues," PLI Hot Issues in Executive Compensation 2002, November 2002
• "ERISA Aspects of Cross-Trading and Electronic Crossing Networks," PLI Pension Plan Investments: Confronting Today’s Issues 2000, October 2000
• "An Overview of Recent Changes Concerning Foreign Compensatory Trusts: 402(b) Trusts, Grantor Trusts and ‘Rabbi’ Trusts,” Florida Tax Review Vol. 4, No. 6, 431
• "Foreign Equity-Based Compensation and U.S. Securities Laws," Compensation & Benefits Review, July/August 1999
• "ERISA Aspects of Soft Dollar Arrangements," PLI Pension Plan Investments: Confronting Today’s Issues 1999, December 1999
• "New Regulations Provide Zero Basis Relief for Affiliated Group Stock-Based Compensatory Arrangements," Tax Notes, Vol. 81, 503