Legal

The federal pension-insurance agency accuses American Airlines of misleading employees about the safety of their retirement benefits.

Industry trade groups met with the Department of Labor on Tuesday to clarify the departments request regarding what impact the conflicts of interest faced by brokers who advise IRAs have on IRA investors.

American Airlines is trying to reassure employees that most of them will get full pensions even if the company terminates its retirement plans in bankruptcy.

American Airlines contributed only $6.5 million of the $100 million that it was supposed to pay into employee pension plans last week.The underpayment raised tensions between the company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, and federal pension-protection officials.

Under a state senator's proposal, employees and their employers would have to contribute to a system similar to a 401(k) where their money is invested and their retirement payment depends on their total investments when they retire.

Lincoln Trust Co. last week released a report on six megatrends that would affect the retirement plan industry in 2012, including the new fee disclosure legislation and changing fiduciary standards.