The Cultural Institutions Group Life and Welfare Benefits Plan

“The cultural institutions group life and welfare benefits plan ("cirs") retains an independent accounting firm to prepare the required form 990. The officers of cirs provide the information necessary for the preparation of the tax return to the outside accountants. Once a draft of the tax return is received, it is reviewed by management for reasonability prior to filing. The review is conducted by cirs's executive director prior to the filing of the form 990. The review included an analysis of the statement of assets, premium payments, and expenses. The analysis also included comparing the form 990 tax return to the financial statements of the cultural institutions group life and welfare benefits plan. Any issues identified are resolved before the tax return is finalized. The finalized draft is then provided as a pdf attachment to the board of trustees for their review. All comments are then grouped, reviewed and discussed, and if necessary communicated to the outside accountants. A final version is then emailed to the board of trustees before the tax return is filed with the irs.”

“A conflict of interest policy is included in the "rules, benefits and guidelines of employment manual" for cirs staff, and has been in place prior to june 30, 2010. The current policy in place instructs all employees to refrain from any activity that is or could be considered in conflict with the interest of cirs or has the appearance of a conflict. Furthermore, as an employee of cirs, you should not derive any personal benefit from the purchase of any goods or services by the institutions or take any action as a representative of cirs for personal gain. Neither should you participate in separate business activities which compete with the organization's interest. The cirs conflict of interest policy requires disclosure from officers, directors or trustees, and key employees to annually disclose interest that could give rise to conflicts. In accordance with applicable dol regulations and with such conflict of interest policy, each member of the investment committee and certain officers are required to periodically provide cirs a list of their respective "affiliates", if any. Cirs has updated its conflict of interest policy to now provide for regular and consistent monitoring to enforce compliance with the policy. As an erisa plan, our policy has been to retain all participant records indefinitely.”

“The trustees receive no compensation from the cultural institutions group life and welfare benefits plan ("cirs"). The officers of cirs are shared employees of the plan and receive no compensation from cirs. Their salaries are allocated by the plan.”

“The organization makes its form 990 available for public inspection as required under section 6104 of the internal revenue code. The return is posted on guidestar.org and other similar types of websites. In addition, the governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public upon request.”

“The cultural institutions group life and welfare benefits plan ("cirs") provides life insurance coverage that helps protect a member's family from the financial consequences of the loss of income in the event of the member's death. The premium and costs of administration of the cultural institutions group life and welfare benefits plan are paid by the participating employers. The premiums provide a death benefit payable through the insurance carrier to designated beneficiaries upon the death of a member. Purchase of life insurance for eligible employees of various participating employers as set forth in the cultural institutions group life and welfare benefits plan document.”

“The cirs board of trustees administrative committee is responsible for oversight of the audited financial statements, and the selection of an independent accountant. This process has not changed from the prior year.”