" This article discusses the use of employer stock as the primary investment for employees' retirement savings in U.S. tax-qualified financial participation plans. The principle U.S. government policy in support of tax-qualified financial participation plans is the promotion of an employee's accumulation of assets for retirement. For more than a century, the use of employer stock to fund financial participation plans in theU.S. has been a successful partnership for employees and employers. The recent bankruptcy of ENRON, one of the largest U.S. energy companies, has brought the debate on this issue into a new phase. The paper asks the question: Did the U.S. system fail or did ENRON plan administrators fail to follow the rules of the system? "

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