Opinion letters database

PBGC has no legal authority to terminate a pension plan and then restore it in order to provide more lenient funding requirements for the plan sponsor.

Clarification that multiemployer plan does not devolve into a single employer plan as a result of a reduction to less than two of the number of employers required to contribute pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.

Discusses whether lien under 302(f) of ERISA can arise where accumulated funding deficiency is less than amount in Code § 412(n).

Clarification on a proposed change in a multiemployer pension plan’s withdrawal liability allocation method where the effect of that change would be to eliminate withdrawal liability for the remaining employers who contribute to that plan.

Clarification on how variable-rate premium requirements apply to a multiple-employer plan.

Plan is not a governmental plan that is exempt from Title IV coverage.

Plan is subject to the termination insurance provisions of Title IV and is not excluded from coverage under ERISA § 4021(b)(13) as a plan maintained by a professional service employer.

Plan is excluded from Title IV coverage as a plan established and maintained by a professional service employer.

Application of ERISA employer liability provisions to members of controlled groups located outside of the United States.

Plan is not a governmental plan and is covered by Title IV to the extent that it provides fixed benefits to participants for past service.

Plan is a governmental plan, and is not covered by Title IV (reconsideration granted).

Plan, maintained by a professional service employer, is exempt from coverage under Title IV.

Discussion of section 4206(b) and the "modified presumptive method" for computing withdrawal liability.

Discussion of the special rule for partial withdrawals for employers and plans in building/construction industry under section 4208(d)(1). Congress did not specify a numerical test to determine an "insubstantial portion" under this section.

Section 4211(b)(4)(B)(iii) does not explicitly require that an employer have withdrawn under section 4203 for the plan sponsor to determine that amounts with respect to that employer should be treated as reallocated unfunded vested benefits when calculating the withdrawal liability of another employer.

Premium payments, along with penalties and interest, may generally be paid from plan assets. If standard termination is completed before satisfaction of all premium liability, plan administrator may be personally liable.

A plan sponsor is required to refund any withdrawal liability determined to be an overpayment during the review and arbitration process. However, PBGC regulations do not require the refund of any amount determined to be an overpayment after the expiration of the time for review and arbitration.

A mass withdrawal due to withdrawal of "substantially all” employers is not determined by a strict numerical test. An "agreement or arrangement" to withdraw from a plan need not be in writing or formalized.

Penalties and interest assessed by PBGC for the late payment of premiums due under section 4007 may be paid from multiemployer pension plan assets.

Interest on premium underpayments under the
PBGC's regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR Part 2610).

Section 4225 provides that an employer that meets the requirements of both subsections (a) and (b) is entitled to an assessment of withdrawal liability that does not exceed the lesser of the amounts determined under subsections (a) and (b).

The numerator of the fraction described in section 4206(a)(2) is the contribution base units for the plan year following the third plan year in the 3-year testing period.

No premiums due after standard termination completed even though excess assets have not yet been distributed.

Description of 29 CFR § 2643.11(a) variance criteria. Satisfaction of one of these criteria is not independently sufficient to entitle a seller and buyer to a variance; they must also give the plan written notice of their intent that the sale be covered by section 4204. Under this section, a bond or escrow must generally be furnished at the beginning of the five-year period and maintained throughout that period, unless and until it is waived.

Bond or escrow is required only when a transaction is within section 4204 and when seller's assets are concurrently or subsequently "distributed" or the seller is "liquidated". A sale of assets for fair market value in an arm's-length transaction to an unrelated party is not a distribution or liquidation.