Opinion letters database

This letter addresses several administrator responsibilities at termination.

The plan terminated after the date of enactment of ERISA and the provisions of section 4082(b) of ERISA are therefore not applicable. PBGC recommended that the plan file a notice of intent to terminate.

The beneficiary of a death benefit provided by the plan, whose entitlement to the death benefit arose prior to plan termination but who has not yet been paid, may not share in the income earned by the Plan's trust assets since the date of Plan termination.

Request by PBGC that court enter an order that would continue PBGC's trusteeship pending resolution of termination questions including termination date.

Professional service employer plan excluded from Title IV coverage.

The plan is excluded from Title IV coverage because it is a governmental plan.

Pre-termination plan liabilities are payable out of the plan assets before allocation of assets under section 4044.

Disability benefits that become payable after the date of plan termination are not guaranteed.

Plan is covered under Title IV and there is liability to PBGC for insufficient assets.

A plan amendment that preserves a defined benefit does not allow a plan to qualify under the individual account exemption from Title IV coverage.

Distribution options that must be offered to participants at plan termination.

Determination that plan is a Title IV-covered defined benefit plan and discussion of potential liability with respect to possible underfunding.

Employer compliance with title IV at termination has no bearing on labor law claims arising from the termination.

Plans are covered under Title IV because, among other things, the participant is entitled to a monthly retirement benefit equal to a specific dollar amount multiplied by the participant’s years of credited service. The employer’s obligation to contribute does not cause the plan to be considered an individual account plan.

Discusses whether a participant’s benefits calculated pursuant to an early retirement formula are guaranteed. So called “Nudge” benefits that are not in excess of the benefit amount accrued for normal retirement will be guaranteed. Benefits would also be subject to the five year phase-in guarantee and any benefit in excess would not be guaranteed.

Determinations, when communicated as final decisions, constitute final agency action for purposes of exhausting administrative remedies.

Addresses a withdrawal of a notice of intent to terminate but does not opine on whether the consolidation of assets and liabilities meets other statutory requirements overseen by Labor and Treasury.

An individual in an integrated defined benefit plan is not a participant for premium payments if the participant has never earned more than the minimum wage base, has never accrued benefits or earnings under the plan, and is not defined under the plan’s terms as a participant.

Plan does not provide for a return of residual assets..

Because a transaction will not result in a transfer of assets from one plan to another, but only a change in corporate trustee, there is no reportable event.

With respect to a reportable event, PBGC requests specified data related to plan year in order to determine whether the plan satisfies the tax-qualification provisions to be Title IV-covered.

Congress set forth in Title IV new standards for determining the liability of an employer upon the termination of a plan with insufficient assets to pay guaranteed benefits. These provisions apply to all plans covered by Title IV. PBGC has made no decision about extended payment terms.

Request for PBGC's permitting a withdrawal of notice of intent to terminate and not deeming the plan terminated where the plan is frozen and participants fully vested.

Addresses a plan’s notice of intent to terminate, date of plan termination, and the ability to terminate the plan by agreement. It is a mandatory ERISA requirement to file a notice of plan termination with PBGC. The corporation will investigate to determine the date of the plan’s termination and if the plan’s trustees terminated in accordance with their fiduciary duties owed to the plan.

PBGC can't intervene and assert preemptive authority and direct the parties not to take any steps to implement a court ordered merger until after an investigation.