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Guidance Document Database
The documents listed below are PBGC’s guidance documents. The contents of these documents do not have the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract, and are not meant to bind the public in any way. These documents are intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
If you would like to comment on an existing guidance document, please submit your comment, including your contact information, to the General Counsel at GuidanceComments@pbgc.gov or at Regulatory Affairs Division, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office of the General Counsel, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101.
Title | Issuance Date | Agency Identifier (indexed field) | Topics | Summary | Posted Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opinion Letter 82-24 | 8-5-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-24 | Mass Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Review of rules governing plan administration after mass withdrawal; modification of withdrawal liability payment schedules; and recharacterization of contributions as withdrawal liability payments. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-30 | 12-9-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-30 | Reciprocity agreement, Termination, Multiemployer | A terminated multiemployer plan cannot transfer assets and liabilities to other multiemployer plans pursuant to reciprocity agreement. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-32 | 9-25-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-32 | Asset Sale Exception, Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Regards a statutory provision under which a contributing employer to a multiemployer plan that sells its assets to an unrelated buyer does not withdraw from the plan if (among other things) the buyer posts a bond or escrow for 5 years and the sales contract makes the seller secondarily liable if the buyer withdraws during the 5 plan years after the sale. This opinion letter addresses whether the buyer may escrow a letter of credit instead of cash. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-115 | 5-30-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-115 | Termination, Reportable events | Discusses that change of insurance carrier is not a termination nor a reportable event |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-28 | 8-31-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-28 | Multiemployer, Premiums | Discusses premium payment obligations under specific circumstances. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-34 | 9-18-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-34 | Merger, Multiemployer | Merger/transfer rules do not apply to merger of a welfare fund and pension fund. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-106 | 9-3-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-106 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Physician-secretary is a Professional Service Employer plan exempt from Title IV coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-109 | 9-14-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-109 | Coverage | A trust under a plan must be "created or organized" in the "United States" and be "maintained at all times as a |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-04 | 3-20-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-4 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Plan is not an Individual account plan and is not exempt from coverage under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-55 | 11-10-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-55 | plan document, Coverage | A plan without a written plan document is not a qualified plan and is excluded from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-05 | 1-30-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-05 | Construction industry, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether the construction industry exception to withdrawal applies where a contractor terminates its CBA, its employees do not perform any more work for which the contractor was previously required to make contributions, but the contractor subcontracts for the performance of such work. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-16 | 6-3-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-16 | Partial Withdrawal, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether or not an 18-month contribution holiday is a partial withdrawal. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 87-12 | 10-27-1987 | PBGC Op Let 87-12 | Transfer of liability, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses effects on withdrawal liability of a proposed transfer of benefit liabilities from a multiemployer plan to a single-employer plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-15 | 7-7-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-15 | Termination | Look to plan documents to determine plan administrator |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-32 | 12-31-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-32 | Plan assets, Allocation of assets | Assets intended to fund insurance company annuities, but which are retained by the plan are subject to allocation procedures. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 80-12 | 6-9-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-12 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Real estate broker is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-18 | 7-24-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-18 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Corrects opinion letter 85-1 and addresses calculation of withdrawal liability installment payments other than on a quarterly schedule. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-57 | 4-26-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-57 | Coverage | Plan has not met conditions for coverage since ERISA enacted; Title IV doesn’t apply to the termination of the plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-154 | 7-21-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-154 | Coverage | “Licensed” or “registered” engineers are “public” engineers under ERISA 4021(c)(2)(B) and the plan is exempt under the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 88-02 | 3-22-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-02 | Construction industry, sale of assets, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses applicability to construction industry employers of the sale-of-assets limitation on withdrawal liability. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-28 | 10-15-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-28 | Termination | Whether the method of distribution proposed for a plan is acceptable when the plan administrator is terminating its DB plan and creating a DC plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-73 | 6-2-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-73 | Benefit guarantee | Reaffirms PBGC’s prior review of its determination that a severance benefit provided by the plan is not a guaranteed benefit because it is not a benefit that is payable as an annuity or one or more payments related thereto. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-41 | 5-13-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-41 | Governmental plan, Coverage | To be excluded from coverage, all employees covered by the plan must be public employees and the political subdivision must be the plan sponsor. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-31 | 9-22-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-31 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 88-07 | 5-2-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-07 | sale of assets, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the “unrelated party” requirement for the sale of assets exception to withdrawal liability. |
2-28-2020 |