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Guidance Document Database
The documents listed below are PBGC’s guidance documents, as defined by EO 13891, sec. 2(b), see Federal Register Notice. 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. PBGC will only cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not posted in this database to establish historical facts.
If you would like to request the withdrawal or modification of an existing guidance document, please submit your request, 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, 1200 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005–4026. For additional information, see PBGC’s procedures for guidance documents.
Title | Issuance Date |
Agency Identifier![]() |
Topics | Summary | Posted Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opinion Letter 75-89 | 8-7-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-89 | Coverage, Individual account plan, Termination | Conversion from a covered plan to an individual account plan is a termination. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-90 | 10-6-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-90 | Reportable events | Transfer of plan assets to another plans is a reportable event. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-91 | 7-15-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-91 | Benefit reduction, Reportable events | A reduction in benefits is not considered a plan termination but is a reportable event. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-103 | 8-23-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-103 | Benefit guarantee, Death benefits | PBGC’s position on guaranty of death benefit. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-106 | 9-3-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-106 | Coverage, Professional service employer plan | Physician-secretary is a Professional Service Employer plan exempt from Title IV coverage. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-107 | 9-7-1975 | PBGC Op Let 76-107 | Termination, Allocation of assets | Allocation of assets of terminating plan otherwise than in accordance with section 4044 is not allowed. Transfer of asset to a defined contribution plan requires that all participants be offered option for immediate receipt of their benefits. | 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 76-11 | 1-20-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-11 | Reportable events | Transfer of plan assets to another plan does not require PBGC approval, but it is a reportable event requiring notification. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-111 | 9-16-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-111 | Employer liability | Asset purchaser assuming some plans was not a successor corporation for plans that it did not assume. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-112 | 9-28-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-112 | Benefit guarantee | A participant who has completed the requisite number of years of service and has attained retirement age has a nonforfeitable vested benefit in the plan, even if he has not ended his employment as the time of plan termination. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-114 | 10-1-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-114 | Reportable events | Elimination of a death benefit is a reportable event. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-117 | 11-3-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-117 | Termination | No plan termination occurred when subsidiaries ended plan participation. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-118 | 11-8-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-118 | Coverage, tax qualification | Once a plan is determined to be qualified by IRS, it is qualified for purposes of Title IV until qualification is revoked. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-119 | 11-15-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-119 | Residual assets | Because plan does not provide for reversion of excess assets to sponsor, residual assets must be distributed to plan participants and their beneficiaries, pro rata, in relation to their accrued benefits. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-12 | 1-27-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-12 | Individual account plan | Amendment of a plan from a defined benefit plans to an individual account plan results in the plan’s termination. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-121 | 12-22-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-121 | Reportable events | The reduction in the number of plan participants is a reportable event. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-17 | 2-5-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-17 | Benefit guarantee | Discusses benefit guaranty and its limits for a retiree receiving monthly benefits from an ongoing plan. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-24 | 2-14-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-24 | Merger, Reportable events | PBGC approval is not needed to merge a single employer plan into a multiemployer plan, but such a transaction would be a reportable event. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-28 | 2-24-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-28 | Coverage | Advises that defined contribution plans which defined benefit features may be subject to coverage. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-03 | 1-8-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-3 | Termination, Allocation of assets | Plan administrator must allocate assets to participant receiving early retirement benefits and may not allocate assets to participants whose benefit claims had been fully satisfied prior to termination of plan. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-31 | 3-3-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-31 | Allocation of assets, Benefit guarantee | Section 4044 asset allocation rules take precedence over any contrary plan provisions. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-33 | 3-5-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-33 | Reportable events | Plan merger constitutes a reportable event. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-34 | 3-8-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-34 | Termination, Voluntary plan termination | Involuntary termination requirements in section 4042(a) do not apply to voluntary terminations under section 4041. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-37 | 3-15-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-37 | Benefit guarantee | Discusses how the five-year phase-in rule impacts guarantee of certain recent benefit increases and that certain early retirement supplements are not guaranteed. | 2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-40 | 3-19-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-40 | One plan | Discusses four plans in one plan document with one trust. Sale of a unit and separation of the unit’s assets from the master trust is not a reportable event, nor a termination of one of the plans. | 2-28-2020 |