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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 82-34 | 11-10-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-34 | Multiemployer, Unfunded vested benefits | Under presumptive method, if a plan is fully funded because the value of plan assets never falls below liabilities, the plan would record a zero change in the value of unfunded vested benefits despite fluctuations in unfunded vested benefits. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 88-05 | 4-1-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-05 | Mass Withdrawal, Reallocation liability, Multiemployer | Addresses the relevance of events occurring after a plan’s reallocation record date on the reallocation liability calculation. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-14 | 11-13-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-14 | tax qualification, Coverage | Plans that are tax-qualified under IRC 401(a) are covered by Title IV. Plans funded by flexible annuity policies may or may not be designed to achieve a defined benefit objective. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 95-03 | 12-22-1995 | PBGC Op Let 95-03 | Partial Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Addresses calculation of partial withdrawal credit using the "modified presumptive method" where contributions are averaged over a 10-year period. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 88-04 | 3-25-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-4 | Premiums | A PBGC premium must be paid for a participant in a plan even though no contributions for that participant to the plan are required because of a floor offset arrangement. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-169 | 11-28-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-169 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Participation in a plan maintained by more than one employer, some of which are not governmental entities, precludes the application of the Governmental plan exemption. |
2-24-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-05 | 2-2-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-5 | Restoration | Conditions under which PBGC would allow a company to restore its pension plan after filing a notice to terminate. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-04 | 1-30-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-04 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses how to reduce withdrawal liability for liability already assessed for a previous partial withdrawal. PBGC subsequently adopted a rule addressing the issue. (See 29 CFR part 4206.) |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 80-19 | 11-13-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-19 | Nonresident aliens, Coverage | Plan meets the Nonresident Alien plan coverage exemption. All plan participants and records regarding plan located in Hong Kong. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-24 | 10-3-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-24 | Termination, Multiemployer, annuities | PBGC will not insure annuities purchased by a terminated multiemployer plan and PBGC is not authorized to pay benefits when a non-insolvent multiemployer plan terminates. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-37 | 11-16-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-37 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-03 | 2-2-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-3 | Church plans, Coverage | Plan meets the Church plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-91 | 7-9-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-91 | Individual account plan | A plan amendment that preserves a defined benefit does not allow a plan to fit under the individual account exemption from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-34 | 3-8-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-34 | Voluntary plan termination, Termination | Involuntary termination requirements in section 4042(a) do not apply to voluntary terminations under section 4041. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-23 | 10-15-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-23 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses abatement when a contributing employer withdraws and then acquires a division of a company that contributions to the same plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-110 | 7-15-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-110 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Individual account plan is exempt from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-15 | 6-30-1976 | PBGC Op Let 86-15 | Coverage, Premiums | A fully insured plan is covered under Title IV and must pay premiums to PBGC. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-04 | 3-12-1981 | PBGC Op let 81-4 | Residual assets, Allocation of assets | A plan document’s provision allowing for reversion of residual plan assets to the plan sponsor was invalid and therefore residual assets were required to be distributed to participants. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 87-10 | 9-15-1987 | PBGC Op Let 87-10 | Suspension, Termination | PBGC suspended the processing of a plan termination following receipt of a letter from a union that the termination of the plan violated the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 00-01 | 1-27-2000 | PBGC Op Let 00-1 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | The sponsor of a multiemployer plan, other than a plan that primarily covers employees in the building and construction industry, may adopt any of the statutory allocation methods and any of the modifications set forth in §§ 4211.12 and 4211.13, without PBGC’s approval. PBGC will not opine on whether such adoption is consistent with trustees’ fiduciary duties. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 88-01 | 1-11-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-01 | sale of assets, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the method of calculating the withdrawal liability of a purchaser of the assets of an unrelated contributing employer. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-08 | 3-25-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-08 | Asset Sale Exception, 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. Addresses whether that exception to withdrawal applies if the buyer initially posts a bond for only the first two years. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-124 | 1-21-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-124 | Refund, Termination, Premiums | PBGC did not issue a premium refund for plan that it found was not terminated. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-01 | 1-19-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-1 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Pharmacist is a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-06 | 4-1-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-6 | Termination | Plan termination date agreed to by PBGC and the company was after participants had constructive notice of termination . |
2-28-2020 |