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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 93-01 | 2-16-1993 | PBGC Op Let 93-1 | Termination, Premiums | The obligation to pay premiums ceases when plan assets are distributed under priority categories 1- 6 without regard to whether there are residual assets. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 94-08 | 9-30-1994 | PBGC Op Let 94-08 | Reallocation liability, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the calculation of reallocation liability when calculating withdrawal liability under the "presumptive method" and whether to include the unfunded vested benefits of an employer that is subject to the construction rule. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-151 | 7-21-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-151 | legal fees, Termination | Not appropriate to charge against plan assets legal fees arising from plan termination. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 90-03 | 4-24-1990 | PBGC Op Let 09-3 | Termination, annuities | Once irrevocable commitments are purchased, PBGC no longer guarantees the benefits. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-26 | 11-14-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-26 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Company owners are physicians and company provides medical services. Plan is exempt as a Professional Servicer Employer plan. |
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 88-09 | 12-6-1988 | PBGC Op Let 88-9 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Original plan is a Title IV covered plan. Successor plan is also a Title IV covered plan. Successor plan does not qualify as an exempt plan under the Professional Service plan exemption even though successor plan has fewer than 25 employees. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 90-06 | 10-31-1990 | PBGC Op Let 90-6 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Substantial Owner plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-44 | 12-8-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-44 | “Established and maintained”, Governmental plan, Coverage | A plan maintained by a public agency or political subdivision which has been taken over from a private business is excluded from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-22 | 9-11-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-22 | Reciprocity agreement, Multiemployer | Addresses whether a reciprocity agreement operates to impose on certain employers and defined contribution pension plans the minimum contribution requirements or the withdrawal liability provisions of the law. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-11 | 5-13-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-11 | Overpayment of withdrawal liability, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether a withdrawal liability overpayment must be refunded by a multiemployer plan sponsor to an employer where the plan sponsor subsequently discovers the underlying calculation error and the employer had failed to initiate the plan review and arbitration process. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-166 | 10-7-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-166 | Benefit guarantee | Because benefit increases became effective through collective bargaining agreements (not specific action by the Board of Trustees), PBGC looks to the adoption and effective dates of those agreements to apply the five-year phase-in rule. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-20 | 12-5-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-20 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Individual account plan is exempt from coverage under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 89-06 | 8-8-1989 | PBGC Op Let 89-6 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Individual account plan exemption from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 79-05 | 3-28-1979 | PBGC Op Let 79-5 | due dates, Premiums | The plan must pay premiums to PBGC for annuitants covered by an insurance contract that does not provide for irrevocable commitments to pay the benefits. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-19 | 7-1-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-19 | Withdrawal, Construction industry, sale of assets, Multiemployer | Addresses the applicability of the “sale of assets exception: to the construction industry complete withdrawal rules. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-07 | 1-14-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-7 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Title IV does not cover Individual account plans or welfare plans. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-13 | 5-28-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-13 | Partial Withdrawal, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the calculation of partial withdrawal liability and why the allocation fraction uses a ratio of contribution base units as opposed to contributions. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-12 | 5-13-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-12 | Allocation of assets, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the meaning of “total amount contributed” for the purpose of the denominators in PBGC’s interim regulation on withdrawal liability alternative allocation methods. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 97-02 | 12-29-1997 | PBGC Op Let 97-2 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Surveying and engineering design consultant is a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan coverage exemption. |
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 |
Opinion Letter 86-01 | 1-15-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-1 | Plan termination; Valuation of plan benefits | Discusses PBGC’s interpretation of the present value of the normal form of benefit provided by the plan payable at normal retirement age. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-12 | 4-7-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-12 | Mass Withdrawal, Multiemployer | PBGC must be given a multiemployer plan’s notice of merger. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-107 | 9-7-1975 | PBGC Op Let 76-107 | Allocation of assets, Termination | 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 81-11 | 5-11-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-11 | Termination, Benefit guarantee | PBGC did not guarantee benefits for a terminated plan, the termination of which was done in concert with the establishment of new retirement arrangements designed to provide substantially the same benefits. |
2-28-2020 |