WASHINGTON — The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced two landmark “firsts” in its compliance assistance efforts under PBGC’s new Amicus Curiae and Opinion Letter Programs. On June 5, PBGC filed its first amicus brief since the launch of the Amicus Curiae Program with the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the case of Consumers Concrete Corp. v. Central States Fund, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund. On June 15, PBGC issued its first opinion letter in more than two decades. These actions reflect PBGC’s commitment to publicly share its views of the law in real-world situations.
“Together, these initiatives strengthen PBGC’s efforts to provide meaningful, practical compliance assistance by clarifying how the Corporation interprets and applies the law,” said PBGC Director Janet Dhillon. “By offering timely and transparent support, PBGC is helping courts interpret the law and helping plan sponsors and employers navigate their responsibilities.”
At the request of the Seventh Circuit, PBGC filed an amicus brief, explaining its longstanding interpretation of the calculation of withdrawal liability such that employers are not required to fund the same liabilities twice.
PBGC also issued an opinion letter stating that the annuitization of participant benefits in a sponsor’s single-employer defined benefit plan, where the participants would remain employed by the plan sponsor, would not require reporting to PBGC under PBGC’s regulations as an active participant reduction. This opinion letter provides guidance on an interpretive question and marks the first opinion letter issued by the Corporation since 2002.
“We are offering timely and straightforward legal guidance to help the pension community understand how PBGC interprets complex rules,” said PBGC General Counsel Jack Lund.
More information about PBGC’s compliance assistance programs, including criteria on submitting requests, is available on the Corporation’s website.
About PBGC
PBGC protects the retirement security of about 30 million American workers, retirees, and beneficiaries in both single-employer and multiemployer private sector pension plans. The agency’s two insurance programs are legally separate and operationally and financially independent. PBGC is directly responsible for the benefits of nearly 1.4 million participants and beneficiaries in failed single-employer pension plans. The Single-Employer Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. The Multiemployer Program is financed by insurance premiums and investment income. Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer monies.