[Federal Register: February 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 31)]
[Notices]
[Page 7622]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14fe03-152]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Required Interest Rate Assumption for Determining Variable-Rate
Premium; Interest Assumptions for Multiemployer Plan Valuations
Following Mass Withdrawal
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of interest rates and assumptions.
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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the interest rates and
assumptions to be used under certain Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation regulations. These rates and assumptions are published
elsewhere (or can be derived from rates published elsewhere), but are
collected and published in this notice for the convenience of the
public. Interest rates are also published on the PBGC's Web site
(http://www.pbgc.gov).
DATES: The required interest rate for determining the variable-rate
premium under part 4006 applies to premium payment years beginning in
February 2003. The interest assumptions for performing multiemployer
plan valuations following mass withdrawal under part 4281 apply to
valuation dates occurring in March 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, 202-326-4024.
(TTY/TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-
877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Variable-Rate Premiums
Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and Sec. 4006.4(b)(1) of the PBGC's
regulation on Premium Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use of an
assumed interest rate (the ``required interest rate'') in determining a
single-employer plan's variable-rate premium. The required interest
rate is the ``applicable percentage'' (currently 100 percent) of the
annual yield on 30-year Treasury securities for the month preceding the
beginning of the plan year for which premiums are being paid (the
``premium payment year''). (Although the Treasury Department has ceased
issuing 30-year securities, the Internal Revenue Service announces a
surrogate yield figure each month--based on the 30-year Treasury bond
maturing in February 2031--which the PBGC uses to determine the
required interest rate.)
The required interest rate to be used in determining variable-rate
premiums for premium payment years beginning in February 2003 is 4.94
percent.
The following table lists the required interest rates to be used in
determining variable-rate premiums for premium payment years beginning
between March 2002 and February 2003.
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The required
For premium payment years beginning in-- interest rate
is--
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March 2002............................................ 5.40
April 2002............................................ 5.71
May 2002.............................................. 5.68
June 2002............................................. 5.65
July 2002............................................. 5.52
August 2002........................................... 5.39
September 2002........................................ 5.08
October 2002.......................................... 4.76
November 2002......................................... 4.93
December 2002......................................... 4.96
January 2003.......................................... 4.92
February 2003......................................... 4.94
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Multiemployer Plan Valuations Following Mass Withdrawal
The PBGC's regulation on Duties of Plan Sponsor Following Mass
Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281) prescribes the use of interest
assumptions under the PBGC's regulation on Allocation of Assets in
Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part 4044). The interest assumptions
applicable to valuation dates in March 2003 under part 4044 are
contained in an amendment to part 4044 published elsewhere in today's
Federal Register. Tables showing the assumptions applicable to prior
periods are codified in appendix B to 29 CFR part 4044.
Issued in Washington, DC, on this 7th day of February 2003.
Joseph H. Grant,
Deputy Executive Director and Chief, Operating Officer, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-3690 Filed 2-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P