[Federal Register: September 15, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 178)]
[Notices]
[Page 55656-55657]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15se04-76]
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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
September 2004. The interest assumptions for performing multiemployer
plan valuations following mass withdrawal under part 4281 apply to
valuation dates occurring in October 2004.
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 Section 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. Pursuant to the Pension
Funding Equity Act of 2004, for premium payment years beginning in 2004
or 2005, the required interest rate is the ``applicable percentage''
(currently 85 percent) of the annual rate of interest determined by the
Secretary of the Treasury on amounts invested conservatively in long-
term investment grade corporate bonds for the month preceding the
beginning of the plan year for which premiums are being paid. Thus, the
required interest rate to be used in determining variable-rate premiums
for premium payment years beginning in September 2004 is 4.95 percent
(i.e., 85 percent of the 5.82 percent composite corporate bond rate for
August 2004 as determined by the Treasury).
The following table lists the required interest rates to be used in
determining variable-rate premiums for premium payment years beginning
between October 2003 and September 2004. Note that the required
interest rates for premium payment years beginning in October through
December 2003 were determined under the Job Creation and Worker
Assistance Act of 2002, and that the required interest rates for
premium payment years beginning in January through September 2004 were
determined under the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004.
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The required
For premium payment years beginning in: interest rate
is:
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October 2003*........................................... 5.14
November 2003*.......................................... 5.16
December 2003*.......................................... 5.12
January 2004**.......................................... 4.94
February 2004**......................................... 4.83
March 2004**............................................ 4.79
April 2004**............................................ 4.62
May 2004**.............................................. 4.98
June 2004**............................................. 5.26
July 2004**............................................. 5.25
August 2004**........................................... 5.10
September 2004**........................................ 4.95
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* The required interest rates for premium payment years beginning in
October through December 2003 were determined under the Job Creation
and Worker Assistance Act of 2002.
[[Page 55657]]
** The required interest rates for premium payment years beginning in
January through September 2004 were determined under the Pension
Funding Equity Act of 2004.
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 October 2004 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 9th day of September 2004.
Joseph H. Grant,
Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 04-20738 Filed 9-14-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P