[Federal Register: December 29, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 77198-77199]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29de05-92]

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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment
Request; Survey of Nonparticipating Single Premium Group Annuity Rates

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') is
requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') extend
approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of a collection of
information (OMB control

[[Page 77199]]

number 1212-0030; expires January 31, 2006). This voluntary collection
of information is a quarterly survey of insurance company rates for
pricing annuity contracts. The survey is conducted by the American
Council of Life Insurers for the PBGC. This notice informs the public
of the PBGC's request and solicits public comment on the collection of
information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by January 30, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk
Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC 20503.
Copies of the request for extension (including the collection of
information) may be obtained without charge by writing to the PBGC's
Office of the General Counsel, Disclosure Division, suite 11-102, 1200
K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, or by visiting that office or
calling 202-326-4040 during normal business hours. (TTY and TDD users
may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and
request connection to 202-326-4040.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas H. Gabriel, Attorney,
Legislative & Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-
4024. (TTY and TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free
at 1-800-877-8339 and request connection to 202-326-4024).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's
regulations prescribe actuarial valuation methods and assumptions
(including interest rate assumptions) to be used in determining the
actuarial present value of benefits under single-employer plans that
terminate (29 CFR Part 4044) and under multiemployer plans that undergo
a mass withdrawal of contributing employers (29 CFR Part 4281). Each
month the PBGC publishes the interest rates to be used under those
regulations for plans terminating or undergoing mass withdrawal during
the next month.
The interest rates are intended to reflect current conditions in
the investment and annuity markets. To determine these interest rates,
the PBGC gathers pricing data from insurance companies that are
providing annuity contracts to terminating pension plans through a
quarterly ``Survey of Nonparticipating Single Premium Group Annuity
Rates.'' The survey is distributed by the American Council of Life
Insurers and provides the PBGC with ``blind'' data (i.e., is conducted
in such a way that the PBGC is unable to match responses with the
companies that submitted them). The information from the survey is also
used by the PBGC in determining the interest rates it uses to value
benefits payable to participants and beneficiaries in PBGC-trusteed
plans for purposes of the PBGC's financial statements.
The survey is directed at insurance companies that have volunteered
to participate, most or all of which are members of the American
Council of Life Insurers. The survey is conducted quarterly and will be
sent to approximately 22 insurance companies. Based on experience under
the current approval, the PBGC estimates that 11 insurance companies
will complete and return the survey. The PBGC further estimates that
the average annual burden of this collection of information is 41 hours
and $110.
The collection of information has been approved by OMB under
control number 1212-0030 through January 31, 2006. The PBGC is
requesting that OMB extend its approval for another three years. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 19th day of December, 2005.
Rick Hartt,
Chief Technology Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. E5-8006 Filed 12-28-05; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708-01-P