As previously discussed, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) issued final regulations in July 2022 for plans that receive special financial assistance (“SFA”) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). Among other things, the regulations imposed special withdrawal liability rules on plans that receive SFA – including a phase-in period for the … Continue Reading
As previously discussed, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) that was signed into law on December 29, 2022 as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act includes a slew of changes for retirement plan sponsors and employers. One of the many changes is an end to the annual indexing of the PBGC’s variable … Continue Reading
A hotly debated (and litigated) issue for multiemployer pension plans in recent years has been the appropriate interest rate to determine a multiemployer pension plan’s liabilities when calculating the plan’s underfunding for withdrawal liability purposes. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) is now poised to end the debate. The PBGC proposes to allow multiemployer … Continue Reading
On July 8, 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) published its much anticipated final rule on the special financial assistance (“SFA”) available to certain troubled multiemployer plans under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). As we previously described in our client alert, ARPA provided for cash payments from the PBGC to eligible … Continue Reading
On January 31, 2022, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s finding that surcharges imposed by the Pension Protection Act (“PPA”) are excluded from the determination of an employer’s “highest contribution rate” for withdrawal liability payment calculations. While the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (“MPRA”) explicitly excluded surcharges that accrued after 2014 from such calculations, this … Continue Reading
I was a summer associate back in 1996 when, just steps from our old offices at 1585 Broadway, people lined up for blocks outside the Nederlander Theatre in the hopes of getting tickets to the hot, new-to-Broadway show that was captivating audiences nightly. Those lucky enough to score tickets to Rent would soon get to … Continue Reading
This episode is the final installment of our three-part series on a new special financial assistance program created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for troubled multiemployer plans and the interim guidance issued by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation regarding the program. Be sure to listen as Rob Projansky and Justin Alex cover the special rules … Continue Reading
This episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief is the second of our three-part series analyzing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) guidance on the new special financial assistance program for troubled multiemployer pension plans that was created by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Tune in as Rob Projansky and Justin Alex dig into more details on the guidance … Continue Reading
This episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief is the first of our three-part series analyzing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) guidance on the new special financial assistance program for troubled multiemployer pension plans that was created by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In this initial episode, partner Rob Projansky and senior counsel Justin Alex cover the … Continue Reading
As a follow up to our previous alert on the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, we have summarized the key aspects of the recently released PBGC and IRS guidance on the new Special Financial Assistance Program for troubled multiemployer pension plans in our latest client alert, which can be found here.… Continue Reading
In late September, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) published Press Release 20-04 and issued Technical Update 20-2 providing flexibility in the calculation of variable-rate premiums for plan sponsors who take advantage of extended pension contribution deadlines for 2020—even in certain circumstances where the plan sponsor has already completed its PBGC premium filing. The … Continue Reading
By Justin Alex and Annie (Chenxiaoyang) Zhang on Posted in PBGC
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) launched a Pilot Mediation Project in October 2017 to provide plan sponsors an opportunity to negotiate resolutions in Early Warning Program cases and in termination liability cases (see our prior post). Following its trial run, the PBGC announced last month that it would make the Mediation Program permanent, … Continue Reading
On Friday, February 9, 2018, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Budget Act”). The Budget Act contains a number of provisions that affect qualified retirement plans. Plan sponsors should consider the impact of the Budget Act on their retirement programs. Hardship Withdrawals. The Budget Act relaxes the rules … Continue Reading
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) launched a new Pilot Mediation Project to facilitate negotiations with (i) plan sponsors involved in corporate transactions under the purview of the PBGC’s Early Warning Program and (ii) the former plan sponsors of terminated pension plans that are subject to termination liability for the plans’ unfunded benefit liabilities.… Continue Reading
As we previously reported, in Sun Capital, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held in 2013 that a private investment fund, pursuant to the so-called “investment plus” test first articulated by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the PBGC), was engaged in a “trade or business” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act … Continue Reading
On Monday, November 1, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the “BBA”) which brings familiar changes for sponsors of defined benefit pension plans. Similar to the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act in 2012 (“MAP-21”), the BBA provides relief from pension funding obligations while increasing PBGC … Continue Reading
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) recently finalized its premium filing requirements for 2015. In addition to higher premium rates and other more minor changes, plan sponsors are now required to report information about the number of former employees involved in certain risk transfer activities (i.e., annuity purchases and lump sum windows) that occurred … Continue Reading
The PBGC has recently initiated efforts to enhance retirement security for Americans by promoting lifetime income options (i.e., annuitized benefits). As part of these efforts, as well as those of the IRS and U.S. Department of Labor, the PBGC issued final regulations regarding the treatment of rollovers from defined contribution plans to defined benefit plans … Continue Reading
The PBGC finalized a proposed rule that changes the flat-rate premium due date for large plans to the same as their variable-rate due date, which is 9.5 calendar months after the beginning of the premium payment year (October 15th for calendar-year plans), effective as of the 2014 plan year. Large plans are plans that had … Continue Reading
As we previously noted (https://www.erisapracticecenter.com/2013/04/28/pbgc-seeks-involuntary-plan-termination-before-plan-sponsors-proposed-share-sale/), the PBGC filed a complaint (E.D. Pa. Case No. 13-02069) to involuntarily terminate a defined benefit plan prior to a corporate transaction that would change the plan sponsor’s controlled group. The PBGC claimed that the plan sponsor, Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc., would join a financially weaker controlled group after it is … Continue Reading
ERISA section 4062(e) addresses situations in which an employer ceases operations at a facility in any location and, as a result, separates more than 20% of its employees who participate in the employer’s defined benefit plan. If a 4062(e) event occurs, the employer is subject to a liability that equals the plan’s unfunded benefit liabilities … Continue Reading
On April 18, 2013, PBGC filed a complaint (PBGC v. Saint-Gobain Corp. Benefits Comm., E.D. Pa. Case No. 13-02069) to involuntarily terminate a defined benefit plan sponsored by Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc. before Ardagh Group, S.A. acquires Saint-Gobain through a share purchase. PBGC alleges that the plan is underfunded by approximately $523.7 million and that the … Continue Reading
The status of PBGC coverage for Puerto Rico defined benefit plans is one that has been the subject of review and analysis by the PBGC for quite some time. Most recently, on April 19, 2013, the PBGC withdrew two older opinion letters (Opinion Letters 77-172 and 85-19), which addressed whether defined benefit plans established and … Continue Reading
In Tibble v. Edison Int’l, 10-cv-56406, 2013 WL 1174167 (9th Cir. Mar. 21, 2013), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 401(k) plan fiduciaries breached their duty of prudence in selecting investment options for the plan and unreasonably relied on a consultant’s advice because they could not prove that either they– or the consultant … Continue Reading
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