Compliance August 10, 2007

PBGC Takes Over GA Manufacturer's Plan

August 10, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.COM) - The nation's private-sector pension insurer has taken over the pension plan covering more than 1,400 workers and retirees at a Clarkesville, Georgia, button and zipper maker.
Reported by

A news release from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) said it stepped in because Scovill Fasteners failed to pay about $14.7 million in legally required pension contributions.

The announcement said the agency also determined that the company could no longer afford its pension plan. Scovill owns units in Canada, China and Mexico. Its operations in Nottingham, U.K., closed in 2006.

According to PBGC estimates, the Scovill Fasteners Inc. Retirement Plan for Salaried Employees is about 30% funded, with a little more than $10 million in assets to cover some $34.8 million in benefit liabilities. The agency expects to be responsible for the entire $24.5 million shortfall.

The PBGC will take over the assets and use insurance funds to pay guaranteed benefits earned under the plan, which terminated as of April 30, 2005. The PBGC became trustee of the plan on July 17, 2007.

Under federal pension law, the maximum guaranteed pension at age 65 for participants in plans that terminate in 2005 is $45,614 per year.

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