PBGC Updates Reportable Events Guidance

January 31, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued updated guidance about reportable events.

Technical Update 13-1 provides guidance for plan years beginning after 2012 about compliance with the reportable events requirements of section 4043 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and PBGC’s regulation on Reportable Events and Certain Other Notification Requirements (29 CFR part 4043).  

It addresses funding-related determinations for purposes of waivers, extensions and the advance reporting threshold test; and missed quarterly contributions.  

Regarding funding-related determinations for purposes of waivers, extensions, and the advance reporting threshold test, the Technical Update provides, in general, that for purposes of the reportable events regulation, a plan’s unfunded vested benefits (UVBs) and the value of its assets and vested benefits are determined for a plan year beginning after 2012 in the same manner as for variable-rate premiums (VRPs) for the preceding plan year.  

Regarding missed quarterly contributions, the Technical Update provides, in general, that for purposes of the reportable events regulation, if a required quarterly contribution for a plan year (the “current year”) beginning after 2012 is not timely made to a plan, and financial inability to make the contribution is not the reason for not making the contribution, the reporting requirement under § 4043.25 of the reportable events regulation is waived if the plan has fewer than 25 participants for the plan year preceding the current year (the “prior year”); and if the plan has at least 25 but fewer than 100 participants for the prior year, will be considered satisfied if a simplified notice is filed with PBGC by the time the first missed-quarterly reportable event report not timely made for the current year would otherwise be due.  

The guidance is at http://www.pbgc.gov/res/other-guidance/tu/tu13-1.html.

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