PBGC Plans to Collect Data from Multiemployer Pensions
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”), the government agency that insures pension plans, announced that it will seek information from pension plans in order to model the effects of potential policy changes. With the Pension Protection Act of 2006 scheduled to sunset, the PBGC is evaluating potential changes to the multiemployer pension program. Therefore, the PBGC announced that it will request a voluntary survey of multiemployer plans.
PBGC anticipates collecting information from 40 to 50 plans, and states that the collection will be voluntary and will be used only for research (and not for enforcement). PBGC will request actuarial information, cash flow projections, and participant census data.
PBGC has not stated whether, or how, it will select what plans are asked to provide information, how much time this request will cover, or when it will start. First, PGBC must receive approval from the federal Office of Management and Budget for the data collection. For that approval, PBGC is taking public comments to evaluate whether this survey will be effective, and to determine whether it will be burdensome for plans. Comments may be submitted electronically through this website: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=PBGC_FRDOC_0001-0218.
For more information about the Pension Protection Act, contact your trust fund counsel.
Author: Daniel Brome
