80 FR 55380 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Abandoned Individual Account Plan Termination

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 178 (September 15, 2015)

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Abandoned Individual Account Plan Termination,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 178 (Tuesday, September 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55380-55381]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23153]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Abandoned Individual Account Plan Termination

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employee 
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information 
collection request (ICR) titled, ``Abandoned Individual Account Plan 
Termination,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review 
and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public 
comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that agency receives 
on or before October 15, 2015.

ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with applicable supporting documentation; 
including a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency 
of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained free of charge 
from the RegInfo.gov Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201508-1210-002 (this link will only become active 
on the day following publication of this notice) or by contacting 
Michel Smyth by telephone at 202-693-4129, TTY 202-693-8064, (these are 
not toll-free numbers) or by email at [email protected].
    Submit comments about this request by mail or courier to the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for DOL-
EBSA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503; by Fax: 202-395-5806 (this is not a toll-free 
number); or by email: [email protected]. Commenters are 
encouraged, but not required, to send a courtesy copy of any comments 
by mail or courier to the U.S. Department of Labor-OASAM, Office of the 
Chief Information Officer, Attn: Departmental Information Compliance 
Management Program, Room N1301, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20210; or by email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michel Smyth by telephone at 202-693-
4129, TTY 202-693-8064, (these are not toll-free numbers) or by email 
at [email protected].

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This ICR seeks to extend PRA authority for 
the Abandoned Individual Account Plan Termination information 
collection requirements codified in regulations 29 CFR 2520.103-11, 
2550.404a-3, and 2578 and in Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 
2006-06 as amended. More specifically the ICR supports the following 
information collections:
    Qualified Termination Administrator (QTA) Regulation (29 CFR 
2578.1): The QTA regulation creates an orderly and efficient process by 
which a financial institution holding assets of a plan deemed to have 
been abandoned may undertake to terminate the plan and distribute its 
assets to participants and beneficiaries holding accounts under the 
plan, with protections and DOL approval under the regulatory standards. 
The regulation requires the QTA to provide certain notices to the DOL, 
to participants and beneficiaries, and to the plan sponsor (or service 
providers to the plan, if necessary), and to keep certain records 
pertaining to the termination.
    Abandoned Plan Terminal Report Regulation (29 CFR 2520.103-11): The 
terminal report regulation provides an alternative method for a QTA to 
satisfy the annual report requirement otherwise applicable to a 
terminating plan. The QTA files a simplified terminal report with the 
DOL after terminating an abandoned plan and distributing its accounts 
to participants and beneficiaries.
    Terminated Plan Distribution Regulation (29 CFR 2550.404a-3): The 
terminated plan distribution regulation establishes a safe harbor 
method by which a fiduciary terminating an individual account pension 
plan (whether abandoned or not) may select an investment vehicle to 
receive account balances distributed from the terminated plan when the 
participant has failed to provide investment instructions. The 
regulation requires the fiduciary to provide advance notice to 
participants and beneficiaries of how such distributions will be 
invested, if no other investment instructions are provided.
    Abandoned Plan Class Exemption (PTE 2006-06): The exemption permits 
a QTA terminating an abandoned plan under the QTA regulation to receive 
payment for its services from the abandoned plan and to distribute the 
account balance of a participant who has failed to provide investment 
direction into an individual retirement account maintained by the QTA 
or an affiliate. Without the exemption, financial institutions could be 
unable to receive payment for services rendered out of plan assets 
without violating Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) 
prohibited transaction provisions and being subject to taxes imposed by 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 section 4975; consequently, without the 
exemption, the institutions would be highly unlikely to terminate 
abandoned plans. One exemption condition requires the QTA to record the 
distributions, retain the records for six (6) years, and make these 
records available on request to interested persons (including the DOL, 
participants, and beneficiaries). If a QTA wishes to be paid out of 
plan assets for services provided prior to becoming a QTA, the 
exemption requires the QTA to enter into a written agreement with a 
plan fiduciary or the plan sponsor prior to receiving payment and 
provide the DOL with a copy of the agreement.
    The regulations and PTE encourage the orderly termination of an 
abandoned plan and the timely distribution of plan assets to 
participants and beneficiaries. Participants and beneficiaries would 
likely be denied access to the money in their individual account plans 
in the absence of these regulations and exemption, because financial 
institutions holding assets of abandoned plans usually do not have the 
authority to take any of these steps.
    Because these regulations and the PTE relate to either or both 
abandoned plan termination and benefit distribution and rollover when 
no participant investment election has been made, the DOL has combined 
the paperwork burden for all of these actions into one ICR. This 
combination allows the public to have a better understanding of the 
aggregate burden imposed on the public for these related regulatory 
actions. ERISA sections 101, 404, 408, and 505

[[Page 55381]]

authorize this information collection. See 29 U.S.C. 29 U.S.C. 1021, 
1104, 1108, and 1135.
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless it is approved by the OMB under the PRA and displays 
a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any 
other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to 
penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that 
does not display a valid Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 
1320.6. The DOL obtains OMB approval for this information collection 
under Control Number 1210-0127.
    OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than three (3) 
years without renewal, and the current approval for this collection is 
scheduled to expire on September 30, 2015. The DOL seeks to extend PRA 
authorization for this information collection for three (3) more years, 
without any change to existing requirements. The DOL notes that 
existing information collection requirements submitted to the OMB 
receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review. For 
additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related 
notice published in the Federal Register on June 17, 2015 (80 FR 
34696).
    Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the OMB, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the address shown in 
the ADDRESSES section within thirty (30) days of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. In order to help ensure appropriate 
consideration, comments should mention OMB Control Number 1210-0127. 
The OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: DOL-EBSA.
    Title of Collection: Abandoned Individual Account Plan Termination.
    OMB Control Number: 1210-0127.
    Affected Public: Private Sector--businesses or other for-profits.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 26,700.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 1,308,000.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 47,700 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $689,000.

    Dated: September 9, 2015.
Michel Smyth,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-23153 Filed 9-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-29-P