[10979]
VIA FACSIMILE
May 13, 1999
TO: PENSION COMMITTEE No. 33-99
PENSION OPERATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 31-99
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON ABANDONED/ORPHAN PLANS
RE: INSTITUTE CONFERENCE CALL ON ABANDONED/ORPHAN PLANS -
TUESDAY, MAY 25
______________________________________________________________________________
At the last Pension Committee meeting and Pension Operations Advisory Committee meeting,
the issue of administration of “abandoned/orphan” plans was discussed. An abandoned/orphan plan is
one that either (1) no longer has a plan sponsor, i.e., the plan sponsor has died or cannot be located; or
(2) has a plan sponsor that does not actively conduct business, but has not terminated the plan.
Situations that may cause a plan to be deemed “abandoned/orphaned” include a plan sponsor that files
for bankruptcy and does not terminate the plan or a plan sponsor that sells its assets to another
company, which does not intend to continue the plan, and does not terminate the plan in connection
with the sale.
At both meetings, members indicated that guidance was necessary from both the Department of
Labor and the Internal Revenue Service in connection with administering abandoned/orphan plans. For
example, how should a financial institution handle the situation where a beneficiary of a small, i.e., two-
person plan, requests a distribution from the plan where the plan sponsor cannot be identified or located
or no plan document exists?
A conference call has been scheduled to discuss abandoned/orphan plans issues on
Tuesday, May 25, 1999 at 2:00 p.m. EST. If you would like to participate on this call, please fill-out the
response form attached below and send it to Melanie Washington by noon Monday, May 24. If you
have any questions or comments concerning the issue of abandoned/orphan plans, please call myself at
(202) 218-3563 or Russ Galer at (202) 326-5835.
Kathryn A. Ricard
Assistant Counsel
Attachment