July 14, 1997
TO: PENSION COMMITTEE No. 27-97
PENSION OPERATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 20-97
RE: 403(b) STANDARD FORMS PROJECT: REQUEST FOR COMMENT BY JULY 22
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The National Tax Sheltered Annuity Association (NTSAA), representing agents, brokers
and companies participating in the 403(b) business, in conjunction with the Association of
School Business Officials (ASBO), representing school administrators in over 16,000 public
school districts, are working to create a package of standard forms and documents for 403(b)
plans. In particular, they are developing a standard salary reduction agreement and a standard
service provider/"hold harmless" agreement. The goal of the project is to complete a package
of materials, including these two documents and a model policy for administering them. The
NTSAA and ASBO hope to finalize the materials for release at ASBO’s annual conference in
October, 1997.
The Institute and its members have been invited to review and comment on the current
exposure drafts of the standard salary reduction and service provider agreements. The
NTSAA/ASBO working group has asked the Institute to comment by July 30.
Please provide comments to the Institute by Tuesday, July 22. In light of the short
time frame to review and coordinate an Institute response, please review the attached
documents as soon as possible and provide comments to the undersigned by either fax at
202/326-5839, telephone at 202/326-5835 or e-mail at rgaler@ici.org by July 22.
We will also be arranging either a meeting at the Institute offices or a conference call
later this month in order to discuss comments. We will send notice shortly of the date for the
meeting or call.
Russell G. Galer
Assistant Counsel - Pension
Attachment (in .pdf format)