[9524]
December 15, 1997
TO: TRANSFER AGENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 71-97
RE: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND WORK OPPORTUNITY RECONCILIATION
ACT
_____________________________________________________________________________
As you may be aware, in 1996, Congress enacted the "Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act." In part, this Act requires states to enter into agreements with
financial institutions to develop and operate data match systems whereby states can determine
whether a person who is in arrears in child support payments maintains accounts with said
financial institutions. To that end, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held
meetings in November which were attended by representatives from the mutual fund industry and
other members of the financial services community. These meetings dealt with, among other
things, the operational and systematic requirements of developing such a data match system. The
file layouts and specifications which were drafted at that meeting are attached for your inspection
and comment.
The attached documents should provide you with a model of the Department of Human
Services expectations and timeline relative to the development of the data match system. We
would ask that you provide comments on these items by close of business Tuesday, January 20,
1997. Further, if you have questions or concerns regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to
contact the undersigned by phone at 202/326-5848, or by electronic mail at farraghe@ici.org.
Thank you.
Kevin Farragher
Director - Operations
Distribution & Service