Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

Data Dictionary

Start Date

Select Reference

**2003**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2003-03A 02/13/2003 3(21) 3(3) 404(a)(1) 514(a)	Mr. John Anthony Claro Rainey, Goodwin, Mee & Martin LLP 600 Union Plaza 3030 Northwest Expressway Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73112	Whether, and under what circumstances, American Heartland Health Administrators, Inc. (and a selected "reinsurance company") may be subject to the provisions of ERISA, and whether compliance with a cease and desist order would cause AHHA to violate its fiduciary duty to act in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the plans.
2003-02A 02/10/2003 408(b)(2) 408(b)(6)	Lisa J. Bleier Senior Counsel Regulatory and Trust Affairs American Bankers Association 1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036	Regarding the application of ERISA to the provision of overdraft protection services, including any inherent extension of credit incident to such services, by banks, whether or not the bank exercises investment discretion over plan assets.
2003-01A 01/24/2003 4(c )	Alan D. Pauw, Esq. Reed, Weitkamp, Schell & Vice 500 West Jefferson Street, Suite 2400 Louisville, Kentucky 40202-2812	Whether requirements listed by ERISA § 4(c) for "deemed IRAs" apply to those added to the Plan, assuming it is a governmental plan excluded from Title I by ERISA § 4(b)(1), and whether adding "deemed IRAs" adversely affects Plan exclusion.

**2002**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2002-14A 12/18/2002 2509.95-1	Leonard A. Davis, Chief Counsel – Benefits Sharon W. Vaino, Assistant Tax Counsel Tax Department Metropolitan Life Insurance Company One MetLife Plaza Long Island City, NY 11101-4015	Guidance concerning the selection of annuity providers in connection with distributions from defined contribution plans. Specifically, the application of specific requirements of Interpretive Bulletin 95-1.
2002-13A 12/06/2002 3(2)	Ms. Jane O. Francis Holland & Hart LLP P.O. Box 8749 Denver, Colorado 80201-8749	Whether the Kaiser-Hill Plans are "pension plans" within the meaning of section 3(2)(A) of ERISA, and, if the Plans should be considered pension plans, whether they are so-called "top hat" plans under ERISA sections 201(2), 301(a)(3), and 401(a)(1).
2002-12A 12/04/2002 PTE 92-5	Seymour Goldberg, Esq. Goldberg & Goldberg, PC One Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 3S09 Melville, New York 11747	Concerning the applicability of PTE 92-5, (57 FR 5019, February 11, 1992), to a transfer of a life insurance contract by a participant to his or her employee benefit plan.
2002-11A 10/17/2002 3(32)	Neil D. Lipton, Esq. Spivak, Lipton, Watanabe, Spivak & Moss 1700 Broadway, 21st Floor New York, New York 10019	Whether the Communications Workers of America, Local 1180 Members' Annuity Fund remains a "governmental plan" if it extends eligibility to its trustees, who are Local 1180 officers, and accepts contributions for any trustee whom Local 1180 employs, since the Fund otherwise exclusively covers government employees of NYC and related public employers whose bargaining agreements require them to provide all contributions currently received by the Fund.
2002-10A 09/30/2002 3(32)	Ian D. Lanoff, Esq. Groom Law Group 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006-5893	Whether two UC pension plans adversely affect exclusion from Title I of ERISA as "governmental plans" by awarding service credits and transferring account balances connected with about two years when UC San Francisco Medical Center transferred a group of employees, now reemployed by the Medical Center and again participating in UC plans, to employment with the Medical Center's now-terminated, private sector joint venture with Stanford University and to coverage by the joint venture's private sector pension plans.
2002-09A 09/06/2002 3(32)	Michael T. Scaraggi, Esq. Oransky, Scaraggi, Borg & Abbamonte, P.C. 175 Fairfield Avenue, Suite 1A West Caldwell, New Jersey 07006	Application of the "governmental plan" definition in section 3(32) of ERISA to the Port Authority PBA Welfare Fund for purposes of the coverage exclusion in section 4(b)(1) of ERISA.
2002-08A 08/20/2002 404(a) 408(b)(2)	Michael A. Crabtree, Esq. Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers 4115 Chesapeake Street, NW Washington, DC 20016-4665	Whether indemnification and limitation of liability provisions in a plan's service provider contract would violate the fiduciary provisions of ERISA.