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.

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**1976**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1976-55 04/05/1976 103	Anonymous	Addresses a concern raised regarding an inconsistency in the preamble and the text of the proposed regulations in section 2520.103-1(b) related to common or commingled trust funds maintained by banks.
1976-54 04/05/1976	Anonymous	Request for assistance in expediting an application for an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Determination Letter regarding the qualification of a pension plan under the Internal Revenue Code.
1976-53 04/05/1976 412	Anonymous	Addresses a request for an exemption from the bonding requirements of the ERISA for a fully insured pension plan.
1976-52 05/19/1976	Anonymous	Whether the purchase price for a controlling block of publicly traded securities by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) exceeds "adequate consideration" under section 3(18) of ERISA.
1976-50 01/21/1976	Anonymous	Whether limiting a part-time employee's service hours to fewer than 1,000 hours per year constitutes a violation of ERISA, which stipulates that years of service be one of the factors in determining pension plan benefits.
1976-47 03/08/1976 412	Anonymous	Whether a company or any of its employees is required to be bonded as a result the company forwarding plan trustees’ checks to insurance carriers, forwarding insurance policies for surrender to the carriers, or transmitting to plan trustees or participants checks from the carriers.
1976-38 02/03/1976 406	Anonymous	Whether the proposed investment of plan assets, at the direction of plan participants or their beneficiaries, in a fund consisting of credit union share accounts constitutes a prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA.
1976-36 01/15/1976 406 412	Anonymous	Whether an insurance company that sells a group insurance policy to a company to fund one of the company's employee benefit plans also can sell to the company the bond required by section 412(a) of ERISA.
1976-35 04/13/1976 403	Anonymous	Request from the Employee's Association for an exemption from the trust requirements under ERISA section 403(a) and a modification of the reporting requirements under Part 1 of Title I of ERISA.
1976-33 01/15/1976 404 406	Anonymous	Whether a participant or beneficiary who exercises control over the assets in their individual pension plan account may invest in any investment under the plan without being subject to the fiduciary duties under section 404(a)(1)(B) of ERISA, and whether they may engage in a prohibited transaction under section 406 of ERISA with the assets in their account.