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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**1988**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1988-08A 04/05/1988 408(b)(3)	Mr. Thomas R. Hoecker Snell and Wilmer 3100 Valley Bank Center Phoenix, AZ 85073	Whether an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that allows its fiduciaries to borrow funds from parties in interest or others to finance the purchase of employer securities, which are allocated to a loan suspense account that releases securities and allocates them to participants’ ESOP accounts on an annual or a monthly basis as the loan is repaid complies with the requirements of the application of Department of Labor regulation 29 CFR 2550.408b-3(h)
1988-07A 03/28/1988 3(2) 3(4) 3(5)	Aaron N. Clinard, Esquire Schock, Schock and Schock 310 South Main Street Post Office Box 1893 High Point, North Carolina 27261	Whether the Carolinas Section of the Professional Golfers' Association of America (CSPGA) retirement plan would constitute an "employee benefit pension plan" within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA.
1988-06A 03/28/1988 3(1) 3(16) 3(21) 3(4)	Mr. Michael D. Foster Jackson, Kelly, Holt & O'Farrell 1600 Laidley Tower P.O. Box 553 Charleston, West Virginia 25322	Whether the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority Sick Fund constitutes an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of ERISA section 3(1) and, if so, whether the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority would be considered a plan sponsor, administrator, or a fiduciary with respect to the Valley Regional Transportation Authority Sick Fund.
1988-05A 03/16/1988	Mr. Stephen E. Lehman Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann Suite 302, Spartan Centre 101 West St. John Street Post Office Box 4409 Spartanburg, South Carolina 29305-4409	Whether the Christian Schools and Church Association Welfare Benefit constitutes an “employee welfare benefit plan” within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA, and whether the Association Plan constitutes a “multiple employer welfare arrangement”, within the meaning of ERISA section 3(40).
1988-04A 03/11/1988 3(1)	William R. Charyk, Esq. Anne D. Bolling, Esq. Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn Washington Square 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-5339	Whether the Employee Assistance Program of El Paso Natural Gas Company and its subsidiary El Paso Hydrocarbons Company is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA as it provides benefits for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, stress, depression and similar health and medical problems to its participants.
1988-03A 02/22/1988 406(b) 408(b)2) 408(c )(2)	Identification Number: F-3673A	Whether the [ ] Corporation Master Retirement Trust A and the [ ] Corporation Master Retirement Trust B (collectively, the Master Trusts) of [ ] Corporation, which provides investment-related services to the Master Trusts and the payment by the Master Trusts of the direct expenses of [ ] allocable to performing such services and which expenses include the reasonable compensation of employees of [ ], do not constitute prohibited transactions under section 406 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
1988-02A 02/02/1988 406(b)(1) 406(b)(3) 408(b)(2)	Ms. Charlotte D. Roederer Vice President and Associate General Counsel Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company One M&T Plaza Buffalo, NY 14240	Whether the transactions of certain “sweep services” provided by Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company to employee benefit plans, for which the Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company acts as custodian or directed trustee, would qualify for the statutory exemptions provided by sections 408(b)(2) and/or 408(b)(6) of ERISA.
1988-01A 01/11/1988 3(1) 3(5) 3(7)	Henry Rose, Esq. Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. Ninth Floor 1140 19th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether the Rosenberg Bank and Trust Group Life and Health Insurance Plan, providing medical benefits for the Rosenberg Bank and Trust employees and employees of certain of its subsidiaries under an insurance policy issued and underwritten by the Travelers Insurance Company constitutes an "employee welfare benefit plan", as defined in ERISA section 3(1), for purposes of title I of ERISA.

**1987**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1987-11A 12/21/1987 3(4) 3(40) 3(5)	Ms. Julia L. Jenness Downey, Brand, Seymour & Rohwer 555 Capitol Mall, 10th Floor Sacramento, California 95814-4686	Whether the California Pharmaceutical Association Insurance Trust is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA and whether the aforementioned Trust is a multiple employer welfare arrangement within the meaning of section 3(40) of title I of ERISA.
1987-10A 12/03/1987 104(b)(4)	Mr. Howard C. Herb, Jr. P.O. Box 727 Media, Pennsylvania 19063	Whether the minutes of trustees’ meetings relating to the trustees’ review of an investment manager’s performance is required to be disclosed pursuant to section 104(b)(4) of ERISA.