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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**2013**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2013-04A 09/09/2013 PTE 77-4	Melanie Franco Nussdorf, Esq. Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036	Whether the delivery of a "summary prospectus" satisfies certain disclosure requirements of PTE 77-4.
2013-03A 07/03/2013 2510.3-101 404 406	Stephen M. Saxon Andree M. St. Martin Groom Law Group, Chartered 1701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20006-5811	This advisory opinion concerns the application of ERISA plan asset and fiduciary obligations to contractual arrangements between plans and service providers whereby a plan obtains credits or rights to share in revenue sharing payments the service provider receives as a result of plan investments.
2013-02A 06/12/2013 3(37)	Andrew F. Zazzali, Jr., Esq. Zazzali, Fagella, Nowak, Kleinbaum & Friedman One Riverfront Plaza, Suite 320 Newark, New Jersey 07102	Whether documents involving participation in the Teamsters Joint Council No. 73 Pension Plan by “officers, business agents, trustees, or clerical employees” of the Joint Council and local unions affiliated with the Joint Council constitute “collective bargaining agreements” for purposes of making an election that the plan be treated as a multiemployer plan pursuant to ERISA section 3(37)(G)(i)(II).
2013-01A 02/07/2013 3(14) 3(21) 406 PTE 84-14 PTE 96-23	Melanie Franco Nussdorf, Esq. Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036-1795	This advisory opinion concerns the application of the fiduciary and prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA to certain “cleared swap” transactions conducted pursuant to provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

**2012**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2012-06A 09/24/2012 3(1)	Randal S. Yoshida Yoshida & Associates Pacific Guardian Center, Mauka Tower 737 Bishop Street, Suite 2730 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813	Whether the Hawaii Laborers’ and Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust Fund, a fund established and operated as a labor management cooperation committee under section 302(c)(9) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 186(c)(9), is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA.
2012-05A 07/20/2012 407(d)(4) 408(e)	Mr. Brian Berglund Bryan Cave LLP One Metropolitan Square 211 North Broadway, Suite 3600 St. Louis, Missouri 63102-2750	Whether the requirements for "qualifying employer real property" under ERISA section 407(d)(4)(A) are satisfied when a single parcel of real property is contributed to or sold by a pension plan such that section 408(e) of ERISA would be available for such transaction.
2012-04A 05/25/2012 3(2)	Robert J. Toth, Jr. Law Offices of Robert J. Toth, Jr. 110 West Berry Street, Suite 1809 Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802	Whether a retirement savings program marketed by 401(k) Advantage LLC as a multiple employer plan would be a single “employee benefit plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(2) where multiple unrelated employers adopt the Plan to provide retirement benefits to their employees.
2012-03A 05/25/2012 3(2)	Mark A. Sletto, Esquire Benefits & Business Law Advisors, PLLC 2600 Eagan Woods Drive, Suite 450 Eagan, Minnesota 55121-1152	Whether an arrangement to be established by National Retirement Plan, Inc. to merge unrelated abandoned individual account plans would constitute an “employee pension benefit plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(2).
2012-02A 05/25/2012 3(32)(A)	Ms. Sandy L. Friess, CPA WIPFLi LLP 2901 East Enterprise Avenue Suite 500 Appleton, WI 54913	Whether the status of a “safe harbor” 403(b) plan under 29 C.F.R. 2510.3-2(f) would be adversely affected if the employer makes “matching” contributions into another pension plan based on the employees’ salary deferrals to the 403(b) plan.
2012-01A 04/27/2012 3(32) 4(b)(1)	The Honorable Dannel P. Malloy Governor of Connecticut State Capitol 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106	Whether the status of the Group Health Plan for Employees of the State of Connecticut as a "governmental plan" within the meaning of section 3(32) of ERISA would be adversely affected if the State permitted participation by certain private nonprofit employers who perform public service functions under contract with the State or receive substantial funding from governmental sources.