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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**1999**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1999-04A 02/04/1999 3(7)	John P. Counts, Esq. David Potts-Dupre, Esq. Counts & Kanne 1125 15th Street, NW, Suite 444 Washington, DC 20005	Whether individuals who own business enterprises, either wholly or in part, and who provide personal services to those businesses may be "participants," within the meaning of section 3(7) of ERISA, in a multiemployer employee benefit plan.
1999-03A 01/25/1999 406(b)	Michael A. Lawson Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom, LLP 300 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, California 90071-3144	Guidance with respect to a plan fiduciary’s decision to purchase on the secondary market, with plan assets, non-subordinated mortgage-backed pass-through certificates representing interests in a trust fund for which an affiliate of the fiduciary serves as a sub-servicer.
1999-02A 01/25/1999 3(32)	Greg W. Isley, CPA McGladrey & Pullen, LLP 901 College Court PO Box 15409 New Bern, North Carolina 28561-5409	Whether the Craven Regional Medical Center Money Purchase Pension Plan and Trust, the Craven Regional Medical Center 403(b) Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan, and the Craven Regional Medical Center Employee Benefit Plan are "governmental plans" within the meaning of ERISA section 3(32).
1999-01A 01/13/1999 3(2)	John J. Castellano 29 Ossipee Road PO Box 423 Cape Neddick, Maine 03902-0423	Whether the Suffolk University Voluntary Separation Program is an employee pension plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA, and whether ERISA governs withholding for Social Security/Medicare and state income tax by Suffolk University from separation payments being made under the University Program.

**1998**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1998-09A 12/30/1998 3(1)	Mr. Steven L. Ball Ball, Noga & Tanoury 700 Ackerman Road, Suite 450 Columbus, Ohio 43202	Whether the Ohio Laborers’ District Council - Ohio Contractors’ Association Cooperation and Education Trust is an “employee welfare benefit plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(1).
1998-08A 10/09/1998 3(1) 3(40)	Barbara G. Sweet, National Director Federation of American Consumers and Travelers 318 Hillsboro Avenue P.O. Box 104 Edwardsville, Illinois 62025	Request a reconsideration of Opinion 97-14A, which concluded that the health care program offered by the Federation of American Consumers and Travelers to its members is a multiple employer welfare arrangement within the meaning of ERISA section 3(40)(A) and, therefore, to the extent provided in ERISA section 514(b)(6)(A), is subject to applicable state insurance law.
1998-07A 09/24/1998 PTE 92-06	Robin M. Schachter, Esq. Lazarus N. Sun, Esq. Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP Tenth Floor 2121 Avenue of the Stars Los Angeles, California 90067-5010	Whether PTE 92-6 covers: (1) a plan sale to multiple relatives of the insured who are the sole beneficiaries under the contract; (2) a plan sale of a life insurance contract covering the life of a participant and his or her spouse; and (3) the sale by a plan of a partial interest in a life insurance contract where, following such sale, both the interest retained by the plan and the interest sold will qualify as a life insurance contracts under applicable state law.
1998-06A 07/30/1998 PTE 77-3	Mr. Donald J. Myers Reed Smith Shaw & McClay LLP 1301 K Street, N.W. Suite 1100 - East Tower Washington, D.C. 20005-3317	Whether PTE 77-3 provides relief for the investment by a bank’s in-house plan in a mutual fund advised by the bank through an in-kind exchange of assets for mutual fund shares, if the exemption’s conditions are satisfied.
1998-05A 06/19/1998 3(33)	Ms. Sandi J. Porter Dechert Price & Rhoads 4000 Bell Atlantic Tower 1717 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19103-2793	Whether certain employee benefit plans maintained by Foulkeways at Gwynedd, a non-profit, continuing care retirement community, are “church plans” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(33).
1998-04A 05/28/1998 404(c )	William M. Tartikoff Senior Vice President and General Counsel Calvert Group Ltd. 4550 Montgomery Avenue Bethesda, Maryland 20814	Whether a plan fiduciary's selection of a "socially-responsible fund" as a plan investment or a designated investment alternative for a section 404(c) plan would violate the general fiduciary duties and responsibilities of ERISA sections 403(c) and 404(a)(1).