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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**1998**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1998-03A 03/06/1998 IRC 408(A)	Kristine J. Coffey, Chair Committee on Retirement Products and Estate Services Securities Industry Association Everen Securities, Inc. 77 West Wacker Drive, Suite 2400 Chicago, IL 60601-1994	Whether a Roth IRA as defined in Internal Revenue Code section 408A will be considered an IRA for purposes of PTE 97-11.
1998-02A 03/06/1998 3(2)	Samuel Arthur Butts III Manier Herod Hollabaugh & Smith First Union Tower Suite 2200 150 Fourth Avenue North Nashville, TN 37219-2494	Whether the UT Medical Group, Inc. Key Employee Incentive Plan should be considered a “bonus program” rather than a "pension plan" under ERISA section 3(2)(A).
1998-01A 01/21/1998 3(1)	Mr. Mark W. Kunst O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue 4748 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016	Whether a proposed grant from the National Distribution Pipeline Industry Communications and Productivity Fund (Pipeline Fund) to a training fund for Union members would, render the Pipeline Fund an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA section 3(1).

**1997**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1997-26A 11/07/1997 3(32)	Mr. Richard J. Tuggle, Jr. Tuggle Duggins & Meschan, P.A. P.O. Box 2888 228 West Market Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27402	Whether the Beaufort County Hospital Association, Inc. Employees' Pension Plan is a “governmental plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(32), and therefore excepted from ERISA Title I by section 4(b)(1).
1997-25A 10/24/1997 407(d)(5) 407(f)(1)	Mr. Larry E. Shapiro McDermott, Will & Emery 1200 Eighteenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether a redemption or conversion of the same class of publicly-traded preferred stock that is held by a defined benefit plan by holders other than the plan would trigger the application of the ownership limits in ERISA section 407(f)(1).
1997-24A 09/30/1997 408(b)(5)	Mr. Paul D. Brink Dorinco Reinsurance Company 1320 Waldo Avenue, Suite 200 Midland, Michigan 48642	Whether an arrangement between Dorinco Reinsurance Company, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company, and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to jointly insure certain employee benefit plans covering employees of Dow and its affiliates is exempt from ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions by section 408(b)(5).
1997-23A 09/26/1997 408(b)(2)	Mr. Robert D. Alin, Esq. Senior Vice President Financial Institutions Retirement Fund 108 Corporate Park Drive White Plains, NY 10604	Regarding the application of the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA section 406 and Internal Revenue Code section 4975 to certain proposed transactions by the Financial Institutions Retirement Fund, a multiple employer defined benefit pension plan seeking to establish and operate a for-profit plan-owned entity called Pentegra.
1997-22A 09/15/1997 3(33)	Mr. I. Lee Falk Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP 2000 One Logan Square Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-6993	Whether employee benefit plans established and maintained by Albright Care Services are "church plans" within the meaning of ERISA section 3(33) and therefore exempt from coverage by ERISA section 4(b)(2).
1997-21A 09/10/1997 4(b)(3) 514	Ms. Robin S. Lazarow Witman, Stadtmauer & Michaels, P.A. 26 Columbia Turnpike Florham Park, New Jersey 07932-2246	Whether ERISA section 4(b)(3), which excludes from ERISA plans that are maintained solely to comply with state-mandated disability benefits, would apply to a disability benefits program offered by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey to its members for their employees.
1997-20A 09/08/1997 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Ms. Kathleen M. Phillips Phillips Levy & Rind, P.A. 3001 Ponce De Leon Blvd. Coral Gables, Florida 33134	Whether the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police Insurance Trust Fund, a health and life insurance arrangement for actively employed or retired police officers of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, is a "governmental plan," as defined in ERISA section 3(32) and, thus, excluded from ERISA coverage by ERISA section 4(b)(1).