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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**2012**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
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.

**2011**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2011-10A 12/16/2011 406	Mr. Bruce Cooper Pitta & Giblin, LLP 120 Broadway, 28th Floor New York, New York 10271	Whether certain cash contributions to a pension plan by the Cement and Concrete Workers District Council Labor Management Cooperation Trust would result in prohibited transactions under section 406 of ERISA and section 4975 of the Code.
2011-09A 10/20/2011 PTE 80-26	Mr. Timothy Berry 1812 E. Toledo Gilbert, AZ 85295	Whether PTE 80-26 provides relief for an indemnification agreement between an IRA owner and a broker where such agreement is required in order for the IRA to engage in futures trading.
2011-08A 06/21/2011 PTE 86-128	Melanie Franco Nussdorf, Esq. Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036	Whether PTE 86-128 provides relief for covered transactions engaged in by any person who is a fiduciary solely by reason of rendering investment advice to the plan.
2011-07A 04/25/2011 PTE 84-14	Melanie Franco Nussdorf, Esq. Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036	Whether Section I(a) of PTE 84-14, as amended (QPAM), is satisfied in the context of a stable value program where a stable value manager is responsible for negotiating stable value wrap contracts with various banks or insurance companies.
2011-06A 02/04/2011 406(b) PTE 84-14	Kathleen Ziga, Esq. Dechert LLP 2929 Arch Street, Cira Centre Philadelphia, PA 19104-2808 Susan M. Camillo, Esq. Dechert LLP 200 Clarendon Street, 27th Floor Boston, MA 02116-5021	Whether ERISA section 406(b) violations occur if an investment manager for various pension plans executes securities transactions with certain brokerage firms that have a remote relationship to the investment manager through their corporate parent, and related issues concerning the applicability of PTE 84-14, as amended (QPAM).