Advisory Opinions

Whether the Act 489 of the Acts of Arkansas General Assembly of 1987as it applies to employee benefit plans covered by title I of ERISA is preempted under section 514(a) of ERISA; and whether it qualifies for the exception established in section 514(b)(8) of ERISA.

Whether the Employees' 401(k) Salary Reduction Retirement Plan and Trust, formed pursuant to an Act of the Utah legislature and maintained by several school districts and public education agencies is a "governmental plan" as defined by section 3(32) of title I of ERISA.

Whether a voluntary deferred compensation plan for employees of El Centro Community Hospital d/b/a El Centro Regional Medical Center is a governmental plan within the meaning of section 3(32) of title I of ERISA and, thus, is excluded from coverage under title I of ERISA by section 4(b)(1).

Whether the exemptions to the prohibited transaction rules provided in Part V of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 75-1 (40 FR 50845, October 31, 1975) (PTE 75-1) and section 408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) apply to the extensions of credit by PaineWebber, Inc. to certain employee benefit plans as defined in section 3(3) of ERISA, plans qualified under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which are not subject to Title I of ERISA, and individual retirement accounts described in section 408(a) of the Code

Whether the Vantage Healthcare Employee Benefit Plan (the Plan), established by the Vantage Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, which owns manages, leases, and operates nursing homes in various locations, is an employee welfare benefit plan covered by title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and/or whether the Plan is a multiple employer welfare arrangement within the meaning of section 3(40) of ERISA.

Whether the purchase of preferred stock of a corporation by a defined benefit pension plan sponsored by that corporation would contravene the prohibited transaction provisions of section 406 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) if such stock is acquired from the estate of the father of a plan fiduciary.

Whether depositary shares of Jaguar plc (a U.K. Corporation) common stock, evidenced by American depositary receipts (ADRs), constitute "qualifying employer securities" under section 407(d)(5) of ERISA if held by the profit-sharing plan for U.S. employees of Jaguar Cars, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jaguar plc)

Whether the National Transportation Trust, established pursuant to a trust agreement effective January 1, 1985, between the National Transportation Safety Association, Inc. (NTSA) as Trustor and First Wisconsin National Bank of Madison as Trustee, is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA.

Whether the group health insurance program sponsored by the Kansas Bar Association (KBA) for its members and their employees, is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA, established and/or maintained by an “employee organization" or an “employer" (as defined in sections 3(4) and 3(5) of ERISA, respectively).

Whether the purchases and sales of stock of AmSouth Bancorporation, (AmSouth), in blind transactions on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by unaffiliated participants in the self-directed individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for which AmSouth Bank N.A. (AmSouth Bank), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AmSouth, serves as custodian constitute prohibited transactions under the section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.