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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**1983**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1983-19A 04/21/1983	Mr. Thomas A. Jorgensen Calfee, Halter & Griswold 1800 Central Bank Building Cleveland, Ohio 44114	Whether stop-loss insurance contracts sold to Figgie International Inc. by Colony Insurance Company, which is wholly owned by a Figgie subsidiary, to pay benefits under the Figgie International Inc. Family Protection Plan (the Family Plan) and under the Figgie International Inc. Disability Plan for Salaried Employees (the Disability Plan) after the applicable Plan has paid benefits up to a certain specified dollar amount are "life insurance, health insurance or annuity contracts" as that term is used in the Department of Labor’s PTE 79-41, which provide a class exemption from sections 406(a), 406(b)(l) and (b)(2) of ERISA.
1983-18A 04/15/1983 408(b)(4)	Mr. Ronald W. Powell Counsel Investors Diversified Services, Inc. IDS Tower Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402	Whether the Investor’s Syndicate of America (ISA) is a “bank or similar financial institution within the meaning of section 408(b)(4) of ERISA and the face-amount certificates issued by ISA to the Employees’ Incentive and Thrift Plan of Investors Diversified Services Inc. and its Subsidiary and Associated Companies (the Plan) are “deposits which bear a reasonable interest rate” within the meaning of the same section of ERISA.
1983-17A 03/29/1983 3(1) 3(5) 3(7)	Mr. Paul K. Casey Piper & Marbury 1100 Charles Center South 36 South Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201	Whether the Ryland Group, Inc. Health Benefit Plan, which is self-funded up to a specified amount, is an employee welfare benefit plan as defined by section 3(1) of ERISA.
1983-15A 03/22/1983 3(2) 3(4) 3(5)	Mr. Louis T. Mazawey Groom & Nordberg, Chtd. Suite 450 1775 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006	Whether the Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) offered by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States to members of certain professional associations are employee pension benefit plans within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA.
1983-14A 03/14/1983 3(1) 3(5) 514	Mr. George R. Kamperschroer Boardman, Suhr, Curry & Field First Wisconsin Plaza, Suite 410 One South Pinckney Street Madison, Wisconsin 53701	Whether (1) each bank that provides employee benefits through the Wisconsin Bankers Association Insurance Trust Fund (the Trust) establishes its own separate employee welfare trust within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA, (2) the Trust is an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA section 3(1) and (3) whether the Trust is a trust established under one or more employee benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA section 514(b)(2)(B) and not engaged in the business of insurance under the law of any state.
1983-13A 03/14/1983 3(1) 3(32) 3(4)	Mr. Joseph M. Goldhammer Brauer, Simons & Buescher, P.C. 1563 Gaylord Street Denver, Colorado 80206	Whether a retirement and death benefit arrangement (the Plan) for members of the Denver Fire Fighters Protective Association (the Association), is not a governmental plan but an employee benefit plan covered by Title I of ERISA.
1983-12A 03/11/1983	Mr. Morton H. Zalutsky Zalutsky & Klarquist, P.C. 1099 S.W. Columbia St. Portland, Oregon 97201	Whether Capital Trust Company, a trust company subject to supervision and examination by the Superintendent of Banks of the State of Oregon as a financial institution will be a “bank” for purposes of the Department of Labor’s PTE 80-51, when it acts as a trustee under a common trust fund established for investment by employee benefit plans.
1983-11A 02/23/1983 401(b)	Mr. Paul S. Berger Arnold & Porter 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether the prohibited transaction provisions of sections 406 and 407 of ERISA apply to certain transactions involving the Husky Oil Company, the Employees’ Retirement Plan of Husky Oil Company (Retirement Plan) and the Employees’ Pension Plan of Husky Oil Company (Pension Plan) and the predecessor to both the Retirement and Pension Plans.
1983-10A 02/09/1983	Mr. Richard A. Hopp Jones, Grey & Bayley, P.S. 36th Floor One Union Square 600 University Seattle, Washington 98101	Whether the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) payroll deduction program adopted by Cascade Natural Gas Corporation (Cascade) is an employee benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(3) of ERISA. Specifically, whether the escrow account set up for the deposit of employee contributions constitutes an employee benefit plan.
1983-09A 02/09/1983 3(2)	Mr. Walter J. Rockler Arnold & Porter 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether under certain circumstances a payroll deduction program for an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) offered by Madison National Bank will be an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA, what constitutes an affiliate of an employer, and when an employer is not considered to have endorsed an IRA program under Department of Labor’s regulation 29 CFR section 2510.3-2(d).