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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**1982**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1982-46A 09/03/1982 503	Ms. Mary Swenson 727 Bellingham Towers Bellingham, Washington 98225	Whether the provision in section 503 of ERISA requiring plans to provide for full and fair review of claims for benefits is consistent with the Washington-Idaho-Montana Carpenters-Employers Retirement Trust’s procedure for arbitration on appeal of claim denials insofar as the procedure requires a plan participant to share the expenses of arbitration and does not provide for de novo review by the arbitrator of the trustees' decision.
1982-45A 08/27/1982 404(a)(1)	Mr. John F. Eden 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 2500 Los Angeles, California 90067	Whether the transfer of real property to the plan in repayment of an exempt participant loan will not be a prohibited transaction under section 4975 of the Code.
1982-44A 08/27/1982 3(1)	Mr. Frank Albino Parker, Milliken, Clark & O'Hara 27th Floor, Security Pacific Plaza 333 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California 90071	Whether a leave of absence policy for associates in the firm of Parker, Milliken, Clark & O'Hara is a payroll practice within the meaning of regulation 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-1(b)(2) and thus excluded from title I of ERISA.
1982-43A 08/27/1982 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. Otis M. Smith General Counsel General Motors Building 3044 West Grand Boulevard Detroit, Michigan 48202	Whether the Guaranteed Income Stream Benefit Program, part of the collective bargaining agreement between General Motors Corporation (GM) and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (the UAW), is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA and not an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of title I of ERISA.
1982-42A 08/16/1982 3(21)(A)	James G. Johnson, Esq. Fred T. Ashley, Esq. Hill, Farrer and Burrill Thirty-Fourth Floor -Union Bank Square 445 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, California 90071 James G. Varga, Esq. Margolis, McTernan, Scope, Sacks & Epstein 3600 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 2200 Los Angeles, California 90010	Whether Mr. Melvin Lennard, an impartial arbitrator, is a fiduciary under section 3(21)(A) of ERISA in settling a dispute between management and union trustees of the Warehousemen's Health & Welfare Trust Fund.
1982-41A 08/12/1982 406(b)(1) 408(b)(8)	Wesley S. Williams, Jr., Esq. John M. Vine, Esq. John H. More, Esq. Covington & Burling P.O. Box 7566 Washington, D.C. 20044	Whether the prohibited transaction exemption contained in section 408(b)(8) of ERISA is available for fund-to-fund investments by pooled funds maintained by a bank. Whether the class exemption for bank collective investment funds (Prohibited Transaction Exemption 80-51) is available for certain transactions of a pooled fund in which another pooled fund has invested.
1982-40A 08/10/1982	Mr. Mike Cavanaugh Administrator Harrison Electrical Workers Trust Fund P.O. Box 12245 Portland, Oregon 97212	Whether section 107 of ERISA requires the Harrison Electrical Workers Trust Fund to maintain for six years the health and welfare claims submitted by participants in the Trust, as opposed to the "recaps" used to prepare the annual return/reports.
1982-39A 08/05/1982 403(a) 406(b) 408(b)(2)	Mr. Thomas W. Phillips Phillips, Wilson, Webster, Smith & Ripley Post Office Box 436 Oneida, Tennessee 37841	Whether the establishment of the investment committee by the Plan's Board of Trustees to perform investment services for the Plan would not contravene the fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA.
1982-38A 08/02/1982 4(b)	Mr. Walter E. Andrews, Jr. 1400 So. Joyce Street, Apt. A809 Arlington, Virginia 22202	Whether the Reuters Pension Fund, based in London, England, is excluded from coverage under section 4(b)(4) of ERISA.
1982-37A 07/30/1982 3(2)	Mr. Karl Clifford Smith, Baker, Field & Clifford, Inc. 2112 Indiana Lubbock, Texas 79410	Whether Prather Sheet Metal Works, Inc. and Readi-Co Mfg., Inc. established or maintained the Prather Sheet Metal Works, Inc. and Readi-Co Mfg., Inc. Defined Benefit Plan for purposes of ERISA title I.