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
1982-16A 03/08/1982 514	Mr. Don D. Carlson Dorsey, Windhorst, Hannaford, Whitney & Halladay 2300 First National Bank Building Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402	Whether the Minnesota State usury laws are preempted under section 514 of title I of ERISA.
1982-15A 03/08/1982 4(b)(3)	Mr. Douglas M. Case Corporate Counsel Taco Bell 17381 Red Hill Avenue Irvine, California 92714	Whether a voluntary unemployment compensation disability plan of Taco Bell and Bell Food Services, Inc., administered according to applicable provisions of the California Unemployment Insurance Code (CUIC) is covered under ERISA.
1982-14A 02/19/1982 104	Ms. Catherine L. Heron Breed, Abbott & Morgan 1875 Eye Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006	Whether the AFTRA Pension and Welfare Funds may distribute certain plan documents by third-class mail without a guarantee of return and forwarding postage.
1982-13A 02/17/1982 3(2)	Nina G. Gross, Esq. Government Relations Counsel American Bankers Association 1120 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether a payroll deduction program for an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) will constitute an employee pension benefit plan for the purposes of title I of ERISA under certain circumstances.
1982-12A 02/05/1982	Mr. Keith B. Betzina Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe 44 Montgomery Street San Francisco, California 94104	Whether Sutro & Co. Incorporated (Sutro) will be considered to be a "trustee or plan administrator" for purposes of Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 79-1 (PTE 79-1) when it acts as custodian of custodial accounts established under a prototype plan for self-employed persons (the Keogh Plan) or a simplified employee pension (SEP).
1982-11A 02/03/1982 408(b)(5)	Mr. Henry Lawrie, Jr. Hopkins, Sutter, Mulroy, Davis & Cromartie One First National Plaza Chicago, Illinois 60603	Whether, to the extent premiums paid by a Plan are already included in the numerator and denominator of five percent fraction of section 408(b)(5)(B) of ERISA, indemnity reinsurance premiums paid from one insurer to another within an affiliated group for the reinsurance of the risk related to that Plan will not again be included in the numerator or denominator of that fraction.
1982-10A 02/01/1982 3(1) 3(4) 3(5)	Mr. Emil J. Molin Deputy Commissioner Legal-Financial Services Department of Insurance State of Indiana 509 State Office Building Indianapolis, Indiana 46204	Whether the Minister's Group Trust (the Trust) is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1982-09A 02/01/1982 3(1) 403	Ms. Marsha J. Murphy Jolley, Moran, Walsh, Hager & Gordon 1300 Traders Bank Building 1125 Grand Avenue Kansas City, Missouri 64106	Whether the Bricklayer's Union No. 4 Health and Welfare Fund (the Fund) is an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA and, if so, how to properly terminate the Fund.
1982-08A 02/01/1982 3(32)	Mr. Gary W. Maeder Kindel & Anderson Twenty-sixth Floor 555 South Flower Street Los Angeles, California 90071	Whether three Individual Retirement Accounts are not pension plans within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA and accordingly are not subject to title I of ERISA. Whether loans from the IRAs to the Mitchell Rubber Products, Inc Company are not prohibited transactions under section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code.
1982-07A 02/01/1982 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Mr. William T. Knox IV Lowenstein, Sandler, Brochin, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan 65 Livingston Avenue Roseland, New Jersey 07068	Whether the New Jersey Transit Corporation, Transport of New Jersey and Maplewood Equipment Company are agencies or instrumentalities of the State of New Jersey within the meaning of the definition of the term "governmental plan" in section 3(32) of ERISA. Whether so long as they retain that status, the pension plans maintained by them will be governmental plans excluded under section 4(b)(1) from coverage under title I of ERISA.