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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**1980**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1980-70A 12/01/1980 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. Kenneth L. Maher Williams & Brooke, P.C. One Financial Plaza Hartford, Connecticut 06103	Whether the employee benefit plans established when employers adopt the GTO-79 Group Insurance Trust (the Trust) are separate employee pension benefit plans within the meaning of ERISA section 3(2) and whether the "Active Life reserve" accounts maintained pursuant to the Group Deposit Administration policies held in the Trust are "part of" such plans (these plans are collectively referred to in this letter as "the Plans").
1980-69A 12/01/1980 3(1)	Ms. Jane B. Stranch Branstetter, Moody, and Kilgore 200 Church Street, Fourth Floor Nashville, Tennessee 37201	Whether the Death Benefit Fund for the Chauffeurs, Teamsters, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local Union No. 519 (the Death Benefit Fund) is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA section 3(1).
1980-68A 12/01/1980 3(1) 3(4) 3(5)	Mr. Theodore E. Rhodes Miller & Chevalier 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006	Whether the Professional Insurance Agents Group Insurance Trust Fund (the Fund) is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1980-67A 11/13/1980 3(14)(G)	Mr. Theodore R. Groom Mr. Lawrence J. Hass Groom and Nordberg Suite 450 1775 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006	Whether certain transactions do not constitute prohibited transactions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) that involve the Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, and Aetna Life Insurance Company (hereinafter referred to collectively as the Company(ies)) and if the transactions are prohibited, whether PTE 78-19 exempts the transactions.
1980-66A 11/13/1980 3(2)	Mr. A. Kimbrough Davis Kilpatrick & Cody 3100 Equitable Building 100 Peachtree Street Atlanta, Georgia 30303	Whether a "Gratuitous Pay Plan" proposed by the Fulton National Bank of Atlanta (Fulton) is not an employee benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA section 3(3).
1980-65A 11/13/1980 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. Ronald s. Rizzo Kindel & Anderson Twenty-sixth Floor 555 South Flower Street Los Angeles, California 90071	Whether the proposed Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the Plan) of Applied Magnetics Corporation (the Company) is an employee benefit plan covered by ERISA title I.
1980-64A 11/03/1980 104	Mr. Charles H. Harris Charles H. Harris & Associates, Inc. 1151 W. Robinhood Drive, Suite 12B Stockton, California 95207	Whether the limited exemption set forth in regulation 29 C.F.R. §2520.104-21 for certain group insurance arrangements is available with respect to the San Joaquin Employers Insurance Trust (SJET).
1980-63A 11/03/1980 3(1) 3(4)	Mr. Dan S. Brandenburg Mercier, Sanders, Baker & Schnabel, P.C. Suite 800 730 Fifteenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005	Whether the WAEPA Group Insurance Plan (the Program) is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1980-62A 10/28/1980 407(d)(3)	Mr. William A. Kelley, Jr. Dechert, Price & Rhoads 3400 Centre Square West 1500 Market Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102	Whether the purchase by the Plan of Vipond & Vipond, Inc. common stock would not violate the prohibited transaction rules of section 406 of ERISA by reason of the statutory exemption contained in section 408(e).
1980-61A 10/22/1980 4(b)	Mr. Richard H. Fay Reed Smith Shaw & McClay 1150 Connecticut Avenue Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether the Rockwell International Overseas Corporation International Pension Plan (the Plan) is a plan maintained outside the United States primarily for persons substantially all of whom are nonresident aliens within the meaning of ERISA section 4(b)(4) and thus is not covered by title I of ERISA.