Advisory Opinion 1975-58

Dear :

This is in response to your letter in which you request approval of the transfer of claim records from the predecessor plan administrator,                                              Life Insurance Company, to the successor plan administrator,                                                                     Trust Company Trustee.

While section 107 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires the retention of claims records by the plan administrator for six years from the filing date for such documents, we find that it will result in an unreasonable administrative burden on the plan where the plan's administration is being transferred. To insist on strict adherence to a requirement which would result in confusion, delays, and increased costs to the plan would be adverse to the interests of the plan participants. In this case, a transfer of plan records is consistent with the purposes of ERISA and necessary for effective and efficient administration of the plan. However, the transferor remains responsible for compliance with the recordkeeping provisions of ERISA for the part of the six year period during which it was responsible for maintaining the records.

                                              Life Insurance Company may therefore transfer its records to the                                                             Trust Company Trustee provided that the predecessor retains a listing of the records transferred. Under the terms of ERISA, the predecessor remains responsible for the retention of records, but we shall not hold [Predecessor] in noncompliance with section 107 unless there is some violation of the recordkeeping provisions directly attributable to it.

I am hopeful that this will resolve your problem.