Advisory Opinions

Whether the Hawaii Laborers’ and Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust Fund,  a fund established and operated as a labor management cooperation committee under section 302(c)(9) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 186(c)(9), is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA.

Whether the requirements for "qualifying employer real property" under ERISA section 407(d)(4)(A) are satisfied when a single parcel of real property is contributed to or sold by a pension plan such that section 408(e) of ERISA would be available for such transaction.

Whether a retirement savings program marketed by 401(k) Advantage LLC as a multiple employer plan would be a single “employee benefit plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(2) where multiple unrelated employers adopt the Plan to provide retirement benefits to their employees.

Whether an arrangement to be established by National Retirement Plan, Inc. to merge unrelated abandoned individual account plans would constitute an “employee pension benefit plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(2).

Whether the status of a “safe harbor” 403(b) plan under 29 C.F.R. 2510.3-2(f) would be adversely affected if the employer makes “matching” contributions into another pension plan based on the employees’ salary deferrals to the 403(b) plan.
 

Whether the status of the Group Health Plan for Employees of the State of Connecticut as a "governmental plan" within the meaning of section 3(32) of ERISA would be adversely affected if the State permitted participation by certain private nonprofit employers who perform public service functions under contract with the State or receive substantial funding from governmental sources.

Whether certain cash contributions to a pension plan by the Cement and Concrete Workers District Council Labor Management Cooperation Trust would result in prohibited transactions under section 406 of ERISA and section 4975 of the Code.

Whether PTE 80-26 provides relief for an indemnification agreement between an IRA owner and a broker where such agreement is required in order for the IRA to engage in futures trading.

Whether PTE 86-128 provides relief for covered transactions engaged in by any person who is a fiduciary solely by reason of rendering investment advice to the plan.

Whether Section I(a) of PTE 84-14, as amended (QPAM), is satisfied in the context of a stable value program where a stable value manager is responsible for negotiating stable value wrap contracts with various banks or insurance companies.