[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4608 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4608

 To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow multiemployer plans to amortize 
   losses from certain fraudulent investment schemes over a 40-year 
                                period.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2010

  Mr. Maffei introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow multiemployer plans to amortize 
   losses from certain fraudulent investment schemes over a 40-year 
                                period.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AMORTIZATION OF LOSSES FROM QUALIFIED FRAUDULENT INVESTMENT 
              SCHEMES.

    (a) Amendment to ERISA.--Section 304(b) of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(8) Amortization of losses from qualified fraudulent 
        investment schemes.--
                    ``(A) Plan sponsor election.--Notwithstanding any 
                other provision of this subsection, the plan sponsor of 
                a multiemployer plan may elect to charge the total 
                amount of the net investment losses (if any) which are 
                incurred in either or both of the first two plan years 
                ending after August 31, 2008, and which are 
                attributable to losses from qualified fraudulent 
                investment schemes as an item separate from other 
                experience losses, to be amortized in equal annual 
                installments (until fully amortized) over a period of 
                40 plan years.
                    ``(B) Losses from qualified fraudulent investment 
                schemes.--For purposes of this paragraph, the 
                determination as to whether losses are from qualified 
                fraudulent investment schemes shall be determined under 
                rules prescribed by the Secretary that are 
                substantially similar to the rules prescribed by the 
                Secretary for purposes of determining whether a loss 
                from such an arrangement is a theft loss for purposes 
                of section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.
    (b) Amendment to Internal Revenue Code of 1986.--Section 431(b) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(8) Amortization of losses from qualified fraudulent 
        investment schemes.--
                    ``(A) Plan sponsor election.--Notwithstanding any 
                other provision of this subsection, the plan sponsor of 
                a multiemployer plan may elect to charge the total 
                amount of the net investment losses (if any) which are 
                incurred in either or both of the first two plan years 
                ending after August 31, 2008, and which are 
                attributable to losses from qualified fraudulent 
                investment schemes as an item separate from other 
                experience losses, to be amortized in equal annual 
                installments (until fully amortized) over a period of 
                40 plan years.
                    ``(B) Losses from qualified fraudulent investment 
                schemes.--For purposes of this paragraph, the 
                determination as to whether losses are from qualified 
                fraudulent investment schemes shall be determined under 
                rules prescribed by the Secretary that are 
                substantially similar to the rules prescribed by the 
                Secretary for purposes of determining whether a loss 
                from such an arrangement is a theft loss for purposes 
                of section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as of the first day of the first plan year beginning after 
August 31, 2008, except that any election a plan makes pursuant to this 
section that affects the plan's funding standard account for the first 
plan year beginning after August 31, 2008, shall be disregarded for 
purposes of applying the provisions of section 305 of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and section 432 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 to such plan year.
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