[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 240 (Monday, December 15, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69730-69731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30948]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Required Interest Rate Assumption for Determining Variable-Rate 
Premium; Interest Assumptions for Multiemployer Plan Valuations 
Following Mass Withdrawal

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and assumptions.

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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the interest rates and 
assumptions to be used under certain Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation regulations. These rates and assumptions are published 
elsewhere (or can be derived from rates published elsewhere), but are 
collected and published in this notice for the convenience of the 
public. Interest rates are also published on the PBGC's Web site 
(http://www.pbgc.gov).

DATES: The required interest rate for determining the variable-rate 
premium under part 4006 applies to premium payment years beginning in 
December 2003. The interest assumptions for

[[Page 69731]]

performing multiemployer plan valuations following mass withdrawal 
under part 4281 apply to valuation dates occurring in January 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General 
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, 202-326-4024. 
(TTY/TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-
877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Variable-Rate Premiums

    Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and Sec.  4006.4(b)(1) of the PBGC's 
regulation on Premium Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use of an 
assumed interest rate (the ``required interest rate'') in determining a 
single-employer plan's variable-rate premium. The required interest 
rate is the ``applicable percentage'' (currently 100 percent) of the 
annual yield on 30-year Treasury securities for the month preceding the 
beginning of the plan year for which premiums are being paid (the 
``premium payment year''). (Although the Treasury Department has ceased 
issuing 30-year securities, the Internal Revenue Service announces a 
surrogate yield figure each month--based on the 30-year Treasury bond 
maturing in February 2031--which the PBGC uses to determine the 
required interest rate.)
    The required interest rate to be used in determining variable-rate 
premiums for premium payment years beginning in December 2003 is 5.12 
percent.
    The following table lists the required interest rates to be used in 
determining variable-rate premiums for premium payment years beginning 
between January 2003 and December 2003.

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                                                                 The
                                                               required
          For premium payment years beginning in:              interest
                                                               rate is:
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January 2003...............................................         4.92
February 2003..............................................         4.94
March 2003.................................................         4.81
April 2003.................................................         4.80
May 2003...................................................         4.90
June 2003..................................................         4.53
July 2003..................................................         4.37
August 2003................................................         4.93
September 2003.............................................         5.31
October 2003...............................................         5.14
November 2003..............................................         5.16
December 2003..............................................         5.12
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Multiemployer Plan Valuations Following Mass Withdrawal

    The PBGC's regulation on Duties of Plan Sponsor Following Mass 
Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281) prescribes the use of interest 
assumptions under the PBGC's regulation on Allocation of Assets in 
Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part 4044). The interest assumptions 
applicable to valuation dates in January 2004 under part 4044 are 
contained in an amendment to part 4044 published elsewhere in today's 
Federal Register. Tables showing the assumptions applicable to prior 
periods are codified in appendix B to 29 CFR part 4044.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on this 10th day of December, 2003.
Joseph H. Grant,
Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-30948 Filed 12-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P