[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 94 (Friday, May 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 26901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-11032]


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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 
May 2004. The interest assumptions for performing multiemployer plan 
valuations following mass withdrawal under part 4281 apply to valuation 
dates occurring in June 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. Pursuant to the Pension 
Funding Equity Act of 2004, for premium payment years beginning in 2004 
or 2005, the required interest rate is the ``applicable percentage'' 
(currently 85 percent) of the annual rate of interest determined by the 
Secretary of the Treasury on amounts invested conservatively in long-
term investment grade corporate bonds for the month preceding the 
beginning of the plan year for which premiums are being paid. Thus, the 
required interest rate to be used in determining variable-rate premiums 
for premium payment years beginning in May 2004 is 4.98 percent (i.e., 
85 percent of the 5.86 percent composite corporate bond rate for April 
2004 as determined by the Treasury).
    The following table lists the required interest rates to be used in 
determining variable-rate premiums for premium payment years beginning 
between June 2003 and May 2004. Note that the required interest rates 
for premium payment years beginning in June through December 2003 were 
determined under the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, 
and that the required interest rates for premium payment years 
beginning in January through May 2004 were determined under the Pension 
Funding Equity Act of 2004.

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                                                           The required
         For premium payment years beginning in:           interest rate
                                                                is:
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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
January 2004**..........................................            4.94
February 2004**.........................................            4.83
March 2004**............................................            4.79
April 2004**............................................            4.62
May 2004**..............................................           4.98
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* The required interest rates for premium payment years beginning in
  June through December 2003 were determined under the Job Creation and
  Worker Assistance Act of 2002.
** The required interest rates for premium payment years beginning in
  January through May 2004 were determined under the Pension Funding
  Equity Act of 2004.

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 June 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 11th day of May 2004.
Joseph H. Grant,
Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 04-11032 Filed 5-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P