[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 130 (Friday, July 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38661-38663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10633]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

June 30, 2006.
    The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted the following public 
information collection requests (ICR) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy of 
each ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by 
contacting Darrin King on 202-693-4129 (this is not a toll-free number) 
or e-mail: [email protected]. 
    Comments should be sent to Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Employee Benefits Security 
Administration (EBSA), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503, 202-395-7316 (this is not a toll-free number), 
within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal 
Register.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.

[[Page 38662]]

    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 97-41; Collective 
Investment Funds Conversion Transactions.
    OMB Number: 1210-0104.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Type of Response: Recordkeeping and Third party disclosure.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit and Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 50.
    Number of Annual Responses: 105.
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: Approximately 35 hours.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,756.
    Total Annualized capital/startup costs: $0.
    Total Annual Costs (operating/maintaining systems or purchasing 
services): $281,570.
    Description: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (Code) provide that the Secretary 
of Labor and the Secretary of Treasury, respectively, may grant 
exemptions from certain prohibited transaction provisions under ERISA 
and the Code. Section 408(a) of ERISA authorizes the Secretary of Labor 
to grant administrative exemptions from the restrictions of section 406 
of ERISA, while section 4975(c)(2) of the Code authorizes the Secretary 
of Treasury or his delegate to grant exemptions from the prohibitions 
of section 4975(c)(1).
    Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978 (43 FR 47713, October 17, 1978, 
effective on December 31, 1978) transferred the authority of the 
Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions under section 4975 of the 
Code, with certain enumerated exceptions, to the Secretary of Labor. As 
a result, the Secretary of Labor now possesses authority under section 
4975(c)(2) of the Code as well as under 408(a) of ERISA to issue 
individual and class exemptions from the prohibited transaction rules 
of ERISA and the Code.
    Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 97-41, which was 
finalized in 1997 in response to an application submitted on behalf of 
Federated Investors, permits an employee benefit plan to purchase 
shares of a registered open-end investment company (mutual fund) in 
exchange for plan assets transferred from a collective investment fund 
(CIF) maintained by a bank or plan adviser, even though the bank or 
plan advisor is the investment advisor for the mutual fund and also 
serves as a fiduciary for the plan, provided that the purchase and 
transfer is in connection with a complete withdrawal of the plan's 
investment in the CIF and certain other conditions are met.
    Among other conditions, the exemption requires the bank or plan 
advisor to provide an independent fiduciary of the plan with advance 
written notice of the proposed transfer and full written disclosure of 
information concerning the mutual fund, including current prospectus; 
disclosure of the investment advisory and other fees the plan will be 
charged or pay to the bank or any unrelated third party, including the 
nature and extent of any differential between the rates of the fees; 
the reasons why the bank or plan advisor considers the in-kind 
transfers appropriate for the plan; and a statement of whether there 
are any limitations applicable to the bank with respect to which plan 
assets may be invested in the mutual fund and, if so, the nature of 
such limitations; and the identity of securities that will have to be 
valued for the transfer. The independent fiduciary must given prior 
written approval of the transfer (and written approval of any 
electronic transmission of subsequent confirmations from the bank or 
plan advisor); and the bank or advisor must send written (or 
electronic, if approved) confirmation of the transfer. Subsequent to a 
transfer, the bank or plan advisor must provide the plan with updated 
prospectuses at least annually for mutual funds in which the plan 
remains invested; the bank or plan advisory must also provide, upon the 
independent fiduciary's request, a report or statement of all fees paid 
by the mutual fund to the bank or plan advisor, which may be in the 
form of the most recent financial report.
    The information collection request is a set of third-party 
disclosures. Respondents are not required to submit information to the 
Department. Availability of the exemption is conditioned on the bank's 
or plan advisor's delivery of advance notice to the independent 
fiduciary of a plan concerning the withdrawal of the plan's assets from 
a CIF, and written (or electronic) confirmation to the same fiduciary 
after the completion of each transaction involving the transfer of 
assets. The notice and confirmation requirements incorporated in the 
class exemption are intended to protect the interests of plan 
participants and beneficiaries.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Title: Acquisition and Sale of Trust REIT Shares by Individual 
Account Plans Sponsored by Trust REITs.
    OMB Number: 1210-0124.
    Frequency: On occasion; Annually; and Quarterly.
    Type of Response: Recordkeeping and Third party disclosure.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit and Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 45.
    Number of Annual Responses: 104,545.
    Estimated Annual Time Per Respondent: Approximately 105 hours.
    Total Burden Hours: 4,733.
    Total Annualized capital/startup costs: $0.
    Total Annual Costs (operating/maintaining systems or purchasing 
services): $39,690.
    Description: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (Code) provide that the Secretary 
of Labor and the Secretary of Treasury, respectively, may grant 
exemptions from certain prohibited transaction provisions under ERISA 
and the Code. Section 408(a) of ERISA authorizes the Secretary of Labor 
to grant administrative exemptions from the restrictions of section 406 
of ERISA, while section 4975(c)(2) of the Code authorizes the Secretary 
of Treasury or his delegate to grant exemptions from the prohibitions 
of section 4975(c)(1).
    Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978 (43 FR 47713, October 17, 1978, 
effective on December 31, 1978) transferred the authority of the 
Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions under section 4975 of the 
Code, with certain enumerated exceptions, to the Secretary of Labor. As 
a result, the Secretary of Labor now possesses authority under section 
4975(c)(2) of the Code as well as under 408(a) of ERISA to issue 
individual and class exemptions from the prohibited transaction rules 
of ERISA and the Code.
    Prohibited Transaction Exemption 04-07, issued by the Department in 
2004, permits an individual account pension plan sponsored by a real 
estate investment trust (REIT) that is organized as a business trust 
under State law (Trust REIT), or by its affiliates, to purchase, hold 
and sell publicly traded shares of beneficial interest in the Trust 
REIT. Such purchases, holdings, and sales would otherwise be prohibited 
under sections 406 of ERISA and 4975 of the Code.
    The class exemption requires, among other conditions, that the 
Trust REIT (or its agent) provide the person who has authority to 
direct acquisition or sale of REIT shares with the most recent 
prospectus, quarterly report, and annual report concerning the Trust 
REIT immediately before an initial investment in the Trust REIT. The 
person with such authority may be, under the terms of the plan, either 
an

[[Page 38663]]

independent fiduciary or a participant exercising investment rights 
pertaining to his or her individual account under the plan. Updated 
versions of the reports must be provided to the directing person as 
subsequently published. The exemption further requires the plan to 
maintain records concerning investments in a Trust REIT, subject to 
appropriate confidentiality procedures, for a period of six years and 
make them available to interested persons including the Department and 
participants and beneficiaries. The confidentiality procedures must be 
designed to protect against the possibility that an employer may exert 
undue influence on participants regarding share-related transactions, 
and the participants and beneficiaries of the plan must be provided 
with a statement describing the confidentiality procedures in place and 
the fiduciary responsible for monitoring these procedures.
    The information collection requirements of the exemption are 
intended to protect the interests of Plan participants and 
beneficiaries by ensuring that Plan participants, Plan fiduciaries, and 
employers and employee organizations with employees and members covered 
by a Plan of the Trust REIT or one of its employer affiliates are 
informed about the plan's transactions involving Trust REIT shares and 
can monitor compliance with the conditions of the exemption. In 
addition, the disclosure requirements provide fiduciaries with 
sufficient information on which to decide whether to invest in Trust 
REIT shares and whether to continue such investments. The Department 
and the IRS, as well as the other specified interested persons, also 
can rely on the recordkeeping requirement to oversee compliance with 
the conditions of the exemption.

Ira L. Mills,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
 [FR Doc. E6-10633 Filed 7-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P