[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22021-22035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08838]



[[Page 22021]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

29 CFR Part 2550

[Application Number D-11327]
ZRIN 1210-ZA25


Proposed Amendment to and Proposed Partial Revocation of 
Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 86-128 for Securities 
Transactions Involving Employee Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers; 
Proposed Amendment to and Proposed Partial Revocation of PTE 75-1, 
Exemptions From Prohibitions Respecting Certain Classes of Transactions 
Involving Employee Benefits Plans and Certain Broker-Dealers, Reporting 
Dealers and Banks

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Notice of proposed amendments to and proposed partial 
revocation of PTEs 86-128 and 75-1.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document contains a notice of pendency before the 
Department of Labor of proposed amendments to Prohibited Transaction 
Exemptions (PTEs) 86-128 and 75-1, exemptions from certain prohibited 
transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). The 
ERISA and Code provisions at issue generally prohibit fiduciaries with 
respect to employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts 
(IRAs) from engaging in self-dealing in connection with transactions 
involving plans and IRAs. The exemptions allow fiduciaries to receive 
compensation in connection with certain securities transactions entered 
into by plans and IRAs. The proposed amendments would increase the 
safeguards of the exemptions. This document also contains a notice of 
pendency before the Department of the proposed revocation of PTE 86-128 
with respect to transactions involving investment advice fiduciaries 
and IRAs, and of PTE 75-1, Part II(2), and PTE 75-1, Parts I(b) and 
I(c), as duplicative in light of existing or newly proposed relief. The 
amendments and revocations would affect participants and beneficiaries 
of plans, IRA owners and certain fiduciaries of plans and IRAs.

DATES: 
    Comments: Written comments must be received by the Department on or 
before July 6, 2015.
    Applicability: The Department proposes to make this amendment and 
partial revocation applicable eight months after the publication of the 
final amendment and partial revocation in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: All written comments concerning the proposed amendments to 
the class exemptions should be sent to the Office of Exemption 
Determinations by any of the following methods, identified by ZRIN: 
1210-ZA25.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID 
number: EBSA-2014-0016. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Email to: [email protected].
    Fax to: (202) 693-8474.
    Mail: Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, (Attention: D-11327), U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20210.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee 
Benefits Security Administration, (Attention: D-11327), U.S. Department 
of Labor, 122 C St. NW., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20001.
    Instructions. All comments must be received by the end of the 
comment period. The comments received will be available for public 
inspection in the Public Disclosure Room of the Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-1513, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. Comments will also be 
available online at www.regulations.gov, at Docket ID number: EBSA-
2014-0016 and www.dol.gov/ebsa, at no charge.
    Warning: All comments will be made available to the public. Do not 
include any personally identifiable information (such as Social 
Security number, name, address, or other contact information) or 
confidential business information that you do not want publicly 
disclosed. All comments may be posted on the Internet and can be 
retrieved by most Internet search engines.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Shiker, Office of Exemption 
Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Suite 400, 
Washington, DC 20210, (202) 693-8824 (not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department is proposing the amendments 
to and partial revocation of PTEs 86-128 and 75-1 on its own motion, 
pursuant to ERISA section 408(a) and Code section 4975(c)(2), and in 
accordance with the procedures set forth in 29 CFR part 2570, subpart B 
(76 FR 66637 (October 27, 2011)).
    Public Hearing: The Department plans to hold an administrative 
hearing within 30 days of the close of the comment period. The 
Department will ensure ample opportunity for public comment by 
reopening the record following the hearing and publication of the 
hearing transcript. Specific information regarding the date, location 
and submission of requests to testify will be published in a notice in 
the Federal Register.

Executive Summary

Purpose of Regulatory Action

    These proposed amendments and revocations are being published in 
the same issue of the Federal Register as the Department's proposed 
regulation that would amend the definition of a ``fiduciary'' of an 
employee benefit plan or an IRA under ERISA and the Internal Revenue 
Code (Proposed Regulation). The Proposed Regulation specifies when an 
entity is a fiduciary by reason of the provision of investment advice 
for a fee or other compensation regarding assets of a plan or IRA. If 
adopted, the Proposed Regulation would replace an existing regulation 
that was adopted in 1975. The Proposed Regulation is intended to take 
into account the advent of 401(k) plans and IRAs, the dramatic increase 
in rollovers, and other developments that have transformed the 
retirement plan landscape and the associated investment market over the 
four decades since the existing regulation was issued. In light of the 
extensive changes in retirement investment practices and relationships, 
the Proposed Regulation would update existing rules to distinguish more 
appropriately between the sorts of advice relationships that should be 
treated as fiduciary in nature and those that should not.
    PTEs 86-128 and 75-1, Part II(2), permit fiduciaries to receive 
fees in connection with certain securities transactions entered into by 
plans and IRAs in accordance with the fiduciaries' advice. In the 
absence of an exemption, ERISA and the Code generally prohibit 
fiduciaries from using their authority to affect or increase their own 
compensation. These proposed amendments would affect the scope of the 
exemptions and conditions under which fiduciaries may receive such 
compensation.
    The Secretary of Labor may grant and amend administrative 
exemptions from the prohibited transaction provisions of

[[Page 22022]]

ERISA and the Code.\1\ Before granting an amendment to an exemption, 
the Department must find that the amended exemption is administratively 
feasible, in the interests of plans, their participants and 
beneficiaries and IRA owners, and protective of the rights of 
participants and beneficiaries of such plans and IRA owners. Interested 
parties are permitted to submit comments to the Department through July 
6, 2015. The Department plans to hold an administrative hearing within 
30 days of the close of the comment period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Regulations at 29 CFR 2570.30 to 2570.52 describe the 
procedures for applying for an administrative exemption under ERISA. 
Code section 4975(c)(2) authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to 
grant exemptions from the parallel prohibited transaction provisions 
of the Code. Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. app. at 214 
(2000)) generally transferred the authority of the Secretary of the 
Treasury to issue administrative exemptions under Code section 4975 
to the Secretary of Labor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary of the Major Provisions

    PTE 86-128 currently provides an exemption for certain fiduciaries 
and their affiliates to receive a fee from a plan or IRA for effecting 
or executing securities transactions as an agent on behalf of the plan 
or IRA. It also allows a fiduciary to act in an ``agency cross 
transaction''--as an agent both for the plan or IRA and for another 
party--and receive reasonable compensation from the other party. The 
exemption generally requires compliance with certain conditions such as 
advance disclosures to and approval by an independent fiduciary, 
although such conditions are not currently applicable to transactions 
involving IRAs.
    This proposed amendment to PTE 86-128 would increase the safeguards 
of the exemption in a number of ways. The amendment would require 
fiduciaries relying on the exemption to adhere to certain ``Impartial 
Conduct Standards,'' including acting in the best interest of the plans 
and IRAs when providing advice, and would define the types of payments 
that are permitted under the exemption. The amendment would restrict 
relief under this exemption to IRA fiduciaries that have discretionary 
authority or control over the management of the IRA's assets (i.e., 
investment managers) and would take the additional step of imposing the 
exemption's conditions on investment management fiduciaries when they 
engage in transactions with IRAs. The proposal would revoke relief for 
fiduciaries who provide investment advice to IRAs. A new exemption for 
receipt of compensation by fiduciaries who provide investment advice to 
IRAs, plan participants, and certain small plans is proposed elsewhere 
in this issue of the Federal Register in the ``Best Interest Contract 
Exemption.'' In the Department's view, the provisions of the Best 
Interest Contract Exemption better protect the interests of IRAs with 
respect to investment advice regarding securities transactions.
    This proposed amendment also would add a new transaction to the 
exemption for certain fiduciaries to act as principals (as opposed to 
agents for third parties) in selling mutual fund shares to plans and 
IRAs and to receive commissions for doing so. An exemption for this 
transaction is currently available in PTE 75-1, Part II(2), with few 
applicable safeguards.
    Several changes are proposed with respect to PTE 75-1. The 
Department is proposing to revoke PTE 75-1, Part II(2), as that 
exemption would be incorporated within PTE 86-128 subject to additional 
safeguards. Part I(b) and (c) of PTE 75-1 also would be revoked. These 
provisions of PTE 75-1 provide relief for certain non-fiduciary 
services to plans and IRAs. If these provisions are revoked, persons 
seeking to engage in such transactions should look to the existing 
statutory exemptions provided in ERISA section 408(b)(2) and Code 
section 4975(d)(2), and the Department's implementing regulations at 29 
CFR 2550.408b-2, for relief.
    Finally, this document proposes to amend the remaining exemption of 
PTE 75-1, Part II, to revise the recordkeeping requirement of that 
exemption.

Executive Order 12866 and 13563 Statement

    Under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563, the Department must 
determine whether a regulatory action is ``significant'' and therefore 
subject to the requirements of the Executive Order and subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Executive Orders 
12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of 
available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to 
select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including 
potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, 
distributive impacts, and equity). Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the 
importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, 
of harmonizing and streamlining rules, and of promoting flexibility. It 
also requires federal agencies to develop a plan under which the 
agencies will periodically review their existing significant 
regulations to make the agencies' regulatory programs more effective or 
less burdensome in achieving their regulatory objectives.
    Under Executive Order 12866, ``significant'' regulatory actions are 
subject to the requirements of the Executive Order and review by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order 
12866, defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action that is 
likely to result in a rule (1) having an annual effect on the economy 
of $100 million or more, or adversely and materially affecting a sector 
of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, 
public health or safety, or State, local or tribal governments or 
communities (also referred to as ``economically significant'' 
regulatory actions); (2) creating serious inconsistency or otherwise 
interfering with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) 
materially altering the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user 
fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or (4) raising novel legal or policy issues arising out of 
legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth 
in the Executive Order. Pursuant to the terms of the Executive Order, 
OMB has determined that this action is ``significant'' within the 
meaning of Section 3(f)(4) of the Executive Order. Accordingly, the 
Department has undertaken an assessment of the costs and benefits of 
the proposed amendment, and OMB has reviewed this regulatory action.

Background

    As explained more fully in the preamble to the Department's 
proposed regulation on the definition of fiduciary under ERISA section 
3(21)(A)(ii) and Code section 4975(e)(3)(B), also published in this 
issue of the Federal Register, ERISA is a comprehensive statute 
designed to protect the interests of plan participants and 
beneficiaries, the integrity of employee benefit plans, and the 
security of retirement, health, and other critical benefits. The broad 
public interest in ERISA-covered plans is reflected in its imposition 
of stringent fiduciary responsibilities on parties engaging in 
important plan activities, as well as in the tax-favored status of plan 
assets and investments. One of the chief ways in which ERISA protects 
employee benefit plans is by requiring that plan fiduciaries comply 
with fundamental obligations rooted in the law of trusts. In 
particular, plan fiduciaries must manage plan assets prudently and with 
undivided loyalty to the plans and their participants and 
beneficiaries.\2\ In

[[Page 22023]]

addition, they must refrain from engaging in ``prohibited 
transactions,'' which ERISA forbids because of the dangers posed by the 
fiduciaries' conflicts of interest with respect to the transactions.\3\ 
When fiduciaries violate ERISA's fiduciary duties or the prohibited 
transaction rules, they may be held personally liable for the 
breach.\4\ In addition, violations of the prohibited transaction rules 
are subject to excise taxes under the Code.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ ERISA section 404(a).
    \3\ ERISA section 406. ERISA also prohibits certain transactions 
between a plan and a ``party in interest.''
    \4\ ERISA section 409; see also ERISA section 405.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Code also has rules regarding fiduciary conduct with respect to 
tax-favored accounts that are not generally covered by ERISA, such as 
IRAs. Although ERISA's general fiduciary obligations of prudence and 
loyalty do not govern the fiduciaries of IRAs, these fiduciaries are 
subject to the prohibited transaction rules. In this context 
fiduciaries engaging in the illegal transactions are subject to an 
excise tax enforced by the Internal Revenue Service. Unlike 
participants in plans covered by Title I of ERISA, under the Code, IRA 
owners cannot bring suit against fiduciaries under ERISA for violation 
of the prohibited transaction rules and fiduciaries are not personally 
liable to IRA owners for the losses caused by their misconduct. 
Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, however, the 
Department is proposing two new class exemptions that would create 
contractual obligations for the adviser to adhere to certain standards 
(the Impartial Conduct Standards). IRA owners would have a right to 
enforce these new contractual rights.
    Under this statutory framework, the determination of who is a 
``fiduciary'' is of central importance. Many of ERISA's protections, 
duties, and liabilities hinge on fiduciary status. In relevant part, 
section 3(21)(A) of ERISA and section 4975(e)(3) of the Code provide 
that a person is a fiduciary with respect to a plan or IRA to the 
extent he or she (1) exercises any discretionary authority or 
discretionary control with respect to management of such plan or IRA, 
or exercises any authority or control with respect to management or 
disposition of its assets; (2) renders investment advice for a fee or 
other compensation, direct or indirect, with respect to any moneys or 
other property of such plan or IRA, or has any authority or 
responsibility to do so; or, (3) has any discretionary authority or 
discretionary responsibility in the administration of such plan or IRA.
    ERISA section 406(b)(1) and Code section 4975(c)(1)(E) prohibit a 
fiduciary from dealing with the income or assets of a plan or IRA in 
his or her own interest or his or her own account. Parallel regulations 
issued by the Departments of Labor and the Treasury explain that these 
provisions impose on fiduciaries of plans and IRAs a duty not to act on 
conflicts of interest that may affect the fiduciary's best judgment on 
behalf of the plan or IRA. Accordingly, a fiduciary may not cause a 
plan or IRA to pay an additional fee to such fiduciary, or to a person 
in which such fiduciary has an interest that may affect the exercise of 
the fiduciary's best judgment as a fiduciary.
    The Department understands that investment professionals are often 
compensated on a commission basis for effecting or executing securities 
transactions for plans, plan participants, and IRA owners. Because such 
payments vary based on the advice provided, the Department views a 
fiduciary that recommends to a plan or IRA a securities transaction and 
then receives a commission for itself or a related party as violating 
the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA section 406(b) and Code 
section 4975(c)(1)(E).
    PTE 86-128 \5\ provides an exemption from these prohibited 
transactions provisions for certain types of fiduciaries to use their 
authority to cause a plan or IRA to pay a fee to the fiduciary, or its 
affiliate, for effecting or executing securities transactions as agent 
for the plan. The exemption further provides relief for these types of 
fiduciaries to act as agent in an ``agency cross transaction'' for both 
a plan or IRA and one or more other parties to the transaction, and for 
such fiduciaries or their affiliates to receive fees from the other 
party(ies) in connection with the agency cross transaction. An agency 
cross transaction is defined in the exemption as a securities 
transaction in which the same person acts as agent for both any seller 
and any buyer for the purchase or sale of a security.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ PTE 86-128, 51 FR 41686 (November 18, 1986), replaced PTE 
79-1, 44 FR 5963 (January 30, 1979) and PTE 84-46, 49 FR 22157 (May 
25, 1984).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As originally granted, the exemption in PTE 86-128 could be used 
only by fiduciaries who were not discretionary trustees, plan 
administrators, or employers of any employees covered by the plan.\6\ 
PTE 86-128 was amended in 2002 to permit use of the exemption by 
discretionary trustees, and their affiliates, without meeting the 
``recapture of profits'' provisions, subject to certain additional 
requirements.\7\ Additionally, in 2011 the Department clarified that 
PTE 86-128 provides relief for covered transactions engaged in by 
fiduciaries who provide investment advice.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ Plan trustees, plan administrators and employers were 
permitted to rely on the exemption if they returned or credited to 
the plan all profits (recapture of profits) earned in connection 
with the transactions covered by the exemption.
    \7\ 67 FR 64137 (October 17, 2002).
    \8\ See Advisory Opinion 2011-08A (June 21, 2011).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If granted, this proposed amendment would make additional changes, 
discussed below, to PTE 86-128, as well as a re-ordering of the 
sections of the exemption.\9\ The Department notes that the relief 
provided under PTE 86-128 is limited to ERISA section 406(b) and Code 
section 4975(c)(1)(E) and (F), for self-dealing and other conflict of 
interest transactions involving fiduciaries. Relief from the 
prohibitions of ERISA section 406(a)(1)(C) or Code section 
4975(c)(1)(C), for the provision of services to a plan, would be 
available only by meeting the requirements of the statutory exemptions 
of ERISA section 408(b)(2) and Code section 4975(d)(2) and the 
Department's regulations in 29 CFR 2550.408b-2.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ This proposal would move the definitions from Section I to 
Section VII. The other sections are re-ordered accordingly. 
Additionally, within the definitions section, the following 
definitions are new or revised: Independent (Section VII(f)), plan 
(Section VII(j)), individual retirement account (Section VII(k)), 
Related Entity (Section VII(l)), Best Interest (Section VII(m)), and 
Commission (VII(n)).
    \10\ These statutory exemptions provide relief for making 
reasonable arrangements between a plan and a party in interest 
(disqualified person) for, among other things, services necessary 
for operation of the plan, if no more than reasonable compensation 
is paid therefore. ERISA section 408(b)(2) and Code section 
4975(d)(2) do not provide relief from ERISA section 406(b) or Code 
section 4975(c)(1)(E) and (F).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description of the Proposed Amendments

I. Impartial Conduct Standards

    This proposal would amend PTE 86-128 to require fiduciaries 
engaging in the exempted transactions to adhere to certain Impartial 
Conduct Standards. The Impartial Conduct Standards are set forth in a 
new proposed Section II. The standards would only be applicable to the 
extent they are applicable to the fiduciary's actions.
    Under the first conduct standard, fiduciaries would be required to 
act in the plan's or IRA's best interest when providing investment 
advice to the plan or IRA, or managing the plan's or IRA's assets. Best 
interest is defined as acting with the care, skill, prudence, and 
diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person 
would exercise based on the investment objectives, risk tolerance, 
financial

[[Page 22024]]

circumstances, and the needs of the plan or IRA. Further, under the 
best interest standard, fiduciaries must act without regard to their 
own financial or other interests or those of any affiliates or other 
party. Under this standard, fiduciaries must put the plan's or IRA's 
interests ahead of the fiduciaries' own financial interests or those of 
any other party.
    In this regard, the Department notes that while fiduciaries of 
plans covered by ERISA are subject to the ERISA section 404 standards 
of prudence and loyalty, the Code contains no provisions that hold IRA 
fiduciaries to those standards. However, as a condition of relief under 
the proposed exemption, both IRA and plan fiduciaries would have to 
agree to, and uphold, the best interest requirement that is set forth 
in Section II(a). The best interest standard is defined to effectively 
mirror the ERISA section 404 duties of prudence and loyalty, as applied 
in the context of fiduciary investment advice. Failure to satisfy the 
best interest standard would render the exemption unavailable to the 
fiduciary with respect to compensation received in connection with the 
transaction.
    The second conduct standard requires that all compensation received 
by the fiduciary and its affiliates in connection with the applicable 
transaction be reasonable in relation to the total services provided to 
the plan or IRA. The third conduct standard requires that statements 
about recommended investments, fees, material conflicts of interest, 
and any other matters relevant to a plan's or IRA's investment 
decisions, are not misleading. The Department notes in this regard that 
a fiduciary's failure to disclose a material conflict of interest may 
be considered a misleading statement. Transactions that violate the 
requirements are not likely to be in the interests of or protective of 
plans, their participants and beneficiaries, and IRA owners.
    Unlike the new exemption proposals published elsewhere in the 
Federal Register, these proposed amendments do not require fiduciaries 
to contractually warrant compliance with applicable federal and state 
laws. However, the Department notes that significant violations of 
applicable federal or state law could also amount to violations of the 
Impartial Conduct Standards, such as the best interest standard, in 
which case, these exemptions, as amended, would be deemed unavailable 
for transactions occurring in connection with such violations.

II. IRAs

    Currently, Section IV(a) of PTE 86-128 contains an exception from 
the conditions of the exemption for covered transactions engaged in on 
behalf of individual retirement accounts described in 29 CFR 2510.3-
2(d) (IRAs), and plans, other than training programs, that cover no 
employees within the meaning of 29 CFR 2510.3-3. The exception was 
included in response to comments received on the original proposal of 
PTE 86-128's predecessor, PTE 79-1, suggesting that such plans and IRAs 
did not need the protection provided by the conditions of the exemption 
because the participants of such plans and IRAs directly exercise 
control over their accounts. Additionally, the comments suggested that 
imposing the conditions on these plans and IRAs would result in 
unnecessary costs.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ See preamble to PTE 79-1, 44 FR 5963, 5964 (Jan. 30, 1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Upon reconsideration of the issue, however, the Department has 
determined that these policy reasons do not support a continued 
exception from the conditions of PTE 86-128 for IRAs. Since PTE 86-128 
was granted, the amount of assets held in IRAs has grown dramatically. 
The financial services marketplace has become more complex, and 
compensation structures and the types of products offered have changed 
significantly beyond what the Department contemplated at the time. The 
fact that IRA owners generally do not benefit from the protections 
afforded by the fiduciary duties owed by plan sponsors to their 
employee benefit plans makes it all the more critical that appropriate 
safeguards in an exemption apply to IRAs.
    The Department therefore is proposing to revise the exemption in 
several ways with respect to transactions involving IRAs. First, if the 
amendment is adopted, fiduciaries that exercise discretionary authority 
or control with respect to IRAs as described in Code section 
4975(e)(3)(A) (i.e., investment managers) will be required, among other 
things, to make the disclosures and receive approvals that are 
currently required by the exemption with respect to other types of 
plans. The Department believes that compliance with these conditions 
will enhance the ability of the authorizing fiduciary, which, in the 
case of an IRA would be the IRA owner, to monitor fees and compensation 
paid in connection with their accounts.
    Further, if the amendment is adopted, the exemption will no longer 
provide relief to IRA fiduciaries engaging in the covered transactions 
if they are fiduciaries due to the provision of investment advice for a 
fee as described in Code section 4975(e)(3)(B). This change is 
reflected in a proposed new Section I(c), setting forth the scope of 
the exemption, which will apply on a prospective basis. Elsewhere in 
this issue of the Federal Register, the Department has proposed a new 
exemption that specifically provides relief for the receipt by such 
fiduciaries of a broad range of types of compensation (Best Interest 
Contract Exemption). The Best Interest Contract Exemption was crafted 
to protect the interests of retail retirement investors--plan 
participants and beneficiaries, IRA owners and small plan sponsors--
that rely on fiduciary investment advisers to engage in securities 
transactions, and it contains safeguards specifically crafted for these 
investors. The exemption requires the investment advice fiduciary to 
contractually acknowledge fiduciary status, commit to adhere to basic 
standards of impartial conduct, adopt policies and procedures 
reasonably designed to minimize the harmful impact of conflicts of 
interest, and disclose basic information on their conflicts of interest 
and on the cost of their advice. As a result, the exemption ensures 
that IRA owners have a contract-based claim to hold their fiduciary 
investment advisers accountable if they violate basic obligations of 
prudence and loyalty.
    The proposed definition of IRA in Section I(c) is ``any trust, 
account or annuity described in Code section 4975(e)(1)(B) through (F), 
including, for example, an individual retirement account described in 
section 408(a) of the Code and a health savings account described in 
section 223(d) of the Code.'' The Department notes that this is not 
identical to the definition currently in Section IV(a), the exception 
for IRAs, which is ``individual retirement accounts meeting the 
conditions of 29 CFR 2510.3-2(d), or plans, other than training 
programs, that cover no employees within the meaning of 29 CFR 2510.3-
3.'' However, this new definition is identical to the definition of IRA 
used in the proposed Best Interest Contract Exemption. Accordingly, the 
Best Interest Contract Exemption will be available for transactions 
involving IRAs that are excluded from this exemption.

III. The Mutual Fund Exemption of PTE 75-1, Part II

    PTE 75-1, granted October 31, 1975,\12\ provides an exemption for 
broker-

[[Page 22025]]

dealers, reporting dealers and banks to engage in certain classes of 
transactions with employee benefit plans and IRAs. The exemption has 
five parts, two of which (Part II and Part V) were amended in 2006.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ 40 FR 50845 (Oct. 31, 1975).
    \13\ 71 FR 5883 (Feb. 3, 2006).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Part II of PTE 75-1 is captioned ``Principal transactions.'' Part 
II(1) of the exemption permits the purchase or sale of a security 
between an employee benefit plan or IRA and a broker-dealer registered 
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et. seq.), a 
reporting dealer who makes primary markets in securities of the United 
States Government or of any agency of the United States Government and 
reports daily to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York its positions 
with respect to Government securities and borrowings thereon, or a bank 
supervised by the United States or a State. The exemption provided in 
Part II(1) does not extend to the fiduciary self-dealing and conflicts 
of interest prohibitions of ERISA and the Code.
    PTE 75-1, Part II(2), contains a special exemption for mutual fund 
purchases (the mutual fund exemption) between fiduciaries and plans or 
IRAs. Although it does provide relief for fiduciary self-dealing and 
conflicts of interest, the exemption is only available if the fiduciary 
who decides on behalf of the plan or IRA to enter into the transaction 
is not a principal underwriter for, or affiliated with, the mutual 
fund.
    In 2004, when proposing to amend Part II of PTE 75-1,\14\ the 
Department sought public comments on the current utility of the mutual 
fund exemption. The Department was uncertain if the mutual fund 
exemption continued to provide meaningful relief to fiduciaries, 
insofar as many sales of mutual fund shares are made to and from the 
mutual fund itself. It was the Department's understanding that any 
broker-dealer involvement in these mutual fund transactions was as 
agent on behalf of a plan or IRA. Under such circumstances, the 
transactions would not appear to be properly characterized as 
``principal'' transactions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ 69 FR 23216 (April 28, 2004).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department received three comments on the continuing utility of 
the mutual fund exemption. The commenters stated that the mutual fund 
exemption continued to be widely used by the public. As background, the 
commenters noted that mutual fund transactions had some characteristics 
of principal transactions as well as agency transactions. In 1975, when 
the mutual fund exemption was originally granted, mutual funds 
typically entered into distribution agreements with principal 
underwriters, and the underwriters in turn entered into selling 
agreements designated as ``dealer'' agreements, with retail broker-
dealers. However, sales of mutual funds under these dealer agreements 
exhibited many of the economic characteristics of agency transactions. 
For example, commenters stated that the selling broker-dealer was not 
at risk because it could not inventory mutual fund shares. 
Additionally, as mutual funds were required to be sold at net asset 
value (NAV), the broker-dealer usually received a fixed sales 
commission for effecting the transaction, rather than a negotiable 
dealer mark-up.
    These commenters indicated that these features were still 
commonplace in mutual fund transactions. Additionally, the commenters 
indicated that this exemption was commonly understood to provide relief 
for the receipt of commissions by such broker-dealer fiduciaries in 
connection with the transactions.\15\ In issuing the final amendment to 
PTE 75-1, Part II, the Department acknowledged these comments and 
stated that additional time was needed to fully consider the issues 
raised in these comments. Pending further action by the Department, the 
mutual fund exemption has remained in effect.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ Although PTE 75-1, Part II, is silent on the payment of 
commissions, the commenters point to the preamble to the proposal of 
PTE 77-9 (41 FR 56760, December 29, 1976)(final exemption superseded 
by PTE 84-24, 49 FR 13208, April 3, 1984, as amended, 71 FR 5887, 
February 3, 2006) which states that PTE 75-1, Part II, covers ``the 
purchase and sale of mutual fund shares by a plan from or to a 
broker-dealer which is a plan fiduciary, provided that such broker-
dealer is not a principal underwriter for, or affiliated with, such 
mutual fund, and the receipt of commissions by such fiduciary/
broker-dealer in connection with the purchase of mutual fund shares 
by plans.''
    \16\ 71 FR 5883, 5885 (Feb. 3, 2006).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After further consideration of these comments, the Department 
concurs that the relief provided by the mutual fund exemption remains 
relevant to broker-dealer fiduciaries that use their authority to cause 
plans and IRAs to purchase mutual fund shares. The Department believes 
that the transaction described in PTE 75-1, Part II(2), is most 
accurately described as a ``riskless principal'' transaction, in which 
the fiduciary that is providing investment advice purchases shares on 
its own account for the purpose of covering a purchase order previously 
received from a plan or IRA, and then sells the shares to the plan or 
IRA to satisfy the order.
    However, the existing mutual fund exemption needs to be revised in 
a manner that would make it consistent with more recent exemptions that 
similarly provide broad relief from fiduciary self-dealing and 
conflicts of interest. PTE 86-128 covers transactions that are the most 
similar to those covered in the mutual fund exemption in that the 
relief it provides permits a fiduciary to use its authority to receive 
a commission for effecting or executing a plan's or IRA's securities 
transactions as agent for the plan or IRA, subject to a number of 
specific requirements designed to protect the interests of plan 
participants and beneficiaries and IRA owners.
    The Department is therefore proposing a new Section I(b) of PTE 86-
128 that would provide relief for the transaction currently covered in 
PTE 75-1, Part II(2). New Section I(b) would permit a broker-dealer 
fiduciary to use its authority to cause a plan (or IRA, as applicable) 
to purchase shares of a mutual fund from the broker-dealer fiduciary, 
acting as principal, where the shares were acquired solely to cover the 
plan's prior order, and for the receipt of a commission by such 
fiduciary in connection with the transaction.\17\ Consistent with the 
exemption originally provided for this transaction in PTE 75-1, Part 
II(2), relief is not available if such fiduciary is a principal 
underwriter for, or affiliated with, such investment company. The 
Department intends that, with respect to this new proposed transaction, 
the compensation to the broker-dealer will be limited to the commission 
(i.e., sales load) disclosed by the mutual fund, but may be paid either 
by the plan or the mutual fund.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ Section I(b) would provide relief from the restrictions of 
ERISA section 406(a)(1)(A) and (D) and 406(b) and the taxes imposed 
by Code section 4975(a) and (b), by reason of Code section 
4975(c)(1)(A), (D), (E) and (F). The proposed new covered 
transaction, as a principal transaction, involves the purchase and 
sale of shares between a plan and a party in interest, and the 
transfer of a plan asset to a party in interest, which would violate 
the cited provisions of ERISA section 406(a) and Code section 
4975(c)(1)(A) and (D) in the absence of an exemption.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To provide certainty with respect to the payments permitted by the 
exemption in both Section I(a) and newly proposed Section I(b), the 
Department is proposing a new defined term ``Commission.'' This term, 
used in Section I(b), will also replace the language currently in the 
exemption that permits a fiduciary to cause a plan or IRA to pay a 
``fee for effecting or executing securities transactions.'' The term 
``Commission'' is defined to mean a brokerage commission or sales load 
paid for the service of effecting or executing the transaction, but not 
a 12b-1 fee, revenue sharing payment,

[[Page 22026]]

marketing fee, administrative fee, sub-TA fee, or sub-accounting fee. 
Further, based on the language of Section I(a)(1), the term 
``Commission'' as used in that section is limited to payments directly 
from the plan or IRA.\18\ On the other hand, the Commission payment 
described in Section I(b) is not limited to payments directly from the 
plan or IRA and includes payments from the mutual fund. The Department 
understands that sales load payments in connection with mutual fund 
transactions are commonly made by the mutual fund.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ Section I(a)(2) of the proposed amended exemption clarifies 
that relief for plan fiduciaries acting as agents in agency cross 
transactions is limited to compensation paid in the form of 
Commissions, although the Commission may be paid by the other party 
to the transaction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The proposed new covered transaction in Section I(b) would be 
subject to the general prohibition in PTE 86-128 on churning, and the 
new proposed Impartial Conduct Standards in Section II. In addition, 
the Department is also proposing a new Section IV to PTE 86-128 which 
sets forth conditions applicable solely to the proposed new covered 
transaction. The proposed new Section IV incorporates conditions 
currently applicable to PTE 75-1, Part II(2).
    Specifically, the conditions applicable to the proposed new covered 
transaction in Section I(b), as set forth in proposed Section IV, are: 
(1) The fiduciary customarily sells securities for its own account in 
the ordinary course of its business as a broker-dealer; (2) the 
transaction is at least as favorable to the plan or IRA as an arm's 
length transaction with an unrelated party would be; and (3) unless 
rendered inapplicable by Section V of the exemption, the requirements 
of Sections III(a) through III(f), III(h) and III(i) (if applicable), 
and III(j) are satisfied with respect to the transaction. The 
Department seeks comments as to whether any of the conditions described 
in Section IV(c) should be revised as applied to the proposed new 
covered transaction. The exceptions contained in Section V would be 
applicable to this proposed new covered transaction as well.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ The condition set forth in Section V(c)(1)(B) of the 
exemption requires the disclosure of information that the person 
seeking authorization ``reasonably believes to be necessary'' for 
the authorizing fiduciary to determine whether the authorization 
should be made. This condition is followed by a list of required 
items. To improve objectivity of the exemption, the Department is 
proposing to delete the language ``reasonably believes to be 
necessary'' from Section V(c)(1)(B) but leave the list of specified 
items in place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Relief is not proposed in the new Section I(b) for sales by a plan 
or IRA to a fiduciary due to the Department's belief that it is not 
necessary for a plan or IRA to sell a mutual fund share to a fiduciary 
that is acting as a principal. The Department requests comment on this 
limitation, as well as on its understanding of this transaction and the 
related fee payments.
    Additionally, in connection with the proposed new covered 
transaction, the Department is proposing to revoke the mutual fund 
exemption provisions from PTE 75-1, Part II(2). The Department is 
further proposing to revise the recordkeeping provisions of Section (e) 
of PTE 75-1, Part II. Section (e) currently provides that records 
demonstrating compliance with the exemption must be maintained by the 
plan or IRA involved in the transaction. The proposed amendment would 
place the responsibility for maintaining such records on the broker-
dealer, reporting dealer, or bank engaging in the transaction with such 
plan or IRA.

IV. Relief for Related Entities

    Currently, PTE 86-128 provides relief for a fiduciary to use its 
authority to cause a plan or IRA to pay a fee to that person for 
effecting or executing securities transactions. The term ``person'' is 
defined to include the person's affiliates, which are: (1) Any person 
directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, 
controlling, controlled by, or under common control with, the person; 
(2) any officer, director, partner, employee, relative (as defined in 
ERISA section 3(15)), brother, sister, or spouse of a brother or 
sister, of the person; and (3) any corporation or partnership of which 
the person is an officer, director or employee or in which such person 
is a partner.
    The Department understands that in some cases, fiduciaries are 
concerned that the relief provided by the exemption to persons 
(including their affiliates) is too narrow. In this regard, it is a 
prohibited transaction for a fiduciary to use the ``authority, control, 
or responsibility which makes such a person a fiduciary to cause a plan 
to pay an additional fee to such fiduciary (or to a person in which 
such fiduciary has an interest which may affect the exercise of such 
fiduciary's best judgment as a fiduciary) to provide a service.'' \20\ 
The concern expressed to the Department is that the definition of 
affiliate is not broad enough to cover all persons in whom a fiduciary 
has an interest that may affect its best judgment. Specifically, it is 
not necessary for a fiduciary to have control over or be under control 
by an entity in order for the fiduciary to have an interest in the 
entity that may affect the exercise of the fiduciary's best judgment as 
a fiduciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ ERISA section 406(b); Code section 4975(c)(1)(E).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To address this concern, the amendment would add relief for covered 
transactions when fees are paid to a ``related entity.'' \21\ The term 
``related entity'' is defined as an entity, other than an affiliate, in 
which a fiduciary has an interest that may affect the exercise of its 
best judgment as a fiduciary. Additionally, Section II(b) of the 
exemption would reflect this additional relief to related entities. 
Section II(b) would require that all compensation received by the 
person (i.e., the fiduciary and its affiliates) and any related entity 
in connection with the transaction is reasonable in relation to the 
total services the person provides to the plan or IRA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ See re-ordered Section VII(m).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department requests comment on the necessity of incorporating 
relief for related entities in PTE 86-128, and the approach taken in 
this proposal to do so.

V. The 2002 Amendment and Clarification of Recapture of Profits 
Exception of PTE 86-128

    As explained above, discretionary trustees were first permitted to 
rely on PTE 86-128 without meeting the ``recapture of profits'' 
provision pursuant to an amendment in 2002 (2002 Amendment). To effect 
this change, the 2002 Amendment revised Section III(a), which had 
provided that ``[t]he person engaging in the covered transaction [may 
not be] a trustee (other than a nondiscretionary trustee), or an 
administrator of the plan, or an employer any of whose employees are 
covered by the plan.'' Under the amendment, the reference to ``trustee 
(other than a nondiscretionary trustee)'' was deleted from Section 
III(a). Further, under the amendment, discretionary trustees had to 
satisfy certain additional conditions, set forth in Section III(h) and 
(i), in order to rely on the exemption. Section III(h) provides that 
discretionary trustees may engage in the covered transactions only with 
plans or IRAs with total net assets of at least $50 million.\22\ 
Section III(i) requires discretionary trustees to provide additional 
disclosures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ Special rules apply under Section III(h) for pooled funds 
and groups of plans maintained by a single employer or controlled 
group of employers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department understands that subsequent to the 2002 Amendment, 
questions were raised as to whether discretionary trustees were 
permitted to rely on the ``recapture of profits''

[[Page 22027]]

provision of the exemption (redesignated in this proposal as Section 
V(b)) as an alternative to complying with Sections III(h) and (i). This 
provision allows persons identified in Section III(a) to engage the 
covered transactions if they return or credit to the plan or IRA all 
profits. By deleting the reference to discretionary trustees from 
Section III(a), the Department believes that the 2002 Amendment 
inadvertently may have prevented trustees of plans or IRAs from using 
the recapture of profits approach, and instead, has limited the 
exemption to trustees that satisfy Section III(h) and (i). As this 
result was not intended, the Department proposes to modify the 
exemption to permit all trustees, regardless of associated plan or IRA 
size, to utilize the exception as originally permitted in PTE 86-128 
for the recapture of profits.
    In order to achieve this result, the Department has proposed 
amendments to several different conditions of PTE 86-128. Section V(c), 
which is re-designated as Section V(b) in this proposal, provides that 
Sections III(a) and III(i) do not apply in any case where the person 
engaging in the covered transaction returns or credits to the plan or 
IRA all profits earned by that person in connection with the securities 
transaction associated with the covered transaction. In addition, the 
Department proposes to reinsert a reference to trustees (other than 
nondiscretionary trustees) in Section III(a) along with the existing 
references to plan administrators and employers. Finally, a sentence 
has been added to the end of Section III(a) stating: ``Notwithstanding 
the foregoing, this condition does not apply to a trustee that 
satisfies Section III(h) and (i).'' The purpose of these proposed 
amendments is to clarify that trustees may engage in covered 
transactions subject to the recapture of profits limitations in Section 
V(b) of the exemption.

VI. Recordkeeping Requirements

    A proposed new Section VI to PTE 86-128 would require the fiduciary 
engaging in a transaction covered by the exemption to maintain records 
necessary to enable certain persons (described in proposed Section 
VI(b)) to determine whether the conditions of this exemption have been 
met. The proposed recordkeeping requirement is consistent with other 
existing class exemptions as well as the recordkeeping provisions of 
the other notices of proposed exemption published in this issue of the 
Federal Register.

Description of the Proposed Revocation of PTE 75-1, Part I(b) and (c), 
and II(2), and Proposed Amendment to and Restatement of PTE 75-1, Part 
II

    Lastly, the Department proposes to revoke Part I(b) and I(c) of PTE 
75-1, and Part II(2) of PTE 75-1. Part I(b) of PTE 75-1 provides relief 
from ERISA section 406 and the taxes imposed by Code section 4975(a) 
and (b), for the effecting of securities transactions, including 
clearance, settlement or custodial functions incidental to effecting 
the transactions, by parties in interest or disqualified persons other 
than fiduciaries. Part I(c) of PTE 75-1 provides relief from ERISA 
section 406 and Code section 4975(a) and (b) for the furnishing of 
advice regarding securities or other property to a plan or IRA by a 
party in interest or disqualified person under circumstances which do 
not make the party in interest or disqualified person a fiduciary with 
respect to the plan or IRA.
    PTE 75-1 was granted shortly after ERISA's passage in order to 
provide certainty to the securities industry over the nature and extent 
to which ordinary and customary transactions between broker-dealers and 
plans or IRAs would be subject to the ERISA prohibited transaction 
rules. Paragraphs (b) and (c) in Part I of PTE 75-1, specifically, 
served to provide exemptive relief for certain non-fiduciary services 
provided by broker-dealers in securities transactions. Code section 
4975(d)(2), ERISA section 408(b)(2) and regulations thereunder, have 
clarified the scope of relief for service providers to plans and 
IRAs.\23\ The Department believes that the relief provided in Parts 
I(b) and I(c) of PTE 75-1 duplicates the relief available under the 
statutory exemptions. Therefore, the Department is proposing the 
revocation of these parts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ See 29 CFR 2550.408b-2, 42 FR 32390 (June 24, 1977) and 
Reasonable Contract or Arrangement under Section 408(b)(2)--Fee 
Disclosure, Final Rule, 77 FR 5632 (Feb. 3, 2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted earlier, the exemption in PTE 75-1, Part II(2), would, 
under this proposal, be incorporated into PTE 86-128. Accordingly, the 
Department is proposing herein the revocation of PTE 75-1, Part II(2). 
In connection with the proposed revocation of PTE 75-1, Part II(2), the 
Department is proposing to amend Section (e) of the remaining exemption 
in PTE 75-1, Part II, the recordkeeping provisions of the exemption, to 
place the recordkeeping responsibility on the broker-dealer, reporting 
dealer, or bank engaging in transactions with the plan or IRA, as 
opposed to the plan or IRA itself.

Applicability Date

    The Department is proposing that compliance with the final 
regulation defining a fiduciary under ERISA section 3(21)(A)(ii) and 
Code section 4975(e)(3)(B) will begin eight months after the final 
regulation is published in the Federal Register (Applicability Date). 
The Department proposes to make the amendments to and partial 
revocation of this exemption, if granted, applicable on the 
Applicability Date as well.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, the Department of Labor conducts a preclearance consultation 
program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an 
opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of 
information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This helps to ensure that the public 
understands the Department's collection instructions, respondents can 
provide the requested data in the desired format, reporting burden 
(time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are 
clearly understood, and the Department can properly assess the impact 
of collection requirements on respondents.
    Currently, the Department is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed information collection request (ICR) included in the Proposed 
Amendment to and Proposed Partial Revocation of Prohibited Transaction 
Exemption (PTE) 86-128 for Securities Transactions Involving Employee 
Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers; Proposed Amendment to and Partial 
Revocation of PTE 75-1, Exemptions From Prohibitions Respecting Certain 
Classes of Transactions Involving Employee Benefits Plans and Certain 
Broker-Dealers, Reporting Dealers and Banks as part of its proposal to 
amend its 1975 rule that defines when a person who provides investment 
advice to an employee benefit plan or IRA becomes a fiduciary. A copy 
of the ICR may be obtained by contacting the PRA addressee shown below 
or at http://www.RegInfo.gov.
    The Department has submitted a copy of the proposed amendments to 
and partial revocation of PTEs 86-128 and 75-1 to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) for 
review of its information collections. The Department and OMB are 
particularly interested in comments that:

[[Page 22028]]

     Evaluate whether the 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 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.
    Comments should be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, New Executive 
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; Attention: Desk Officer for the 
Employee Benefits Security Administration. OMB requests that comments 
be received within 30 days of publication of the Proposed Amendments to 
ensure their consideration.
    PRA Addressee: Address requests for copies of the ICR to G. 
Christopher Cosby, Office of Policy and Research, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 200 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone (202) 693-
8410; Fax: (202) 219-5333. These are not toll-free numbers. ICRs 
submitted to OMB also are available at http://www.RegInfo.gov.
    As discussed in detail below, as amended, PTE 86-128 would require 
financial firms to make certain disclosures to plan fiduciaries in 
order to receive relief from ERISA's and the Code's prohibited 
transaction rules for the receipt of commissions and to engage in 
riskless principal transactions involving mutual fund shares. Financial 
firms relying on either PTE 86-128 or PTE 75-1, as amended, would be 
required to maintain records necessary to prove that the conditions of 
these exemptions have been met. These requirements are information 
collection requests (ICRs) subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    The Department has made the following assumptions in order to 
establish a reasonable estimate of the paperwork burden associated with 
these ICRs:
     38% of disclosures will be distributed electronically via 
means already used by respondents in the normal course of business and 
the costs arising from electronic distribution will be negligible;
     Financial institutions will use existing in-house 
resources to prepare the legal authorizations and disclosures, and 
maintain the recordkeeping systems necessary to meet the requirements 
of the exemption;
     A combination of personnel will perform the tasks 
associated with the ICRs at an hourly wage rate of $125.95 for a 
financial manager, $30.42 for clerical personnel, and $129.94 for a 
legal professional; and \24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ The Department's estimated 2015 hourly labor rates include 
wages, other benefits, and overhead, and are calculated as follows: 
Mean wage from the 2013 National Occupational Employment Survey 
(April 2014, Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf); wages as a percent of total 
compensation from the Employer Cost for Employee Compensation (June 
2014, Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm); overhead as a multiple of compensation is assumed to 
be 25 percent of total compensation for paraprofessionals, 20 
percent of compensation for clerical, and 35 percent of compensation 
for professional; annual inflation assumed to be 2.3 percent annual 
growth of total labor cost since 2013 (Employment Costs Index data 
for private industry, September 2014 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nr0.htm).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Approximately 2,800 financial institutions \25\ will take 
advantage of this exemption and they will use this exemption in 
conjunction with transactions involving 25.6 percent of their client 
plans.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ As described in the regulatory impact analysis for the 
accompanying rule, the Department estimates that approximately 2,619 
broker dealers service the retirement market. The Department 
anticipates that the exemption will be used primarily, but not 
exclusively, by broker-dealers. Further, the Department assumes that 
all broker-dealers servicing the retirement market will use the 
exemption. Beyond the 2,619 broker-dealers, the Department estimates 
that almost 200 other financial institutions will use the exemption.
    \26\ This is a weighted average of the Department's estimates of 
the share of DB plans and DC plans with broker-dealer relationships. 
The Department welcomes comment on this estimate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosures and Consent Forms
    In order to receive commissions in conjunction with the purchase of 
mutual fund shares or securities products, sections III(b) and III(d) 
of PTE 86-128 as amended require financial institutions to obtain 
advance written authorization from a plan fiduciary independent of the 
financial institutions (the authorizing fiduciary) and furnish the 
authorizing fiduciary with information necessary to determine whether 
an authorization should be made, including a copy of the exemption, a 
form for termination, a description of the financial institution's 
brokerage placement practices, and any other reasonably available 
information regarding the matter that the authorizing fiduciary 
requests.
    Section III(c) requires financial institutions to obtain annual 
written reauthorization or provide the authorizing fiduciary with an 
annual termination form explaining that the authorization is terminable 
at will, without penalty to the plan, and that failure to return the 
form will result in continued authorization for the financial 
institution to engage in covered transactions on behalf of the plan. 
Furthermore, Section III(e) requires the financial institution to 
provide the authorizing fiduciary with either (a) a confirmation slip 
for each individual securities transaction within 10 days of the 
transaction containing the information described in Rule 10b-10(a)(1-7) 
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 17 CFR 240.10b-10 or (b) a 
quarterly report containing certain financial information including the 
total of all transaction-related charges incurred by the plan. The 
Department assumes that financial institutions will meet this 
requirement for 40 percent of plans through the provision of a 
confirmation slip, which already is provided to their clients in the 
normal course of business, while financial institutions will meet this 
requirement for 60 percent of plans through provision of the quarterly 
report.
    Finally, Section III(f) requires the financial institution to 
provide the authorizing fiduciary with an annual summary of the 
confirmation slips or quarterly reports. The summary must contain the 
following information: The total of all securities transaction-related 
charges incurred by the plan during the period in connection with the 
covered securities transactions, the amount of the securities 
transaction-related charges retained by the authorized person and the 
amount of these charges paid to other persons for execution or other 
services; a description of the financial institution's brokerage 
placement practices if such practices have materially changed during 
the period covered by the summary; and a portfolio turnover ratio 
calculated in a manner reasonable designed to provide the authorizing 
fiduciary the information needed to assist in discharging its duty of 
prudence. Section III(i) states that a financial institution that is a 
discretionary plan trustee who qualifies to use the exemption must 
provide the authorizing fiduciary with an annual report showing 
separately the commissions paid to affiliated brokers and non-
affiliated brokers, on both a total dollar basis and a cents-per-share 
basis.

[[Page 22029]]

Legal Costs
    According to the 2012 Form 5500, approximately 677,000 plans exist 
in the United States that could enter into relationships with financial 
institutions. Of these plans, the Department assumes that 6.5 percent 
are new plans or plans entering into relationships with new financial 
institutions and, as stated previously, 25.6 percent of these plans 
will engage in transactions covered under this PTE. The Department 
estimates that granting written authorization to the financial 
institutions will require one hour of legal time for each of the 
approximately 11,000 plans entering into new relationships with 
financial institutions each year. The Department also estimates that it 
will take one hour of legal time for each of the approximately 2,800 
financial institutions to produce the annual termination form. This 
legal work results in a total of approximately 14,000 hours annually at 
an equivalent cost of $1.8 million.
Production and Distribution of Required Disclosures
    The Department estimates that approximately 173,000 plans have 
relationships with financial institutions and are likely to engage in 
transactions covered under this exemption. Of these 173,000 plans, 
approximately 11,000 are new clients to the financial institutions each 
year.
    The Department estimates that 11,000 plans will send financial 
institutions a two page authorization letter each year. Prior to 
obtaining authorization, financial institutions will send the same 
11,000 plans a seven page pre-authorization disclosure. Paper copies of 
the authorization letter and the pre-authorization disclosure will be 
mailed for 62 percent of the plans and distributed electronically for 
the remaining 38 percent. The Department estimates that electronic 
distribution will result in a de minimis cost, while paper distribution 
will cost approximately $10,000. Paper distribution of the letter and 
disclosure will also require two minutes of clerical preparation time 
resulting in a total of 500 hours at an equivalent cost of 
approximately $14,000.
    The Department estimates that all of the 173,000 plans will receive 
a two-page annual termination form from financial institutions; 38 
percent will be distributed electronically and 62 percent will be 
mailed. The Department estimates that electronic distribution will 
result in a de minimis cost, while the paper distribution will cost 
$63,000. Paper distribution will also require two minutes of clerical 
preparation time resulting in a total of 4,000 hours at an equivalent 
cost of $109,000.
    The Department estimates that 60 percent of plans (approximately 
104,000) will receive quarterly two-page transaction reports from 
financial institutions four times per year; 38 percent will be 
distributed electronically and 62 percent will be mailed. The 
Department estimates that electronic distribution will result in a de 
minimis cost, while paper distribution will cost $152,000. Paper 
distribution will also require two minutes of clerical preparation time 
resulting in a total of 9,000 hours at an equivalent cost of $261,000.
    The Department estimates that all of the 173,000 plans will receive 
a five-page annual statement with a two-page summary of commissions 
paid from financial institutions; 38 percent will be distributed 
electronically and 62 percent will be mailed. The Department assumes 
that these disclosures will be distributed with the annual termination 
form, resulting in no further hour burden or postage cost. Electronic 
distribution will result in a de minimis cost, while the paper 
distribution will cost $38,000 in materials costs.
    Finally, the Department estimates that it will cost financial 
institutions $3 per plan, for each of the 173,000 plans, to track all 
the transactions data necessary to populate the quarterly transaction 
reports, the annual statements, and the report of commissions paid. 
This results in an IT tracking cost of $520,000.
Recordkeeping Requirement
    Section VI of PTE 86-128, as amended, and condition (e) of PTE 75-
1, Part II, as amended, would require financial institutions to 
maintain or cause to be maintained for six years and disclosed upon 
request the records necessary for the Department, Internal Revenue 
Service, plan fiduciary, contributing employer or employee organization 
whose members are covered by the plan, participants and beneficiaries 
and IRA owners to determine whether the conditions of this exemption 
have been met.
    The Department assumes that each financial institution will 
maintain these records on behalf of their client plans in their normal 
course of business. Therefore, the Department has estimated that the 
additional time needed to maintain records consistent with the 
exemption will only require about one-half hour, on average, annually 
for a financial manager to organize and collate the documents or else 
draft a notice explaining that the information is exempt from 
disclosure, and an additional 15 minutes of clerical time to make the 
documents available for inspection during normal business hours or 
prepare the paper notice explaining that the information is exempt from 
disclosure. Thus, the Department estimates that a total of 45 minutes 
of professional time per financial institution per year would be 
required for a total hour burden of 2,100 hours at an equivalent cost 
of $198,000.
    In connection with this recordkeeping and disclosure requirements 
discussed above, Section VI(b) of PTE 86-128 and Section (f) of PTE 75-
1, Part II, provide that parties relying on the exemption do not have 
to disclose trade secrets or other confidential information to members 
of the public (i.e., plan fiduciaries, contributing employers or 
employee organizations whose members are covered by the plan, 
participants and beneficiaries and IRA owners), but that in the event a 
party refuses to disclose information on this basis, it must provide a 
written notice to the requester advising of the reasons for the refusal 
and advising that the Department may request such information. The 
Department's experience indicates that this provision is not commonly 
invoked, and therefore, the written notice is rarely, if ever, 
generated. Therefore, the Department believes the cost burden 
associated with this clause is de minimis. No other cost burden exists 
with respect to recordkeeping.
Overall Summary
    Overall, the Department estimates that in order to meet the 
conditions of this amended class exemption, over 14,000 financial 
institutions and plans will produce 958,000 disclosures and notices 
annually. These disclosures and notices will result in almost 29,000 
burden hours annually, at an equivalent cost of $2.4 million. This 
exemption will also result in a total annual cost burden of almost 
$783,000.
    These paperwork burden estimates are summarized as follows:
    Type of Review: Revision of a Currently Approved Information 
Collection.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Titles: (1) Proposed Amendment to and Partial Revocation of 
Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 86-128 for Securities 
Transactions Involving Employee Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers; 
Proposed Amendment to and Partial Revocation of PTE 75-1, and (2) 
Proposed Investment Advice Regulation.
    OMB Control Number: 1210-0059.

[[Page 22030]]

    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 14.059.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 957,880.
    Frequency of Response: Initially, Annually, When engaging in 
exempted transaction.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 28,795 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $782,647.

General Information

    The attention of interested persons is directed to the following:
    (1) The fact that a transaction is the subject of an exemption 
under ERISA section 408(a) and Code section 4975(c)(2) does not relieve 
a fiduciary or other party in interest or disqualified person with 
respect to a plan from certain other provisions of ERISA and the Code, 
including any prohibited transaction provisions to which the exemption 
does not apply and the general fiduciary responsibility provisions of 
ERISA section 404 which require, among other things, that a fiduciary 
discharge his or her duties respecting a plan solely in the interests 
of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan. Additionally, the 
fact that a transaction is the subject of an exemption does not affect 
the requirement of Code section 401(a) that the plan must operate for 
the exclusive benefit of the employees of the employer maintaining the 
plan and their beneficiaries;
    (2) Before an exemption may be granted under ERISA section 408(a) 
and Code section 4975(c)(2), the Department must find that the 
exemption is administratively feasible, in the interests of plans and 
their participants and beneficiaries and IRA owners, and protective of 
the rights of plan participants and beneficiaries and IRA owners;
    (3) If granted, an exemption is applicable to a particular 
transaction only if the transaction satisfies the conditions specified 
in the exemption; and
    (4) These amended exemptions, if granted, will be supplemental to, 
and not in derogation of, any other provisions of ERISA and the Code, 
including statutory or administrative exemptions and transitional 
rules. Furthermore, the fact that a transaction is subject to an 
administrative or statutory exemption is not dispositive of whether the 
transaction is in fact a prohibited transaction.

Written Comments

    The Department invites all interested persons to submit written 
comments on the proposed amendments and proposed revocations to the 
address and within the time period set forth above. All comments 
received will be made a part of the public record for this proceeding 
and will be available for examination on the Department's Internet Web 
site. Comments should state the reasons for the writer's interest in 
the proposed amendment and revocation. Comments received will be 
available for public inspection at the above address.

Proposed Amendment to PTE 86-128

    Under section 408(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974, as amended (ERISA) and section 4975(c)(2) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), and in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in 29 CFR part 2570, subpart B (76 FR 66637, 66644 
(October 27, 2011)), the Department proposes to amend and restate PTE 
86-128 as set forth below:

Section I. Covered Transactions

    (a) Securities Transactions Exemptions. If each of the conditions 
of Sections II and III of this exemption is either satisfied or not 
applicable under Section V, the restrictions of ERISA section 406(b) 
and the taxes imposed by Code section 4975(a) and (b) by reason of Code 
section 4975(c)(1)(E) or (F) shall not apply to--(1) A plan fiduciary's 
using its authority to cause a plan to pay a Commission to that person 
or a Related Entity as agent for the plan, but only to the extent that 
such transactions are not excessive, under the circumstances, in either 
amount or frequency; and (2) A plan fiduciary's acting as the agent in 
an agency cross transaction for both the plan and one or more other 
parties to the transaction and the receipt by such person of a 
Commission from one or more other parties to the transaction.
    (b) Mutual Fund Transactions Exemption. If each condition of 
Sections II and IV is either satisfied or not applicable under Section 
V, the restrictions of ERISA sections 406(a)(1)(A), 406(a)(1)(D) and 
406(b) and the taxes imposed by Code section 4975(a) and (b), by reason 
of Code section 4975(c)(1)(A), (D), (E) and (F), shall not apply to a 
plan fiduciary's using its authority to cause the plan to purchase 
shares of an open end investment company registered under the 
Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.) (Mutual Fund) 
from such fiduciary, acting as principal, and to the receipt of a 
Commission by such person in connection with such transaction, but only 
to the extent that such transactions are not excessive, under the 
circumstances, in either amount or frequency; provided that, the 
fiduciary (1) is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.), and (2) is not a 
principal underwriter for, or affiliated with, such Mutual Fund, within 
the meaning of sections 2(a)(29) and 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company 
Act of 1940.
    (c) Scope of these Exemptions. The exemptions set forth in Section 
I(a) and (b) do not apply to a transaction if (1) the plan is an 
Individual Retirement Account and (2) the fiduciary engaging in the 
transaction is a fiduciary by reason of the provision of investment 
advice for a fee, described in Code section 4975(e)(3)(B) and the 
applicable regulations.

Section II. Impartial Conduct Standards

    If the fiduciary engaging in the covered transaction is a fiduciary 
within the meaning of ERISA section 3(21)(A)(i) or (ii), or Code 
section 4975(e)(3)(A) or (B), with respect to the assets involved in 
the transaction, the following conditions must be satisfied with 
respect to such transaction to the extent they are applicable to the 
fiduciary's actions:
    (a) When exercising fiduciary authority described in ERISA section 
3(21)(A)(i) or (ii), or Code section 4975(e)(3)(A) or (B), with respect 
to the assets involved in the transaction, the fiduciary acts in the 
Best Interest of the plan.
    (b) All compensation received by the person and any Related Entity 
in connection with the transaction is reasonable in relation to the 
total services the person and any Related Entity provide to the plan.
    (c) The fiduciary's statements about recommended investments, fees, 
material conflicts of interest, and any other matters relevant to a 
plan's investment decisions, are not misleading. For this purpose, a 
fiduciary's failure to disclose a Material Conflict of Interest 
relevant to the services the fiduciary is providing or other actions it 
is taking in relation to a plan's investment decisions is deemed to be 
a misleading statement

III. Conditions Applicable to Transactions Described in Section I(a)

    Except to the extent otherwise provided in Section V of this 
exemption, Section I of this exemption

[[Page 22031]]

applies only if the following conditions are satisfied:
    (a) The person engaging in the covered transaction is not a trustee 
(other than a nondiscretionary trustee), an administrator of the plan, 
or an employer any of whose employees are covered by the plan. 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, this condition does not apply to a 
trustee that satisfies Section III(h) and (i).
    (b) The covered transaction is performed under a written 
authorization executed in advance by a fiduciary of each plan whose 
assets are involved in the transaction, which plan fiduciary is 
independent of the person engaging in the covered transaction. The 
authorization is terminable at will by the plan, without penalty to the 
plan, upon receipt by the authorized person of written notice of 
termination.
    (c) The authorized person obtains annual reauthorization to engage 
in transactions pursuant to the exemption in the method set forth in 
Section III(b). Alternatively, the authorized person may supply a form 
expressly providing an election to terminate the authorization 
described in Section III(b) with instructions on the use of the form to 
the authorizing fiduciary no less than annually. The instructions for 
such form must include the following information:
    (1) The authorization is terminable at will by the plan, without 
penalty to the plan, when the authorized person receives (via first 
class mail, personal delivery, or email) from the authorizing fiduciary 
or other plan official having authority to terminate the authorization, 
a written notice of the intent of the plan to terminate authorization; 
and
    (2) Failure to return the form or some other written notification 
of the plan's intent to terminate the authorization within thirty (30) 
days from the date the termination form is sent to the authorizing 
fiduciary will result in the continued authorization of the authorized 
person to engage in the covered transactions on behalf of the plan.
    (d) Within three months before an initial authorization is made 
pursuant to Section III(b), the authorizing fiduciary is furnished with 
a copy of this exemption, the form for termination of authorization 
described in Section III(c), a description of the person's brokerage 
placement practices, and any other reasonably available information 
regarding the matter that the authorizing fiduciary requests.
    (e) The person engaging in a covered transaction furnishes the 
authorizing fiduciary with either:
    (1) A confirmation slip for each securities transaction underlying 
a covered transaction within ten business days of the securities 
transaction containing the information described in Rule 10b-10(a)(1-7) 
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; or
    (2) at least once every three months and not later than 45 days 
following the period to which it relates, a report disclosing:
    (A) A compilation of the information that would be provided to the 
plan pursuant to Section III(e)(1) during the three-month period 
covered by the report;
    (B) the total of all securities transaction-related charges 
incurred by the plan during such period in connection with such covered 
transactions; and
    (C) the amount of the securities transaction-related charges 
retained by such person, and the amount of such charges paid to other 
persons for execution or other services. For purposes of this paragraph 
(e), the words ``incurred by the plan'' shall be construed to mean 
``incurred by the pooled fund'' when such person engages in covered 
transactions on behalf of a pooled fund in which the plan participates.
    (f) The authorizing fiduciary is furnished with a summary of the 
information required under Section III(e)(1) at least once per year. 
The summary must be furnished within 45 days after the end of the 
period to which it relates, and must contain the following:
    (1) The total of all securities transaction-related charges 
incurred by the plan during the period in connection with covered 
securities transactions.
    (2) The amount of the securities transaction-related charges 
retained by the authorized person and the amount of these charges paid 
to other persons for execution or other services.
    (3) A description of the brokerage placement practices of the 
person that is engaging in the covered transaction, if such practices 
have materially changed during the period covered by the summary.
    (4)(A) A portfolio turnover ratio, calculated in a manner which is 
reasonably designed to provide the authorizing fiduciary with the 
information needed to assist in making a prudent determination 
regarding the amount of turnover in the portfolio. The requirements of 
this paragraph (f)(4)(A) will be met if the ``annualized portfolio 
turnover ratio,'' calculated in the manner described in paragraph 
(f)(4)(B), is contained in the summary.
    (B) The ``annualized portfolio turnover ratio'' shall be calculated 
as a percentage of the plan assets consisting of securities or cash 
over which the authorized person had discretionary investment 
authority, or with respect to which such person rendered, or had any 
responsibility to render, investment advice within the meaning of ERISA 
section 3(21)(A)(ii), (the portfolio) at any time or times (management 
period(s)) during the period covered by the report. First, the 
``portfolio turnover ratio'' (not annualized) is obtained by dividing 
(i) the lesser of the aggregate dollar amounts of purchases or sales of 
portfolio securities during the management period(s) by (ii) the 
monthly average of the market value of the portfolio securities during 
all management period(s). Such monthly average is calculated by 
totaling the market values of the portfolio securities as of the 
beginning and end of each management period and as of the end of each 
month that ends within such period(s), and dividing the sum by the 
number of valuation dates so used. For purposes of this calculation, 
all debt securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were 
one year or less are excluded from both the numerator and the 
denominator. The ``annualized portfolio turnover ratio'' is then 
derived by multiplying the ``portfolio turnover ratio'' by an 
annualizing factor. The annualizing factor is obtained by dividing 
(iii) the number twelve by (iv) the aggregate duration of the 
management period(s) expressed in months (and fractions thereof). 
Examples of the use of this formula are provided in Section VII.
    (C) The information described in this paragraph (f)(4) is not 
required to be furnished in any case where the authorized person has 
not exercised discretionary authority over trading in the plan's 
account, nor provided investment advice within the meaning of ERISA 
section 3(21)(A)(ii), during the period covered by the report.
    For purposes of this paragraph (f), the words ``incurred by the 
plan'' shall be construed to mean ``incurred by the pooled fund'' when 
such person engages in covered transactions on behalf of a pooled fund 
in which the plan participates.
    (g) If an agency cross transaction to which Section V(a) does not 
apply is involved, the following conditions must also be satisfied:
    (1) The information required under Section III(d) or Section 
V(c)(1)(B) of this exemption includes a statement to the effect that 
with respect to agency cross transactions, the person effecting or 
executing the transactions will have a potentially conflicting division 
of

[[Page 22032]]

loyalties and responsibilities regarding the parties to the 
transactions;
    (2) The summary required under Section III(f) of this exemption 
includes a statement identifying the total number of agency cross 
transactions during the period covered by the summary and the total 
amount of all commissions or other remuneration received or to be 
received from all sources by the person engaging in the transactions in 
connection with the transactions during the period;
    (3) The person effecting or executing the agency cross transaction 
has the discretionary authority to act on behalf of, and/or provide 
investment advice to, either (A) one or more sellers or (B) one or more 
buyers with respect to the transaction, but not both.
    (4) The agency cross transaction is a purchase or sale, for no 
consideration other than cash payment against prompt delivery of a 
security for which market quotations are readily available; and
    (5) The agency cross transaction is executed or effected at a price 
that is at or between the independent bid and independent ask prices 
for the security prevailing at the time of the transaction.
    (h) Except pursuant to Section V(b), a trustee (other than a non-
discretionary trustee) may engage in a covered transaction only with a 
plan that has total net assets with a value of at least $50 million and 
in the case of a pooled fund, the $50 million requirement will be met 
if 50 percent or more of the units of beneficial interest in such 
pooled fund are held by plans having total net assets with a value of 
at least $50 million.
    For purposes of the net asset tests described above, where a group 
of plans is maintained by a single employer or controlled group of 
employers, as defined in ERISA section 407(d)(7), the $50 million net 
asset requirement may be met by aggregating the assets of such plans, 
if the assets are pooled for investment purposes in a single master 
trust.
    (i) The trustee described in Section III(h) engaging in a covered 
transaction furnishes, at least annually, to the authorizing fiduciary 
of each plan the following:
    (1) The aggregate brokerage commissions, expressed in dollars, paid 
by the plan to brokerage firms affiliated with the trustee;
    (2) the aggregate brokerage commissions, expressed in dollars, paid 
by the plan to brokerage firms unaffiliated with the trustee;
    (3) the average brokerage commissions, expressed as cents per 
share, paid by the plan to brokerage firms affiliated with the trustee; 
and
    (4) the average brokerage commissions, expressed as cents per 
share, paid by the plan (to brokerage firms unaffiliated with the 
trustee.
    For purposes of this paragraph (i), the words ``paid by the plan'' 
shall be construed to mean ``paid by the pooled fund'' when the trustee 
engages in covered transactions on behalf of a pooled fund in which the 
plan participates.
    (j) In the case of securities transactions involving shares of 
Mutual Funds, other than exchange traded funds, at the time of the 
transaction, the shares are purchased or sold at net asset value (NAV) 
plus a commission, in accordance with applicable securities laws and 
regulations.

Section IV. Conditions Applicable to Transactions Described in Section 
I(b)

    Section I(b) of this exemption applies only if the following 
conditions are satisfied:
    (a) The fiduciary engaging in the covered transaction customarily 
purchases and sells securities for its own account in the ordinary 
course of its business as a broker-dealer.
    (b) At the time the transaction is entered into, the terms are at 
least as favorable to the plan as the terms generally available in an 
arm's length transaction with an unrelated party.
    (c) Except to the extent otherwise provided in Section V, the 
requirements of Section III(a) through III(f), III(h) and III(i) (if 
applicable), and III(j) are satisfied with respect to the transaction.

Section V. Exceptions From Conditions

    (a) Certain agency cross transactions. Section III of this 
exemption does not apply in the case of an agency cross transaction, 
provided that the person effecting or executing the transaction:
    (1) Does not render investment advice to any plan for a fee within 
the meaning of ERISA section 3(21)(A)(ii) with respect to the 
transaction;
    (2) is not otherwise a fiduciary who has investment discretion with 
respect to any plan assets involved in the transaction, see 29 CFR 
2510.3-21(d); and
    (3) does not have the authority to engage, retain or discharge any 
person who is or is proposed to be a fiduciary regarding any such plan 
assets.
    (b) Recapture of profits. Sections III(a) and III(i) do not apply 
in any case where the person who is engaging in a covered transaction 
returns or credits to the plan all profits earned by that person and 
any Related Entity in connection with the securities transactions 
associated with the covered transaction.
    (c) Special rules for pooled funds. In the case of a person 
engaging in a covered transaction on behalf of an account or fund for 
the collective investment of the assets of more than one plan (a pooled 
fund):
    (1) Sections III(b), (c) and (d) of this exemption do not apply 
if--
    (A) the arrangement under which the covered transaction is 
performed is subject to the prior and continuing authorization, in the 
manner described in this paragraph (c)(1), of a plan fiduciary with 
respect to each plan whose assets are invested in the pooled fund who 
is independent of the person. The requirement that the authorizing 
fiduciary be independent of the person shall not apply in the case of a 
plan covering only employees of the person, if the requirements of 
Section V(c)(2)(A) and (B) are met.
    (B) The authorizing fiduciary is furnished with any information 
that is reasonably necessary to determine whether the authorization 
should be given or continued, not less than 30 days prior to 
implementation of the arrangement or material change thereto, including 
(but not limited to) a description of the person's brokerage placement 
practices, and, where requested any other reasonably available 
information regarding the matter upon the reasonable request of the 
authorizing fiduciary at any time.
    (C) In the event an authorizing fiduciary submits a notice in 
writing to the person engaging in or proposing to engage in the covered 
transaction objecting to the implementation of, material change in, or 
continuation of, the arrangement, the plan on whose behalf the 
objection was tendered is given the opportunity to terminate its 
investment in the pooled fund, without penalty to the plan, within such 
time as may be necessary to effect the withdrawal in an orderly manner 
that is equitable to all withdrawing plans and to the nonwithdrawing 
plans. In the case of a plan that elects to withdraw under this 
subparagraph (c)(1)(C), the withdrawal shall be effected prior to the 
implementation of, or material change in, the arrangement; but an 
existing arrangement need not be discontinued by reason of a plan 
electing to withdraw.
    (D) In the case of a plan whose assets are proposed to be invested 
in the pooled fund subsequent to the implementation of the arrangement 
and that has not authorized the arrangement in the manner described in 
Section V(c)(1)(B) and (C), the plan's investment in the pooled fund is 
subject to the prior written authorization of an authorizing

[[Page 22033]]

fiduciary who satisfies the requirements of subparagraph (c)(1)(A).
    (2) Section III(a) of this exemption, to the extent that it 
prohibits the person from being the employer of employees covered by a 
plan investing in a pool managed by the person, does not apply if--
    (A) The person is an ``investment manager'' as defined in section 
3(38) of ERISA, and
    (B) Either (i) the person returns or credits to the pooled fund all 
profits earned by the person and any Related Entity in connection with 
all covered transactions engaged in by the fund, or (ii) the pooled 
fund satisfies the requirements of paragraph V(c)(3).
    (3) A pooled fund satisfies the requirements of this paragraph for 
a fiscal year of the fund if--
    (A) On the first day of such fiscal year, and immediately following 
each acquisition of an interest in the pooled fund during the fiscal 
year by any plan covering employees of the person, the aggregate fair 
market value of the interests in such fund of all plans covering 
employees of the person does not exceed twenty percent of the fair 
market value of the total assets of the fund; and
    (B) The aggregate brokerage commissions received by the person and 
any Related Entity, in connection with covered transactions engaged in 
by the person on behalf of all pooled funds in which a plan covering 
employees of the person participates, do not exceed five percent of the 
total brokerage commissions received by the person and any Related 
Entity from all sources in such fiscal year.

Section VI. Recordkeeping Requirements

    (a) The plan fiduciary engaging in the covered transactions 
maintains or causes to be maintained for a period of six years, in a 
manner that is accessible for audit and examination, the records 
necessary to enable the persons described in Section VI(b) to determine 
whether the conditions of this exemption have been met, except that:
    (1) If the records necessary to enable the persons described in 
Section VI(b) below to determine whether the conditions of the 
exemption have been met are lost or destroyed, due to circumstances 
beyond the control of the such plan fiduciary, then no prohibited 
transaction will be considered to have occurred solely on the basis of 
the unavailability of those records; and
    (2) No party in interest, other than such plan fiduciary who is 
responsible for record-keeping, shall be subject to the civil penalty 
that may be assessed under ERISA section 502(i) or the taxes imposed by 
Code section 4975(a) and (b) if the records are not maintained or are 
not available for examination as required by paragraph (b) below; and
    (b)(1) Except as provided below in subparagraph (2) and 
notwithstanding any provisions of ERISA section 504(a)(2) and (b), the 
records referred to in the above paragraph are unconditionally 
available at their customary location for examination during normal 
business hours by--
    (A) Any duly authorized employee or representative of the 
Department or the Internal Revenue Service;
    (B) Any fiduciary of the plan or any duly authorized employee or 
representative of such fiduciary;
    (C) Any contributing employer and any employee organization whose 
members are covered by the plan, or any authorized employee or 
representative of these entities; or
    (D) Any participant or beneficiary of the plan or the duly 
authorized representative of such participant or beneficiary; and
    (2) None of the persons described in subparagraph (1)(B)-(D) above 
shall be authorized to examine trade secrets or commercial or financial 
information of such fiduciary which is privileged or confidential.
    (3) Should such plan fiduciary refuse to disclose information on 
the basis that such information is exempt from disclosure, such plan 
fiduciary shall, by the close of the thirtieth (30th) day following the 
request, provide a written notice advising that person of the reasons 
for the refusal and that the Department may request such information.

Section VII. Definitions

    The following definitions apply to this exemption:
    (a) The term ``person'' includes the person and affiliates of the 
person.
    (b) An ``affiliate'' of a person includes the following:
    (1) Any person directly or indirectly, through one or more 
intermediaries, controlling, controlled by, or under common control 
with, the person;
    (2) Any officer, director, partner, employee, relative (as defined 
in ERISA section 3(15)), brother, sister, or spouse of a brother or 
sister, of the person; and
    (3) Any corporation or partnership of which the person is an 
officer, director or employee or in which such person is a partner.
    A person is not an affiliate of another person solely because one 
of them has investment discretion over the other's assets. The term 
``control'' means the power to exercise a controlling influence over 
the management or policies of a person other than an individual.
    (c) An ``agency cross transaction'' is a securities transaction in 
which the same person acts as agent for both any seller and any buyer 
for the purchase or sale of a security.
    (d) The term ``covered transaction'' means an action described in 
Section I of this exemption.
    (e) The term ``effecting or executing a securities transaction'' 
means the execution of a securities transaction as agent for another 
person and/or the performance of clearance, settlement, custodial or 
other functions ancillary thereto.
    (f) A plan fiduciary is ``independent'' of a person if it (1) is 
not the person, (2) does not receive compensation or other 
consideration for his or her own account from the person, and (3) does 
not have a relationship to or an interest in the person that might 
affect the exercise of the person's best judgment in connection with 
transactions described in this exemption. Notwithstanding the 
foregoing, if the plan is an individual retirement account not subject 
to title I of ERISA, and is beneficially owned by an employee, officer, 
director or partner of the person engaging in covered transactions with 
the IRA pursuant to this exemption, such beneficial owner is deemed 
``independent'' for purposes of this definition.
    (g) The term ``profit'' includes all charges relating to effecting 
or executing securities transactions, less reasonable and necessary 
expenses including reasonable indirect expenses (such as overhead 
costs) properly allocated to the performance of these transactions 
under generally accepted accounting principles.
    (h) The term ``securities transaction'' means the purchase or sale 
of securities.
    (i) The term ``nondiscretionary trustee'' of a plan means a trustee 
or custodian whose powers and duties with respect to any assets of the 
plan are limited to (1) the provision of nondiscretionary trust 
services to the plan, and (2) duties imposed on the trustee by any 
provision or provisions of ERISA or the Code. The term 
``nondiscretionary trust services'' means custodial services and 
services ancillary to custodial services, none of which services are 
discretionary. For purposes of this exemption, a person does not fail 
to be a nondiscretionary trustee solely by reason of having been 
delegated, by the sponsor of a master or prototype plan, the power to 
amend such plan.
    (j) The term ``plan'' means an employee benefit plan described in 
ERISA section 3(3) and any plan

[[Page 22034]]

described in Code section 4975(e)(1) (including an Individual 
Retirement Account as defined in VII(k)).
    (k) The terms ``Individual Retirement Account'' or ``IRA'' mean any 
trust, account or annuity described in Code section 4975(e)(1)(B) 
through (F), including, for example, an individual retirement account 
described in section 408(a) of the Code and a health savings account 
described in section 223(d) of the Code.
    (l) The term ``Related Entity'' means an entity, other than an 
affiliate, in which a person has an interest which may affect the 
person's exercise of its best judgment as a fiduciary.
    (m) A fiduciary acts in the ``Best Interest'' of the plan when the 
fiduciary acts with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the 
circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person would exercise 
based on the investment objectives, risk tolerance, financial 
circumstances, and needs of the plan, without regard to the financial 
or other interests of the fiduciary, its affiliate, a Related Entity or 
any other party.
    (n) The term ``Commission'' means a brokerage commission or sales 
load paid for the service of effecting or executing the transaction, 
but not a 12b-1 fee, revenue sharing payment, marketing fee, 
administrative fee, sub-TA fee or sub-accounting fee.
    (o) A ``Material Conflict of Interest'' exists when person has a 
financial interest that could affect the exercise of its best judgment 
as a fiduciary in rendering advice to a Plan or IRA.

Section VIII. Examples Illustrating the Use of the Annualized Portfolio 
Turnover Ratio Described in Section III(f)(4)(B)

    (a) M, an investment manager affiliated with a broker dealer that M 
uses to effect securities transactions for the accounts that it 
manages, exercises investment discretion over the account of plan P for 
the period January 1, 2014, though June 30, 2014, after which the 
relationship between M and P ceases. The market values of P's account 
with A at the relevant times (excluding debt securities having a 
maturity of one year or less at the time of acquisition) are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Market value ($
                         Date                              millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 1, 2014......................................               10.4
January 31, 2014.....................................               10.2
February 28, 2014....................................                9.9
March 31, 2014.......................................               10.0
April 30, 2014.......................................               10.6
May 31, 2014.........................................               11.5
June 30, 2014........................................               12.0
Sum of market value..................................               74.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Aggregate purchases during the 6-month period were $850,000; 
aggregate sales were $1,000,000, excluding in each case debt securities 
having a maturity of one year or less at the time of acquisition.
    For purposes of Section III(f)(4) of this exemption, M computes the 
annualized portfolio turnover as follows:
    A = $850,000 (lesser of purchases or sales)
    B = $10,657,143 ($74.6 million divided by 7, i.e., number of 
valuation dates)
    Annualizing factor = C/D = 12/6 = 2
    Annualized portfolio turnover ratio = 2 x (850,000/10,657,143) = 
0.160 = 16.0 percent
    (b) Same facts as (a), except that M manages the portfolio through 
July 15, 2014, and, in addition, resumes management of the portfolio on 
November 10, 2014, through the end of the year. The additional relevant 
valuation dates and portfolio values are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Market value ($
                        Dates                              millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 15, 2014........................................               12.2
November 10, 2014....................................                9.4
November 30, 2014....................................                9.6
December 31, 2014....................................                9.8
Sum of market values.................................               41.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    During the periods July 1, 2014, through July 15, 2014, and 
November 10, 2014, through December 31, 2014, there were an additional 
$650,000 of purchases and $400,000 of sales. Thus, total purchases were 
$1,500,000 (i.e., $850,000 + $650,000) and total sales were $1,400,000 
(i.e., $1,000,000 + $400,000) for the management periods.
    M now computes the annualized portfolio turnover as follows:
    A = $1,400,000 (lesser of aggregate purchases or sales)
    B = $10,509,091 ($10,509,091 ($115.6 million divided by 11)
    Annualizing factor = C/D = 12/ (6.5 + 1.67) = 1.47
    Annualized portfolio turnover ratio = 1.47 x (1,400,000/10,509,091) 
= 0.196 = 19.6 percent.

Proposed Revocation of Parts I(b), I(c) and II(2) of PTE 75-1 and 
Restatement of PTE 75-1

    The Department is proposing to revoke Parts I(b), I(c) and II(2) of 
PTE 75-1. In connection with the proposed revocation of Part II(2), the 
Department is republishing Part II of PTE 75-1. Part II of PTE 75-1 
shall read as follows:
    The restrictions of section 406(a) of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 (the Act) and the taxes imposed by section 
4975(a) and (b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code), by 
reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A) through (D) of the Code, shall not 
apply to any purchase or sale of a security between an employee benefit 
plan and a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act 
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.), a reporting dealer who makes primary 
markets in securities of the United States Government or of any agency 
of the United States Government (Government securities) and reports 
daily to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York its positions with 
respect to Government securities and borrowings thereon, or a bank 
supervised by the United States or a State if the following conditions 
are met:
    (a) In the case of such broker-dealer, it customarily purchases and 
sells securities for its own account in the ordinary course of its 
business as a broker-dealer.
    (b) In the case of such reporting dealer or bank, it customarily 
purchases and sells Government securities for its own account in the 
ordinary course of its business and such purchase or sale between the 
plan and such reporting dealer or bank is a purchase or sale of 
Government securities.
    (c) Such transaction is at least as favorable to the plan as an 
arm's length transaction with an unrelated party would be, and it was 
not, at the time of such transaction, a prohibited transaction within 
the meaning of section 503(b) of the Code.
    (d) Neither the broker-dealer, reporting dealer, bank, nor any 
affiliate thereof has or exercises any discretionary authority or 
control (except as a directed trustee) with respect to the investment 
of the plan assets involved in the transaction, or renders investment 
advice (within the meaning of 29 CFR 2510.3-21(c)) with respect to 
those assets.
    (e) The broker-dealer, reporting dealer, or bank engaging in the 
covered transaction maintains or causes to be maintained for a period 
of six years from the date of such transaction such records as are 
necessary to enable the persons described in paragraph (f) of this 
exemption to determine whether the conditions of this exemption have 
been met, except that:
    (1) No party in interest other than the broker-dealer, reporting 
dealer, or bank engaging in the covered transaction, shall be subject 
to the civil penalty, which may be assessed under section 502(i) of the 
Act, or to the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) and (b) of the Code, if 
such records are not maintained, or are not available for examination 
as required by paragraph (f) below; and

[[Page 22035]]

    (2) A prohibited transaction will not be deemed to have occurred 
if, due to circumstances beyond the control of the broker-dealer, 
reporting dealer, or bank, such records are lost or destroyed prior to 
the end of such six year period.
    (f)(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in subsections 
(a)(2) and (b) of section 504 of the Act, the records referred to in 
paragraph (e) are unconditionally available for examination during 
normal business hours by:
    A. Any duly authorized employee or representative of the Department 
or the Internal Revenue Service;
    B. Any fiduciary of the plan or any duly authorized employee or 
representative of such fiduciary;
    C. Any contributing employer and any employee organization whose 
members are covered by the plan, or any authorized employee or 
representative of these entities; or
    D. Any participant or beneficiary of the plan or the duly 
authorized representative of such participant or beneficiary; and
    (2) None of the persons described in subparagraph (1)(B)-(D) above 
shall be authorized to examine trade secrets or commercial or financial 
information of the broker-dealer, reporting dealer, or bank which is 
privileged or confidential.
    (3) Should such broker-dealer, reporting dealer, or bank refuse to 
disclose information on the basis that such information is exempt from 
disclosure, the broker-dealer, reporting dealer, or bank shall, by the 
close of the thirtieth (30th) day following the request, provide a 
written notice advising that person of the reasons for the refusal and 
that the Department may request such information.
    For purposes of this exemption, the terms ``broker-dealer,'' 
``reporting dealer'' and ``bank'' shall include such persons and any 
affiliates thereof, and the term ``affiliate'' shall be defined in the 
same manner as that term is defined in 29 CFR 2510.3-21(e) and 26 CFR 
54.4975-9(e).

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 14th day of April, 2015.
Phyllis C. Borzi,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2015-08838 Filed 4-15-15; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P