[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 236 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79047-79048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26890]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Missing Participants

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval of information 
collection, with modifications.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting 
that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act, of a collection of information under 
PBGC's regulation on Missing Participants, with modifications. This 
notice informs the public of PBGC's request and solicits public comment 
on the collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 7, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    A copy of the request will be posted on PBGC's website at https://www.pbgc.gov/prac/laws-and-regulation/federal-register-notices-open-for-comment. It may also be obtained without charge by writing to the 
Disclosure Division of the Office of the General Counsel of PBGC, 1200 
K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005-4026; faxing a request to 202-326-
4042; or, calling 202-326-4040 during normal business hours (TTY users 
may call the Federal Relay Service toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to 
be connected to 202-326-4040). The Disclosure Division will email, fax, 
or mail the information to you, as you request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Cibinic, Deputy Assistant 
General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW, Washington, DC 
20005-4026; 202-229-6352. (TTY users may call the Federal Relay Service 
toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-229-6352.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The process of closing out a terminated 
retirement plan involves the disposition of plan assets to satisfy the 
benefits of plan participants and beneficiaries. One difficulty faced 
by plan administrators in closing out terminated plans is how to 
provide for the benefits of missing persons. Title IV of ERISA includes 
a provision (section 4050 of ERISA) under which the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) holds retirement benefits for missing 
participants and beneficiaries in terminated pension plans and seeks to 
reunite those participants and beneficiaries with the benefits being 
held for them.
    The missing participants program was limited to single-employer DB 
plans covered by the title IV insurance program. The Pension Protection 
Act of 2006 authorized expansion of the missing participants program, 
and PBGC by final rule published on December 22, 2017 (82 FR 60800), 
extended the program to--
     defined contribution (DC) plans (not covered by title IV 
\1\),
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    \1\ Eligibility for the missing participants program under ERISA 
section 4050 is not by itself considered coverage by title IV or 
ERISA.
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     small professional service DB plans (not covered by title 
IV), and
     multiemployer DB plans (covered by title IV).
    All four programs follow the same basic design. The most prominent 
difference among them lies in the mandatory or voluntary nature of the 
programs. For plans covered by the title IV insurance program, 
participation in the program is mandatory. For plans not covered by 
title IV, PBGC's regulation permits, but does not require, such plans 
to participate in PBGC's missing participants program.
    PBGC needs information from plans that participate in the missing 
participants program to identify the plans and the missing participants 
and beneficiaries, to search for missing participants and 
beneficiaries, to determine the persons entitled to benefits that the 
plans transfer to PBGC and the form and amount of benefits payable, and 
to refer claimants of benefits being held elsewhere to the institutions 
holding the benefits.
    PBGC intends to modify its information collection to require 
additional information about missing participants in two categories in 
order to properly withhold taxes when such participants are located and 
their benefits claimed and paid. For DC plans that permit Roth 
accounts, PBGC intends to require a breakdown of qualified and non-
qualified Roth amounts transferred to PBGC (if any), and if non-
qualified Roth amounts are being transferred, the date the first Roth 
contribution was made. Where relevant for DB and DC plans, PBGC intends 
to require identification of the portion of a

[[Page 79048]]

participant's benefit transfer amount treated as foreign-source income, 
and if so, for DB plans how that determination was made. PBGC as 
administrator of the Missing Participants Program relies on information 
provided and certified to by the plan administrator or plan sponsor as 
applicable.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0069 (expires January 31, 2021). On September 1, 
2020 PBGC published in the Federal Register (at 85 FR 54433) a notice 
informing the public of its intent to request an extension of this 
collection of information, as modified. No comments were received. PBGC 
is requesting that OMB extend its approval of this collection of 
information (with modifications) for three years. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.
    PBGC estimates that it will receive a total of 226 filings from 
plans each year under this collection of information. PBGC further 
estimates that the annual burden of this collection of information is 
646 hours and $115,650.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Stephanie Cibinic,
Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2020-26890 Filed 12-7-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P