[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52821-52822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18572]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Annual Reporting (Form 5500 Series)

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intent to request extension of OMB approval of 
information collection.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) intends to 
request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, 
with modifications, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of a collection 
of information for Annual Reporting under OMB control number 1212-0057, 
which expires on June 30, 2025. This notice informs the public of 
PBGC's intent and solicits public comment on the collection of 
information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 28, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Refer to OMB control 
number 1212-0057 in the subject line.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Regulatory Affairs Division, Office 
of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101.
    Commenters are strongly encouraged to submit public comments 
electronically. PBGC expects to have limited personnel available to 
process public comments that are submitted on paper through mail. Until 
further notice, any comments submitted on paper will be considered to 
the extent practicable.
    All submissions must include the agency's name (Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC) and refer to OMB control number 1212-
0057. Comments received will be posted without change to PBGC's 
website, www.pbgc.gov, including any personal information provided. Do 
not submit comments that include any personally identifiable 
information or confidential business information.
    Copies of the collection of information may be obtained by writing 
to Disclosure Division, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101, or 
calling 202-229-4040 during normal business hours. If you are deaf or 
hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to 
access telecommunications relay services.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Levin ([email protected]), 
Attorney, Regulatory Affairs Division, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20024-2101, 202-229-3559. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, or 
have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access 
telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Annual reporting to the Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), 
and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is required by law 
for most employee benefit plans. For example, section 4065 of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires annual 
reporting to PBGC for pension plans covered by title IV of ERISA. To 
accommodate these filing requirements, IRS, EBSA, and PBGC have jointly 
promulgated the Form 5500 Series, which includes the

[[Page 52822]]

Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and the Form 
5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan.
    The collection of information has been approved by OMB under 
control number 1212-0057 through June 30, 2025. PBGC intends to request 
that OMB extend its approval, 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 is proposing modifications to the 2023 Schedule R (Retirement 
Plan Information) and to the 2023 Schedule SB (Single-Employer Defined 
Benefit Plan Actuarial Information), and to their related instructions, 
as described below.

Schedule R

    PBGC is proposing modifications to line 19 of Schedule R and its 
instructions, a line that applies to all defined benefit plans (except 
DFEs) that have 1,000 or more participants. Currently, such plans must 
provide a breakdown of plan assets in line 19a by reporting the percent 
of assets held in five categories of investments. PBGC is proposing to 
reconfigure the categories as shown below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Current                             Proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stock.....................................  Public Equity.
Investment-Grade Debt.....................  Private Equity.
High-Yield Debt...........................  Investment-Grade Debt and
                                             Interest-Rate Hedging
                                             Assets.
Real Estate...............................  High-Yield Debt.
Other.....................................  Real Assets.
                                            Cash or Cash Equivalents.
                                            Other.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, for certain investments, PBGC is proposing to modify 
the instructions to clarify how certain atypical investments should be 
categorized for this purpose. For example, as currently drafted, it is 
not clear whether cash equivalents should be included in ``Investment 
Grade Debt'' or in ``Other''. Similarly, it is not clear whether 
infrastructure investments should be included in the ``Real Estate'' or 
the ``Other'' category. By expanding the list of categories and 
modifying the instructions, the more detailed information will be 
reported consistently which will enable PBGC to better model important 
characteristics of plan portfolios.
    PBGC is also proposing to modify the instructions for line 19a so 
that the percentages reported reflect the asset allocation as of the 
end of the plan year instead of the beginning of the plan year. Having 
more recent information will lead to better projections and more 
accurate analysis by PBGC, and because the Form 5500 isn't due until 
several months after the end of the plan year, this change should not 
create any timing issues for filers.
    In addition, PBGC is proposing changes to line 19b (average 
duration) and its instructions, and to eliminate line 19c (method used 
to determine the duration reported in line 19b). Under modified line 
19b, applicable filers would be required to check a box to indicate the 
average duration of the plan's combined investment-grade debt and 
interest-rate hedging assets portfolio, thereby replacing the current 
requirement to check the box that shows the average duration of the 
plan's combined investment-grade and high yield debt portfolio. The 
average duration ranges were also adjusted from 3-year periods to 5-
year periods. Line 19c currently asks for the duration measure used to 
calculate line 19b. Because the alternative duration measures do not 
provide meaningfully different results, eliminating line 19c will not 
hinder PBGC's modelling results.

Schedule SB

    PBGC is proposing modifications to Schedule SB, line 6 (Target 
Normal Cost) and its instructions, to address a possible, albeit 
unlikely, situation in which line 6c (Target Normal Cost) reported on 
Schedule SB would not be consistent with IRS regulation and statute if 
lines 6a and 6b were determined in accordance with the current line 6 
instructions. This situation would arise only if (1) a plan requires 
mandatory employee contributions and (2) the mandatory contributions 
for the plan year exceed the present value of benefits accruing during 
the plan year. PBGC's proposed changes to lines 6a and 6c of the 
instructions, and to line 6c of the Form, will rectify this situation 
by clarifying the amount to be reported in line 6a and by detailing 
that line 6c requires the sum of lines 6a and 6b, ``reduced (but not 
below zero) by any mandatory employee contributions expected to be made 
during the plan year.''
    In addition, PBGC is proposing to change the current instructions 
for the Schedule SB, line 26b attachment (projected benefit payments), 
to provide that, in situations where a plan assumes some, or all, 
benefits are paid in a lump sum, but uses the annuity substitution rule 
(26 CFR 1.430(d)-1(f)(4)(iii)(B)) to determine the funding target, the 
attachment may show projected benefits payable in the annuity form 
instead of in the form assumed for valuation purposes, as indicated in 
the current instructions. PBGC notes that the instructions for the 
current line 26b attachment, which was added for the 2022 plan year, 
suggest that for such plans, the benefit projection be based on a 
different form of payment than what was used to determine the funding 
target.
    PBGC estimates that it will receive approximately 25,000 Form 5500 
and Form 5500-SF filings per year under this collection of information 
for the 2023 Form 5500 Series. PBGC further estimates that the total 
annual burden of this collection of information for the Form 5500 
Series, attributable to PBGC, will be 17,743 hours and that there will 
be no cost burden.
    PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
     evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodologies 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC, by
Hilary Duke,
Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2022-18572 Filed 8-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P