[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26950-26951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08081]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Survey of Nonparticipating Single Premium Group Annuity Rates

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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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 (OMB 
control number 1212-0030, expiring July 31, 2024). The purpose of this 
information collection is to survey insurance company rates for pricing 
annuity contracts to obtain information needed to set actuarial 
assumptions. The American Council of Life Insurers conducts this 
voluntary survey for PBGC. This notice informs the public of PBGC's 
request and solicits public comment on the collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by May 16, 2024.

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. All 
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 ([email protected]), 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: Gregory Katz ([email protected]), 
Attorney, Regulatory Affairs Division, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, Washington DC 
20024-2101, 202-229-3829. 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: PBGC's regulations prescribe actuarial 
valuation methods and assumptions (including interest rate assumptions) 
to be used to determine the actuarial present value of benefits under 
single-employer plans in involuntary or distress terminations (29 CFR 
part 4044) and the present value of benefits and certain assets under 
multiemployer plans that undergo a mass withdrawal of contributing 
employers (29 CFR part 4281). In each month immediately preceding the 
start of a new calendar quarter, PBGC publishes the interest assumption 
to be used under those regulations for plans terminating or undergoing 
mass withdrawal during the next quarter.
    The interest assumption is intended to reflect current conditions 
in the group annuity markets. To determine the interest assumption, 
PBGC gathers premium rate data from insurance companies that are 
providing annuity contracts to terminating pension plans

[[Page 26951]]

through a quarterly survey. The American Council of Life Insurers 
(ACLI) distributes the survey and provides PBGC with ``double blind'' 
data (i.e., PBGC is unable to match responses with the insurance 
companies that submitted them). PBGC also uses the information from the 
surveys to determine the interest assumption it uses to value benefits 
payable to participants and beneficiaries in PBGC-trusteed plans for 
purposes of PBGC's financial statements.
    PBGC is making conforming, clarifying, and editorial changes to the 
survey forms and instructions.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0030 (expires July 31, 2024). On February 2, 2024, 
PBGC published in the Federal Register (at 89 FR 7418) a notice 
informing the public of its intent to request an extension of this 
collection of information. No comments were received. PBGC is 
requesting that OMB extend approval of the collection 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.
    This voluntary survey is directed at insurance companies most, if 
not all, of which are members of ACLI. The survey is conducted 
quarterly and approximately 10 insurance companies will be asked to 
participate. PBGC estimates that about six insurance companies will 
respond to the survey each quarter, and that each survey will require 
approximately 30 minutes to complete and return. The total burden is 
estimated to be 12 hours (30 minutes per survey x four surveys per year 
x six respondents per quarter).

    Issued in Washington, DC, by
Gregory Katz,
Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024-08081 Filed 4-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P