[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11330-11333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03524]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
[Prohibited Transaction Exemptions 2016-10 and 2016-11; Application
Numbers D-12113 and D-12112]
Amendment To Extend Effective Dates for Prohibited Transaction
Exemptions: Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto, Canada; Northern Trust
Corporation, Chicago, Illinois
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of amendments.
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SUMMARY: This document provides notice of an amendment to Prohibited
Transaction Exemptions (PTEs) 2016-10, granted to Royal Bank of Canada
(together with its Current and Future Affiliates, RBC), and 2016-11,
granted to Northern Trust Corporation (together with its Current and
Future Affiliates, Northern) that extends the effective periods of the
exemptions for up to six months if RBC and Northern meet certain
conditions. The amendment to PTE 2016-10 is referred to herein as the
RBC QPAM Amendment, and the amendment to PTE 2016-11 is referred to
herein as the Northern QPAM Amendment (collectively, the Amendments).
DATES: The Amendments will be in effect on March 5, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the RBC QPAM Amendment, please
contact Ms. Blessed Chuksorji-Keefe, Office of Exemption
Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, (202) 693-8567 (this is not a toll-free number).
For the Northern QPAM Amendment, please contact Ms. Anna Mpras Vaughan,
Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits Security
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, (202) 693-8565 (this is not a
toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of
Labor (the Department) published a notice of proposed amendments in the
Federal Register (90 FR 10087) pursuant to its authority under ERISA
section 408(a), and in accordance with the Department's exemption
procedures.\1\ The proposed amendments would extend the effective
periods of PTE 2016-10 and PTE 2016-11 until the earlier of September
4, 2025, or the date that the Department makes a final agency action in
connection with the Notices of Proposed Exemption for the RBC QPAMs and
the Northern QPAMs the Department published in the Federal Register in
January 2025.\2\ The proposed amendments required RBC and Northern to
meet the conditions for relief under PTE 2016-10 and PTE 2016-11,
respectively, during the proposed extended effective periods.
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\1\ The procedures for requesting an exemption are set forth in
29 CFR part 2570, subpart B (89 FR 4662, 4691, January 24, 2024).
Effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No.
4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. app. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the
Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type requested
by the applicants to the Secretary of Labor. Accordingly, the
Department grants this exemption under its sole authority.
\2\ Proposed Exemption for the Royal Bank of Canada and Its
Current and Future Affiliates at 90 FR 6013, January 17, 2025;
Proposed Exemption From Certain Prohibited Transaction Restrictions
Involving Northern Trust Corporation at 90 FR 7174, January 21,
2025.
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Based on the RBC and Northern's representations contained in the
administrative record, the Department is granting the Amendments as
proposed. The Amendments provide only the relief specified herein and
do not provide relief from violations of any law other than the
prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA.
Benefits of the Amendments: The Department is granting the
Amendments based on the applicants' representations that the expiration
of the exemptive relief in PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11 before the
Department publishes a final exemption extending such relief for an
additional period of five years would harm plans and their participants
and beneficiaries and Individual Retirement Account owners (Covered
Plans).
As discussed below, the Department makes the requisite findings
under ERISA section 408(a) that the amendments are: (1)
administratively feasible for the Department, (2) in the interest of
Covered Plan(s) and their participants and beneficiaries, and (3)
protective of the rights of the participants and beneficiaries of
Covered Plans, based on the applicants' adherence to all the conditions
of PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11, respectively, at all times. Accordingly,
affected parties should be aware that the applicants' adherence to all
conditions in PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11, as applicable, is required for
the applicants to rely on the Amendments described herein. Absent these
conditions, the Department would not have granted the Amendments.
A. Background
On October 28, 2016, the Department published PTEs 2016-10 and
2016-11 in the Federal Register.\3\ PTE 2016-10 is a temporary
administrative exemption that permits certain entities (the RBC
Qualified Professional Asset Managers (QPAMs)) with specified
relationships to Royal Bank of Canada (Bahamas) Limited (RBCTC Bahamas)
to continue to rely on the relief provided by the Department's QPAM
Exemption \4\ for a one-year period beginning on March 5, 2024, and
ending on March 4, 2025, notwithstanding a potential judgment of
conviction against RBCTC Bahamas for aiding and abetting tax fraud.\5\
Similarly, PTE 2016-11 permits certain entities (the Northern QPAMs)
with specified relationships to Northern Trust Fiduciary Services
(Guernsey) ltd. (NTFS) to continue to rely upon the relief provided by
the Department's QPAM Exemption for a one-year period beginning on
March 5, 2024, and ending on March 4, 2025, notwithstanding a potential
judgment of conviction against NTFS for aiding and abetting tax fraud
in the same scheme.\6\
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\3\ 81 FR 75147 and 81 FR 75150 (October 28, 2016).
\4\ PTE 84-14 49 FR 9494, March 13, 1984, as corrected at 50 FR
41430 (October 10, 1985), as amended at 70 FR 49305 (August 23,
2005), as amended at 75 FR 38837 (July 6, 2010), and as amended at
89 FR 23090 (April 3, 2024), hereinafter referred to as PTE 84-14 or
the QPAM exemption. Section I(g) of PTE 84-14 prevents an entity
that may otherwise meet the definition of a QPAM from utilizing the
exemptive relief provided by PTE 84-14 for itself and its client
plans, if that entity or an ``affiliate'' thereof, or any owner,
direct or indirect, of a five percent or more interest in the QPAM
has within 10 years immediately preceding the transaction, been
either convicted or released from imprisonment, whichever is later,
as a result of criminal activity described in that section.
\5\ On December 11, 2023, the Department issued a technical
correction to PTE 2016-10 when RBCTC Bahamas was convicted of aiding
and abetting tax fraud in France to accurately identify the French
Court issuing the conviction.
\6\ On April 4, 2024, the Department issued a technical
correction to PTE 2016-11 (89 FR 23612) after NTFS was convicted of
aiding and abetting tax fraud in France to accurately identify the
French Court issuing the conviction.
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The Department granted PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11 to protect RBC and
Northern's ERISA-covered plan and IRA clients from the harm that could
result from their respective QPAMs' loss of relief under PTE 84-14 due
to the QPAMs' convictions.
RBC and Northern separately applied to the Department for extended
relief that would apply after the relief in PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11
expires on March 4, 2025. In response, on January 17, 2025, the
Department published a
[[Page 11331]]
proposed exemption that would extend the relief in PTE 2016-10 for five
years (the RBC Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption) from March 5, 2025,
to March 4, 2030, if the RBC QPAMs would meet the proposed exemption's
conditions.\7\ The proposed exemption has a 45-day notice and comment
period that expires on March 3, 2025.
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\7\ 90 FR 6013 (January 17, 2025).
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On January 21, 2025, the Department published a similar proposed
exemption that would extend the relief in PTE 2016-11 for five years--
from March 5, 2025, to March 4, 2030 (the Northern Five-Year Proposed
QPAM Exemption) if the Northern QPAMs meet the terms of the
exemption.\8\ The proposed exemption has a 45-day notice and comment
period that expires on March 7, 2025.
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\8\ 90 FR 7174 (January 21, 2025).
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B. Northern's Concerns With the Northern Five-Year Proposed QPAM
Exemption
Following publication of the Northern Five-Year Proposed QPAM
Exemption in the Federal Register, Northern expressed concern to the
Department that due to the timing of the proposed exemption's
publication, the proposed exemption cannot be granted before Northern's
current relief in PTE 2016-11 expires on March 4, 2025. Even if the
Northern QPAMs eventually received relief retroactive to March 5, 2025,
the timing would result in a ``gap period'' during which Northern QPAMs
would not qualify for the QPAM Exemption from March 5, 2025, until the
date the Department publishes a final exemption. Northern's legal
counsel represents that this ``gap period'' would be harmful to
Northern's Covered Plan clients. According to Northern, because
Northern QPAMs make representations in their Internal Swaps and
Derivative Association (ISDA) agreements with various counterparties
stating that to the extent the QPAM is using ``plan assets'' (within
the meaning of ERISA section 3(42)) in connection with a transaction
entered into under the ISDA, it is a ``qualified professional asset
manager,'' and PTE 84-14 will apply to any applicable transactions
entered thereunder. The failure to satisfy this representation can
result in a default-based early termination of the ISDA agreements and
a lump sum payment would be due to the applicable counterparty.
In addition, Northern maintains that certain fixed income
securities have ``deemed'' ERISA-related representations. This means
that the purchaser of the security is deemed to have represented that
the purchase, holding, and eventual sale/transfer of the security is
not and will not be a non-exempt prohibited transaction under ERISA. In
some cases, the applicable fixed income security will specify the PTEs
that can be relied upon in connection with the purchase, holding, and
sale/transfer of the security. In these instances, only the status-
based exemptions are generally permitted.\9\ Northern represents that
failure to satisfy these ``deemed representations'' would void the
transaction.
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\9\ The status-based exemptions, such as PTEs 84-14, 90-1, 91-
38, 95-60, and 96-23, are largely based on the status of the plan
fiduciary or the plan asset entity engaging in the transaction, and
compliance with several conditions.
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Further, in these situations, Northern could not provide the
Department with certainty that counterparties would not exercise their
rights to default and/or void applicable transactions. Of specific
concern to Northern is the possibility that there could be a market
disruption that made it beneficial for the Northern QPAMs'
counterparties to default or void a transaction, they may not hesitate
to do so, which would cause harms to their covered plan clients.
Northern urged the Department provide the necessary exemptive relief
that would eliminate such risks to affected plans and their
participants and beneficiaries.
For a more complete description of Northern, the Northern QPAMs,
and transactions engaged in by the Northern QPAMs, please see the
Northern Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption published in the Federal
Register on January 21, 2025 (90 FR 7174).
C. RBC Concerns With the RBC Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption
Following publication of the RBC Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption,
RBC's counsel also expressed concern to the Department that the
proposed exemption would not be granted before its current relief
expires on March 4, 2025. As is the case with the Northern QPAMs
(described above), if the RBC QPAMs eventually received relief
retroactive to March 5, 2025, the timing would result in a ``gap
period'' during which the RBC QPAMs would be ineligible to rely on the
QPAM Exemption from March 5, 2025, until the date the Department
publishes a final exemption. RBC represents that Covered Plans would be
harmed if RBC does not obtain exemptive relief before relief in PTE
2016-10 expires on March 5, 2025.
RBC makes the following representations. Many investments needing
continuing relief, such as many derivatives, loans, leases, and other
extensions of credit, contain deemed or explicit representations that
the QPAM Exemption is applicable that include a corresponding
contractual obligation to notify the lender, lessor or counterparty if
the representation becomes untrue. Under master agreements, moreover,
those representations are deemed to be made each time a transaction is
entered into meaning the RBC QPAMs could be prohibited from entering
into transactions on behalf of underlying plans for as long as the
representation remains untrue (for example, for the period during which
exemptive relief is not provided). A breach of a representation or
warranty can also trigger an event of default for those trading
agreements, which could leave its Covered Plan clients responsible for
liquidation and other transition costs. Upon the expiration of PTE
2016-10, that obligation is triggered unless further relief is in
place.
As a prudent fiduciary, the investment manager would be obligated
to identify every instrument and communicate with every counterparty.
While some counterparties might negotiate additional and potentially
onerous terms to avoid termination, others would invoke their rights on
default.\10\ Thus, many Covered Plans could be in default on their
continuing representation to clients and counterparties that they meet
the conditions of the QPAM Exemption, and counterparties would be able
to immediately terminate existing, continuing transactions with the RBC
QPAMs' Covered Plan clients.
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\10\ RBC notes that counterparties are not acting as a fiduciary
to plans and, thus, could terminate positions based on the
counterparty's own interests in the event of a default
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Further, in RBC's discussions with market counterparties regarding
this issue, the counterparties uniformly stated that RBC's hope or even
reasonable expectation that the RBC QPAMs would eventually obtain
retroactive relief would not be sufficient to avoid default. RBC argues
that potential retroactive relief would not be a substitute for
obtaining timely exemptive relief with no gap period, and the risk and
compliance functions of their institutions might well terminate an
existing transaction in the absence of a guarantee that RBC QPAMs could
rely on the QPAM Exemption on March 5, 2025 (without a gap period).
Moreover, RBC represents that if there were a gap period in
exemptive relief, as other instruments mature, new trades dependent on
the QPAM Exemption could not be entered into, leaving Covered Plans
without the benefit of all
[[Page 11332]]
of the instruments and trading strategies contemplated by their
investment guidelines. According to RBC, affected plans could be left
with fewer and less effective ways to hedge risk, because the QPAM
Exemption is often used for hedging trades. Therefore, Covered Plans
would not have the trading efficiencies and breadth of investment
choices and potential counterparties afforded by the QPAM Exemption for
the entire period from the expiration of PTE 2016-10 until final relief
was granted, notwithstanding any retroactive relief following a gap
period.
These Covered Plans would lose the ability to retain current
positions, which might be impossible to replicate with similar
economics. In an extremely volatile period, the termination of existing
transactions and the inability to enter into new transactions would be
severely disadvantageous to plans. Such a curtailed selection of
available transactions would negatively impact these Covered Plans,
depriving them of the benefits the QPAM Exemption was designed to offer
and effectively penalizing them for having retained the RBC QPAMs.
Finally, RBC maintains that a gap period in exemptive relief would
introduce tremendous uncertainty for RBC's Covered Plan clients in
terms of RBC's ability to fulfill the obligations to such clients as
their investment adviser. Because many of RBC's investment management
agreements require that it continue to meet the requirements of the
QPAM Exemption during the term of such agreements, in the event of a
gap period in exemptive relief, the RBC QPAMs would be compelled to
give immediate notice to their Covered Plan clients that RBC no longer
meets the requirements of the QPAM Exemption upon expiration of PTE
2016-10. Covered Plan clients would need to consult on an emergency
basis with their lawyers and consultants; they may decide to incur the
cost of a manager search, even though they had no intention of
switching managers.
RBC states that any news reports on changes in policy due to the
change in Administration could complicate their thinking and trigger
precipitous decision making. Market participants could use the
uncertainty to undercut trading strategies, and other investment
managers could seek to attract and hire RBC portfolio managers who were
concerned about the likelihood of relief. This is true even for clients
that are not subject to ERISA (and therefore do not depend on RBC's
QPAM status) because of the stigma that a QPAM disqualification would
create. Pension plans, including non-ERISA plans such as public plans,
union plans, corporate plans and others, tend to treat QPAM status as a
threshold prerequisite for entrusting plan assets with an investment
manager and could be concerned that retaining a non-QPAM asset manager
would be viewed by their participants and regulators as a breach of
fiduciary duties.
In prior submissions RBC made to the Department in connection with
its application for the RBC Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption, RBC
estimated that Covered Plans would be subjected to substantial
transaction and ancillary costs if they liquidated their holdings with
RBC and transferred their assets to new managers. These costs would be
attributable only to the gap in exemptive relief.
For a more complete discussion of RBC, the RBC QPAMs, and the
transactions engaged in by the RBC QPAMs, please see the RBC Five-Year
Proposed QPAM Exemption published on January 17, 2025 (90 FR 6013).
D. Written Comments Received Regarding the Proposed Amendments and the
Department's Note
In the proposed amendments, the Department invited all interested
persons to submit written comments and/or requests for a public hearing
with respect to such notice, by February 26, 2025. The Department did
not receive any comments nor hearing requests. The complete application
files for the Amendments for Northern and for RBC (D-12112 and D-12113,
respectively) and for the Northern Five-Year Proposed Exemption and the
RBC Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption (D-12101 and D-12102,
respectively) are available for public inspection in the Public
Disclosure Room of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Room
N-1515, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210, reachable by telephone at (202) 693-8673. For a
more complete statement of the facts and representations supporting the
Department's decision to grant this Amendment, please refer to the
notice of proposed amendments published in the Federal Register on
February 21, 2025, at 90 FR 10087.
Based on the representations made by RBC and Northern, the
Department is hereby granting the Amendments extending the effective
periods of PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11 until the earlier of September 4,
2025 (six months after the current relief in PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11
expires on March 4, 2025), or the date the Department issues its final
agency action in connection with the RBC and Northern Five-Year
Proposed QPAM Exemptions to protect Covered Plans from the harmful
effects that may occur due to the ``gap period'' in coverage between
the lapse of PTE 2016-10 and PTE 2016-11 and publication date of the
RBC Five-Year Proposed QPAM Exemption and the Northern Five-Year
Proposed Exemption.
The relief in the Amendments is contingent on RBC and Northern's
satisfaction of the conditions in PTEs 2016-10 and 2016-11 at all
times. In addition, the RBC and Northern QPAMs must comply with a new
condition added by the Amendments that requires them to: (1) maintain
the records necessary to demonstrate to the Department that they have
met every condition of their respective exemptions during the extended
Effective Period; and (2) provide such records to the Department within
30 days after the date of the Department's request.
In granting the Amendments, the Department has relied on the
representations of RBC and Northern. Any material facts and
representations RBC and Northern made to the Department must always be
true and complete.
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/or Code section 4975(c)(2) does not
relieve a fiduciary or other party in interest or disqualified person
from certain other provisions of ERISA and/or 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, among other things, require a fiduciary to discharge their
duties respecting the plan solely in the interest of the participants
and beneficiaries of the plan and in a prudent fashion in accordance
with ERISA section 404(a)(1)(b); nor does it 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) As required by ERISA section 408(a) and/or Code section
4975(c)(2), the Department hereby finds that the Amendments are
administratively feasible, in the interests of the plan and of its
participants and beneficiaries, and protective of the rights of
participants and beneficiaries of the plan;
(3) The Amendments are supplemental to, and not in derogation of,
any other provisions of ERISA and/
[[Page 11333]]
or 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; and
(4) The availability of the Amendments is subject to the express
condition that the material facts and representations contained in each
Application are true and complete at all times, and that RBC and
Northern accurately describe all material terms of the transaction
which is the subject of the exemption.
Accordingly, after considering the entire administrative record
developed in connection with the Amendments, the Department has
determined to grant the following amendments under the authority of
ERISA section 408(a) and Code section 4975(c)(2) in accordance with the
procedures set forth in 29 CFR part 2570, subpart B (89 FR 4662, 4691,
January 24, 2024). Effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of
Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. app. 1 (1996), transferred
the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of
this type to the Secretary of Labor. Therefore, is the Amendments are
being issued solely by the Department.
Amendments to PTE 2016-10
The Department hereby amends PTE 2016-10 as follows:
1. The first sentence in Section I on page 81 FR 75147 that
currently reads:
Certain entities with specified relationships to Royal Bank of
Canada Trust Company (Bahamas) Limited (RBCTC Bahamas) (hereinafter,
the RBC QPAMs, as further defined in Section II(b)) will not be
precluded from relying on the exemptive relief provided by
Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 84-14 [footnote omitted],
notwithstanding a judgment of conviction against RBCTC Bahamas for
aiding and abetting tax fraud, to be entered in France in the
District Court of Paris (the Conviction, as further defined in
Section II(a)) [footnote omitted], for a period of up to twelve
months beginning on the date of the Conviction (the Conviction
Date), provided the following conditions are satisfied:
is replaced with the following sentence: Certain entities with
specified relationships to Royal Bank of Canada Trust Company (Bahamas)
Limited (RBCTC Bahamas) (hereinafter, the RBC QPAMs, as further defined
in Section II(b)) will not be precluded from relying on the exemptive
relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE 84-14),
notwithstanding a judgment of conviction against RBCTC Bahamas for
aiding and abetting tax fraud entered in France in the Court of Appeal,
French Special Prosecutor No. 1120392066, French Investigative Judge
No. JIRSIF/11/12 or another court of competent jurisdiction (the
Conviction, as further defined in Section II(a)), for a period of up to
18 months beginning on the date of the Conviction (the Conviction
Date), provided the following conditions are satisfied:
2. The Exemption Date section on page 88 FR 85931 of the Technical
Correction to PTE 2016-10, and the Effective Date section on page 81 FR
75149 of PTE 2016-10 are replaced with the following:
PTE 2016-10 will remain in effect for the period beginning on the
Conviction Date and continuing until the earlier of: (1) September 4,
2025 (the date that is 18 months after the Conviction Date); or (2) the
effective date of a final agency action the Department issues in
connection with a notice of proposed exemption providing long-term
exemptive relief for the covered transactions described in PTE 2016-10
that the Department published on January 17, 2025 (90 FR 6013) (the
Extended Effective Period).
3. A new condition I(n) is added that reads as follows:
The RBC QPAMs must maintain the records necessary to demonstrate to
the Department that each condition of PTE 2016-10 has been met during
the Extended Effective Period, and the RBC QPAMs must provide such
records to the Department within 30 days after the date of a request
for such records from the Department.
Amendments to PTE 2016-11
The Department hereby amends PTE 2016-11 as follows:
1. The First Sentence in Section I on pages 81 FR 75150-51 that
currently reads:
Certain entities with specified relationships to Northern Trust
Fiduciary Services (Guernsey) ltd. (NTFS) (hereinafter, the Northern
QPAMs, as further defined in Section II(b)) will not be precluded
from relying on the exemptive relief provided by Prohibited
Transaction Exemption 84-14 (PTE) 84-14 [footnote omitted],
notwithstanding a judgment of conviction against NTFS for aiding and
abetting tax fraud, to be entered in France in the District Court of
Paris (the Conviction, as further defined in Section II(a))
[footnote omitted], for a period of up to twelve months beginning on
the date of the Conviction (the Conviction Date), provided the
following conditions are satisfied:
is replaced with the following sentence: Certain entities with
specified relationships to Northern Trust Fiduciary Services (Guernsey)
ltd. (NTFS) (hereinafter, the Northern QPAMs, as further defined in
Section II(b)) will not be precluded from relying on the exemptive
relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14 (PTE 84-14),
notwithstanding a judgment of conviction against NTFS for aiding and
abetting tax fraud, entered in France in the Court of Appeal, French
Special Prosecutor No. 1120392066, French Investigative Judge No.
JIRSIF/11/12 or another court of competent jurisdiction (the
Conviction, as further defined in Section II(a)), for a period of up to
18 months beginning on the date of the Conviction (the Conviction
Date), provided the following conditions are satisfied:
2. The Exemption Date section on page 89 FR 23613 of the Technical
Correction to PTE 2016-11; and the Effective Date section on page 81 FR
75152 of PTE 2016-11 are replaced with the following:
PTE 2016-11 will remain in effect for the period beginning on the
Conviction Date and continuing until the earlier of: (1) September 4,
2025 (the date that is 18 months following the Conviction Date); or (2)
the effective date of a final agency action made by the Department in
connection with a notice of proposed exemption providing long-term
exemptive relief for the covered transactions described in PTE 2016-11
that the Department published on January 21, 2025 (90 FR 7174) (the
Extended Effective Period).
3. A new condition I(n) is added that reads as follows:
The Northern QPAMs must maintain the records necessary to
demonstrate to the Department that each condition of PTE 2016-11 has
been met during the Extended Effective Period, and Northern QPAMs must
provide such records to the Department within 30 days after the date of
a request for such records from the Department.
George Christopher Cosby,
Director, Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2025-03524 Filed 3-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P