The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has proposed allowing multiemployer plans to electronically file plan termination notices, notices of insolvency and applications for financial assistance.
The proposed change is part of PBGC's ongoing implementation of the Government Paper Elimination Act, according to a filing of the proposal in the Federal Register.
Multiemployer plans are already required to electronically file other documents. The idea is to save taxpayers even more time and money, including reducing the need for plan administrators to contact PBGC.
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The multiemployer program protects benefits of approximately 10 million workers and retirees in approximately 1,400 plans.
The PBGC's proposal comes at a time when it is bracing for a wave of termination, insolvency and financial assistance notices. According to its 2014 annual report, the agency has less than $2 billion in assets to cover more than $42 billion in projected multiemployer plan liabilities.
Those figures were tabulated before Congress passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which gives the most severely underfunded plans the power to reduce benefits for retirees.
In proposing its new electronic filing regulation, the agency requested feedback from sponsors and others on how the requirement might financially affect plans with 100 or fewer participants. Also, it sought input on how the filing process can be enhanced and how the burden of collecting the information can be minimized.
At some point, the PBGC is also likely to want to allow sponsors to electronically file notices of benefit reduction or benefit restoration.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
