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Applicant (Plan Official)
Address
Dear Applicant (Plan Official):
Re: VFCP Application No. xx–xxxxxx
The Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
(EBSA),
has responsibility for administration and enforcement of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). EBSA has established
a Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) to encourage the correction of
breaches of fiduciary responsibility and the restoration of losses to the plan
participants and beneficiaries.
In accordance with the requirements of the VFCP, you have identified
the following transactions as breaches, or potential breaches, of Part 4 of
Title I of ERISA, and you have submitted documentation to EBSA that demonstrates
that you have taken the corrective action indicated.
[Briefly recap the violation and correction. Example: Failure to deposit
participant contributions to the XYZ Corp. 401(k) plan within the time frames
required by ERISA, from [insert date] to [insert date]. All participant
contributions were deposited by [insert date] and lost earnings on the delinquent
contributions were deposited and allocated to participants’ plan accounts on [insert date].]
Because you have taken the above-described corrective action that is
consistent with the requirements of the VFCP, EBSA will take no civil
enforcement action against you with respect to this breach. Specifically, EBSA
will not recommend that the Solicitor of Labor initiate legal action against
you, and EBSA will not impose the penalties in section 502(l) or section 502(i)
of ERISA on the amount you have repaid to the plan.
EBSA’s decision to take no further action is conditioned on the
completeness and accuracy of the representations made in your application. You
should note that this decision will not preclude EBSA from conducting an
investigation of any potential violations of criminal law in connection with the
transaction identified in the application or investigating the transaction
identified in the application with a view toward seeking appropriate relief from
any other person.
[If the transaction is a prohibited transaction for which no exemptive relief
is available, add the following language: Please also be advised that pursuant
to section 3003(c) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. section 1203(c), the Secretary of Labor
is required to transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury information indicating
that a prohibited transaction has occurred. Accordingly, this matter will be
referred to the Internal Revenue Service.]
In addition, you are cautioned that EBSA’s decision to take no further
action is binding on EBSA only. Any other governmental agency, and participants
and beneficiaries, remain free to take whatever action they deem necessary.
If you have any questions about this letter, you may contact the Regional
VFCP Coordinator at applicable address and telephone number.
Sincerely,
Regional Director (or designated person)
Enclosure
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