(a) General. Under the authority of section 110 of the Act, this
section sets forth an alternative method of compliance for certain
successor pension plans in which some participants and beneficiaries not
only have their rights set out in the plan, but also retain eligibility
for certain benefits under the terms of a former plan which has been
merged into the successor. This section is applicable only to plan
mergers which occur after the issuance by the successor plan of the
initial summary plan description under the Act. Under the alternative
method, the plan administrator of the successor plan is not required to
describe relevant provisions of merged plans in summary plan
descriptions of the successor plan furnished after the merger to that
class of participants and beneficiaries still affected by the terms of
the merged plans.
(b) Scope and application. This alternative method of compliance is
available only if:
(1) The plan administrator of the successor plan furnishes to the
participants covered under the predecessor plan and beneficiaries
receiving pension benefits under the merged plan within 90 days after
the effective date of the merger:
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(i) A copy of the most recent summary plan description of the
successor plan;
(ii) A copy of any summaries of material modifications to the
successor plan not incorporated in the most recent summary plan
description; and
(iii) A separate statement containing a brief description of the
merger, a description of the provisions of, and benefits provided by,
the merged and successor plans which are applicable to the participants
and beneficiaries of the merged plan; and a notice that copies of the
merged and successor plan documents, as well as the plan merger
documents (including the portions of any corporate merger documents
which describe or control the plan merger), are available for inspection
and that copies may be obtained upon written request for a duplication
charge (pursuant to Sec. 2520.104b-30); and
(2) After the merger, the plan administrator, in all subsequent
summary plan descriptions furnished pursuant to Sec. 2520.104b-2(a)--
(i) Clearly and conspicuously identifies the class of participants
and beneficiaries affected by the provisions of the merged plan, and
(ii) States that the documents described in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section are available for inspection and that copies may be obtained
upon written request for a duplication charge (pursuant to Sec.
2520.104b-30).
[42 FR 37182, July 19, 1977, as amended at 67 FR 776, Jan. 7, 2002]
