[Federal Register: November 30, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 229)]
[Notices]               
[Page 66936]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30no99-125]                         

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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; expires December 31, 1999). 
This voluntary collection of information is a quarterly survey of 
insurance company rates for pricing annuity contracts. The survey is 
conducted by the American Council of Life Insurance for the PBGC. This 
notice informs the public of the PBGC's request and solicits public 
comment on the collection of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by December 30, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk 
Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC 20503. 
Copies of the request for extension (including the collection of 
information) may be obtained from the PBGC's Communications and Public 
Affairs Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20005-4026, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on business days.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, Office of 
the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. (For TTY and TDD, 
call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and request 
connection to 202-326-4024).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's 
regulations prescribe actuarial valuation methods and assumptions 
(including interest rate assumptions) to be used in determining the 
actuarial present value of benefits under single-employer plans that 
terminate (29 CFR Part 4044) and under multiemployer plans that undergo 
a mass withdrawal of contributing employers (29 CFR Part 4281). Each 
month the PBGC publishes the interest rates to be used under those 
regulations for plans terminating or undergoing mass withdrawal during 
the next month.
    The interest rates are intended to reflect current conditions in 
the investment and annuity markets. To determine these interest rates, 
the PBGC gathers pricing data from insurance companies that are 
providing annuity contracts to terminating pension plans through a 
quarterly ``Survey of Nonparticipating Single Premium Group Annuity 
Rates.'' The survey is distributed by the American Council of Life 
Insurance and provides the PBGC with ``blind'' data (i.e., is conducted 
in such a way that the PBGC is unable to match responses with the 
companies that submitted them).
    The survey is directed at insurance companies that have volunteered 
to participate, most or all of which are members of the American 
Council of Life Insurance. The survey is conducted quarterly and will 
be sent to approximately 12 insurance companies. Based on experience 
under the current approval, the PBGC estimates that 8 insurance 
companies will complete and return the survey. The PBGC further 
estimates that the average annual burden of this collection of 
information is 32 hours and $48.
    The collection of information has been approved by OMB under 
control number 1212-0030 through December 31, 1999. The PBGC is 
requesting that OMB extend its approval for another 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.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., this 24th day of November, 1999.
Stuart Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 99-31063 Filed 11-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P