[Federal Register: April 20, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 74)]
[Notices]               
[Page 17988-17989]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20ap09-73]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

 
Proposed Extension of Information Collection; Comment Request; 
Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 91-38, Bank Collective 
Investment Funds

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections 
of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA 95). This program helps to ensure that the Department can properly 
assess the impact of its information collection requirements on 
respondents and minimize the reporting burden (in both time and 
financial resources) on the public and that the public can clearly 
understand the Department's information collection instruments and can 
provide the requested data in the desired format. Currently, the 
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting comments 
on a proposed extension of the information collection provisions of 
Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 91-38, Bank Collective 
Investment Funds. A copy of the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
can be obtained by contacting the office listed in the Addresses 
section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the 
Addresses section below on or before June 19, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to G. Christopher Cosby, Office 
of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-5718, 
Washington, DC 20210, (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 219-4745 (the foregoing 
are not toll-free numbers). Comments may also be submitted 
electronically to the following Internet e-mail address: 
ebsa.opr@dol.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    PTE 91-38 provides an exemption from the prohibited transaction 
provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) for certain transactions between a bank collective investment 
fund and persons who are parties in interest with respect to an 
employee benefit plan. Without the exemption, sections 406 and 407(a) 
of ERISA and section 4975(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code may 
prohibit transactions between the collective investment fund (CIF) and 
a party in interest to one or more of the employee benefit plans 
participating in the collective investment fund. Under PTE 91-38, a 
collective investment fund generally may engage in transactions with 
parties in interest to a plan that invests in the fund as long as the 
plan's total investment in the fund does not exceed a specified 
percentage of the total assets of the fund. The PTE also contains more 
limited or differently defined relief for funds holding more than the 
specified percentage, for multiemployer plans, and for transactions 
involving employer securities and employer real property. In order to 
ensure that the rights of participants and beneficiaries are protected, 
and that bank collective investment funds can demonstrate compliance 
with the terms of the exemption, the Department requires a bank to 
maintain records regarding the exempted transactions and make them 
available for inspection to specified interested persons (including the 
Department and the Internal Revenue Service) on request for a period of 
six years.

[[Page 17989]]

    EBSA previously submitted the information collection provisions of 
PTE 91-38 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review in an 
ICR that was approved under the OMB Control No. 1210-0083. The current 
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2009.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., by 
permitting electronic submission of responses.

III. Current Action

    This notice requests comments on a proposed extension of the ICR 
included in PTE 91-38. The Department is not proposing or implementing 
changes to the existing ICR at this time. The following summarizes the 
ICR and the current burden estimates:
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 91-38; Exemption for 
Certain Transactions Involving Bank Collective Investment Funds.
    OMB Number: 1210-0082.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Total Burden hours: 200.
    Respondents: 1,200.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Responses: 1,200.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the information 
collection request; they will also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: April 13, 2009.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-8907 Filed 4-17-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-29-P