FR Doc E9-8907
[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]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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