What's New for Practitioners Archive

Annual Update of Maximum Civil Monetary Penalty: Federal law requires that PBGC amend its civil penalty regulations annually to incorporate an inflation adjustment on the maximum penalty that may be assessed for failure to provide certain required information (e.g., reportable event filings, 4010 filings, certain multiemployer plan notices). Accordingly, PBGC published a final rule on January 12, 2023, amending two regulations (29 CFR parts 4071 and 4302). Although the maximum penalty is increasing, it is uncommon for PBGC to assess this amount. The agency's goal is to encourage compliance. In most cases, when PBGC assesses an information penalty, it is for an amount significantly less than the maximum permitted.

Solicitation of Nominations for Appointment to PBGC’s Advisory Committee: On December 16, 2022, PBGC published a solicitation for nominations for the agency’s Advisory Committee. The committee provides advice on investment issues and other issues related to PBGC’s mission. Under ERISA, the Advisory Committee members are appointed to serve term appointments. PBGC is currently seeking nominations for three seats: one representing the general public and two representing employee organizations. 

2022 Form 5500: On December 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and PBGC released advance informational copies of the 2022 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions. See EBSA’s News Release for more information, including a summary of key changes.

Expected Retirement Age Annual Update: On December 7, 2022, PBGC published a final rule amending its valuation regulation (29 CFR 4044) by substituting a new table for selecting the “retirement rate category.” The new table is used to determine the applicable expected retirement age (“XRA”) for participants in single-employer plans with 2023 valuation dates. XRA is one of the assumptions used to determine liabilities under ERISA section 4044 (per 29 CFR 4044). A copy of the table is available on PBGC’s ERISA Section 4044 Retirement Assumptions web page.

Mortality Tables: PBGC has updated the ERISA section 4044 mortality table for 2023 valuations. This table is used to determine liabilities when a single-employer plan terminates in an involuntary or distress termination (per 29 CFR 4044). It is also used when a multiemployer plan incurs a mass withdrawal (per 29 CFR 4281). HTML and Excel versions of the 2023 mortality tables are available on PBGC's ERISA section 4044/4050 mortality table webpage. A unisex version of the table is also available on that webpage. The unisex version is used in specified situations to determine the benefit transfer amount under the Missing Participants Program (per 29 CFR 4050).

Special Financial Assistance – List of Plans in SFA Application Priority Group 6: On November 15, 2022, PBGC posted a list of plans that meet the requirements for SFA application Priority Group 6. The statute and PBGC’s regulation give priority for several groups of plans to file SFA applications before all other eligible plans are permitted to submit applications to PBGC. Priority Group 6 includes plans for which PBGC projects a present value of financial assistance payments under section 4261 of ERISA that would exceed $1 billion in the absence of SFA. The application period for Priority Group 6 plans is currently scheduled to open on February 11, 2023.

2023 Premium Filing Instructions: The Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2023 plan years have been approved by OMB and are now available on PBGC's website. Note, there are no significant changes from last year’s premium instructions. My PAA will be ready to accept 2023 premium filings on Monday, January 9, 2023.

Extension of Comment Period for Proposed Rule on Actuarial Assumptions for Determining Withdrawal Liability: PBGC is extending the comment period for a proposed rule that would provide interest rate assumptions that may be used by a plan actuary in determining a withdrawing employer’s liability to a multiemployer plan. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2022, with a 30-day public comment period. In response to public comments received from a group of interested parties, PBGC is extending the comment period for the proposed rule to a total of 60 days from the date of publication. A notice of the extension of the comment period through December 13, 2022, will be published November 10, 2022.

Benefit Restrictions - Present Value of PBGC Maximum Guarantee: On October 31, 2022, PBGC posted a table showing the applicable present values for 2023 plan years. A two-column spreadsheet version of the table is also available for convenient copying. For more information see Technical Update 07-04. 

Special Financial Assistance Application Period to Open for Plans in Priority Group 5: On November 15, 2022, PBGC will begin accepting applications for Special Financial Assistance for any plan in Priority Group 5. Priority Group 5 includes plans projected to become insolvent before March 11, 2026.

Guarantee Limit: As a result of the indexing rules provided by law, the maximum guarantee limits for single-employer plans that fail in 2023 will be 8.79% higher than the limits that applied for 2022. A table showing the 2023 guarantee limits for various ages and payment forms is available. The guarantee limits for multiemployer plans are not indexed and have not changed.

2023 Premium Rates: PBGC has determined the premium rates applicable for the 2023 plan year in accordance with the indexing rules provided in section 4006 of ERISA. The Premium Rates web page has been updated accordingly.

Proposed Rule on Actuarial Assumptions for Determining Withdrawal Liability: PBGC is proposing a new regulation to provide interest rate assumptions that may be used by a plan actuary in determining a withdrawing employer’s liability to a multiemployer plan.  The proposed rule clarifies that it is reasonable to base the interest assumption used to calculate an employer’s withdrawal liability on the market price of purchasing annuities from private insurers, such as by use of settlement interest rates prescribed by PBGC under Section 4044 of ERISA. The proposed rule would specifically permit the use of 4044 rates either as a standalone assumption or combined with funding interest rate assumptions, to determine withdrawal liability. It will be published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2022, with a 30-day public comment period.

Change of PBGC’s Address Final Rule: PBGC relocated on August 1, 2022. PBGC issued a final rule to amend its regulations that reference its former street address to reflect its new street address at 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101. Please note that correspondence currently directed to PBGC’s P.O. Box (e.g., participant correspondence) should continue to be sent to that P.O. Box and should not be sent to the new street address.

New My PAA Login Method Now Available: The login process for My PAA has been modified to meet new federal cybersecurity requirements for public-facing websites—most notably, a requirement to implement two-factor authentication. My PAA users may now log in via Login.gov, a secure sign in service used by the public to access participating government services including TSA’s PreCheck, Social Security, and USAJobs. With this new process, practitioners can use the same email address and password to access all participating government services. Additional information is available at My PAA Login.gov FAQs.

PBGC FOIA Final Rule: PBGC is amending its regulation on the disclosure and public inspection of PBGC records under the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA final rule modifies the regulation to implement statutory changes and reflect current PBGC procedures and updates the fees charged for search and review time. The final rule is effective August 24, 2022.

Special Financial Assistance "Missing" Terminated Vested Participants: A new SFA question and answer provides information for multiemployer plans that apply for SFA about PBGC’s assessment of assumption changes regarding “missing” terminated vested participants. The question and answer is also accessible on the SFA Program page under Resources.

Standard Termination Audits Selection Methodology: PBGC has revised its audit selection methodology and updated the answer to “How does PBGC decide which standard terminations to audit?” in the Standard Terminations Q&A.

Annual Update of Maximum Civil Monetary Penalty: Federal law requires that PBGC amend its civil penalty regulations annually to incorporate an inflation adjustment on the maximum penalty that may be assessed for failure to provide certain required information (e.g., reportable event filings, 4010 filings, certain multiemployer plan notices). Accordingly, PBGC published a final rule on January 14, 2022, amending two regulations (29 CFR parts 4071 and 4302). Although the maximum penalty is increasing, it is uncommon for PBGC to assess this amount. The agency's goal is to encourage compliance. In most cases, when PBGC assesses an information penalty, it is for an amount significantly less than the maximum permitted.

2022 Premium Filing Instructions: The Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2022 plan years have been approved by OMB and are now available on PBGC's website. My PAA has been updated accordingly and is now ready to accept 2022 filings.