Advisory Opinion on Plan Owning Subsidiary to Provide Services

This document is about an advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Labor regarding the application of ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions to a plan establishing and operating a for-profit subsidiary to provide administrative services to other plans and employers. The Department concludes that transactions between the plan and the subsidiary would not be prohibited transactions under ERISA if the subsidiary is wholly-owned by the plan and the fees paid by other plans to the subsidiary are used to offset the plan's liability for the subsidiary's services.