Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

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**1982**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1982-21A 04/21/1982 104(b)(4) 404(a)(1)(D)	Gerald S. Clay, Esq. Stanton and Clay Suite 1655 Pioneer Plaza 900 Fort Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96813	Whether the Trustees of the Glass/Metal Association of Hawaii and Glaziers and Glassworkers Training, Vacation, Health and Welfare, and Pension Funds (the Trustees) are required under ERISA to provide minutes of the Trustees' meetings, the treasurer's reports, audited reports by Certified Public Accountants, and reports submitted to the State and Federal governments to "contributing employers who are not participants or beneficiary parties" in the Funds.
1982-20A 04/15/1982	Mr. C.W. Crumpecker, Jr. Swanson, Midgley, Gangwere, Clarke & Kitchin 1500 Commerce Bank Building Kansas City, Missouri 64106	Whether the proposed sale of employer stock between two plans (the Yellow Freight Profit-Sharing Trust and the Yellow Freight System, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Trust) with the same plan sponsor is exempt from the prohibited transaction provisions of section 406 of ERISA and from the taxes imposed by section 4975 of the Code by reason of section 408(e) of ERISA. Whether the method of determining the purchase price of the common stock is permissible under section 408(e) of ERISA.
1982-19A 03/26/1982 407(d)(3)	R. F. Sharpe, Jr., Esq. R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. World Headquarters Winston-Salem, NC 27102	Whether the R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. Individual Retirement Account Plan is a "savings plan" and, as amended, is an "eligible individual account plan" under section 407(d)(3) of ERISA.
1982-18A 03/22/1982 3(2)	Ms. Sheila E. Schlitter Chapman and Cutler 111 West Monroe Street Chicago, Illinois 60603	Whether an individual retirement account (IRA) payroll deduction program would be treated as an employee pension benefit plan under title I of ERISA solely because of a payment by the employer of an administrative fee to be charged by the IRA sponsor to offset the expenses of payroll deduction which are incurred by the IRA sponsor.
1982-17A 03/10/1982	Ms. Char A. Short Manager of Client Services A.S. Hansen, Inc. Suite 1000, Pennzoil Place 711 Louisiana Street Houston, Texas 77002	Whether Revenue Ruling 81-137 impacts the reporting and disclosure requirements under Part 1 of Title I of ERISA.
1982-16A 03/08/1982 514	Mr. Don D. Carlson Dorsey, Windhorst, Hannaford, Whitney & Halladay 2300 First National Bank Building Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402	Whether the Minnesota State usury laws are preempted under section 514 of title I of ERISA.
1982-15A 03/08/1982 4(b)(3)	Mr. Douglas M. Case Corporate Counsel Taco Bell 17381 Red Hill Avenue Irvine, California 92714	Whether a voluntary unemployment compensation disability plan of Taco Bell and Bell Food Services, Inc., administered according to applicable provisions of the California Unemployment Insurance Code (CUIC) is covered under ERISA.
1982-14A 02/19/1982 104	Ms. Catherine L. Heron Breed, Abbott & Morgan 1875 Eye Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006	Whether the AFTRA Pension and Welfare Funds may distribute certain plan documents by third-class mail without a guarantee of return and forwarding postage.
1982-13A 02/17/1982 3(2)	Nina G. Gross, Esq. Government Relations Counsel American Bankers Association 1120 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether a payroll deduction program for an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) will constitute an employee pension benefit plan for the purposes of title I of ERISA under certain circumstances.
1982-12A 02/05/1982	Mr. Keith B. Betzina Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe 44 Montgomery Street San Francisco, California 94104	Whether Sutro & Co. Incorporated (Sutro) will be considered to be a "trustee or plan administrator" for purposes of Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 79-1 (PTE 79-1) when it acts as custodian of custodial accounts established under a prototype plan for self-employed persons (the Keogh Plan) or a simplified employee pension (SEP).