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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**1988**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1988-13A 08/29/1988 408(c )(2)	Paul D. Myrick, Esq. McRight, Jackson, Myrick & Moore 1100 First Alabama Bank Building Mobile, AL 36602	Whether a plan trustee of the A.F. of L. - A.G.C. Building Trades Pension and Welfare Plans, who is a full-time employee of an employer that no longer makes contributions to the Plans on behalf of its employees, may receive compensation from the Plans for services performed as trustee.
1988-12A 08/24/1988 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Ms. Peggy O. Haines Penn, Stuart, Eskridge & Jones 207 Piedmont Avenue Post Office Box 2009 Bristol, Virginia 24203	Whether the money purchase plan of the Lee County Public Schools is a governmental plan within the meaning of section 3(32) of title I of ERISA and is therefore excluded from coverage under that title by section 4(b)(1) of ERISA.
1988-11A 08/17/1988 406(b) 408(b)(8)	Mr. Donald S. Kohla King & Spalding 2500 Trust Company Tower Atlanta, GA 30303	Whether a bank in the SunTrust system would not violate section 406(b) of ERISA by investing the assets of employee benefit plans for which SunTrust Banks, Inc. is a fiduciary in a common trust fund maintained by such bank or any other bank in the SunTrust system.
1988-10A 08/12/1988 3(1)	Mr. J. Paul Jacobson Quarles & Brady 411 East Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202	Whether the Dependent Care Assistance Plan of Tropical Plant Rentals, Inc. constitutes an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.
1988-09A 04/15/1988 IRC 408(A)	Mr. Lloyd V. Crawford Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett 184 Commerce Street Montgomery, AL 36104	Whether the application of the prohibited transaction provisions of section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 applies to the purchases of stock of the parent of the Bank of Prattville by various self-directed individual retirement accounts (IRAs) sponsored by the Bank.
1988-08A 04/05/1988 408(b)(3)	Mr. Thomas R. Hoecker Snell and Wilmer 3100 Valley Bank Center Phoenix, AZ 85073	Whether an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that allows its fiduciaries to borrow funds from parties in interest or others to finance the purchase of employer securities, which are allocated to a loan suspense account that releases securities and allocates them to participants’ ESOP accounts on an annual or a monthly basis as the loan is repaid complies with the requirements of the application of Department of Labor regulation 29 CFR 2550.408b-3(h)
1988-07A 03/28/1988 3(2) 3(4) 3(5)	Aaron N. Clinard, Esquire Schock, Schock and Schock 310 South Main Street Post Office Box 1893 High Point, North Carolina 27261	Whether the Carolinas Section of the Professional Golfers' Association of America (CSPGA) retirement plan would constitute an "employee benefit pension plan" within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA.
1988-06A 03/28/1988 3(1) 3(16) 3(21) 3(4)	Mr. Michael D. Foster Jackson, Kelly, Holt & O'Farrell 1600 Laidley Tower P.O. Box 553 Charleston, West Virginia 25322	Whether the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority Sick Fund constitutes an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of ERISA section 3(1) and, if so, whether the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority would be considered a plan sponsor, administrator, or a fiduciary with respect to the Valley Regional Transportation Authority Sick Fund.
1988-05A 03/16/1988	Mr. Stephen E. Lehman Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann Suite 302, Spartan Centre 101 West St. John Street Post Office Box 4409 Spartanburg, South Carolina 29305-4409	Whether the Christian Schools and Church Association Welfare Benefit constitutes an “employee welfare benefit plan” within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA, and whether the Association Plan constitutes a “multiple employer welfare arrangement”, within the meaning of ERISA section 3(40).
1988-04A 03/11/1988 3(1)	William R. Charyk, Esq. Anne D. Bolling, Esq. Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn Washington Square 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-5339	Whether the Employee Assistance Program of El Paso Natural Gas Company and its subsidiary El Paso Hydrocarbons Company is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA as it provides benefits for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, stress, depression and similar health and medical problems to its participants.