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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**1998**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1998-08A 10/09/1998 3(1) 3(40)	Barbara G. Sweet, National Director Federation of American Consumers and Travelers 318 Hillsboro Avenue P.O. Box 104 Edwardsville, Illinois 62025	Request a reconsideration of Opinion 97-14A, which concluded that the health care program offered by the Federation of American Consumers and Travelers to its members is a multiple employer welfare arrangement within the meaning of ERISA section 3(40)(A) and, therefore, to the extent provided in ERISA section 514(b)(6)(A), is subject to applicable state insurance law.
1998-07A 09/24/1998 PTE 92-06	Robin M. Schachter, Esq. Lazarus N. Sun, Esq. Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP Tenth Floor 2121 Avenue of the Stars Los Angeles, California 90067-5010	Whether PTE 92-6 covers: (1) a plan sale to multiple relatives of the insured who are the sole beneficiaries under the contract; (2) a plan sale of a life insurance contract covering the life of a participant and his or her spouse; and (3) the sale by a plan of a partial interest in a life insurance contract where, following such sale, both the interest retained by the plan and the interest sold will qualify as a life insurance contracts under applicable state law.
1998-06A 07/30/1998 PTE 77-3	Mr. Donald J. Myers Reed Smith Shaw & McClay LLP 1301 K Street, N.W. Suite 1100 - East Tower Washington, D.C. 20005-3317	Whether PTE 77-3 provides relief for the investment by a bank’s in-house plan in a mutual fund advised by the bank through an in-kind exchange of assets for mutual fund shares, if the exemption’s conditions are satisfied.
1998-05A 06/19/1998 3(33)	Ms. Sandi J. Porter Dechert Price & Rhoads 4000 Bell Atlantic Tower 1717 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19103-2793	Whether certain employee benefit plans maintained by Foulkeways at Gwynedd, a non-profit, continuing care retirement community, are “church plans” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(33).
1998-04A 05/28/1998 404(c )	William M. Tartikoff Senior Vice President and General Counsel Calvert Group Ltd. 4550 Montgomery Avenue Bethesda, Maryland 20814	Whether a plan fiduciary's selection of a "socially-responsible fund" as a plan investment or a designated investment alternative for a section 404(c) plan would violate the general fiduciary duties and responsibilities of ERISA sections 403(c) and 404(a)(1).
1998-03A 03/06/1998 IRC 408(A)	Kristine J. Coffey, Chair Committee on Retirement Products and Estate Services Securities Industry Association Everen Securities, Inc. 77 West Wacker Drive, Suite 2400 Chicago, IL 60601-1994	Whether a Roth IRA as defined in Internal Revenue Code section 408A will be considered an IRA for purposes of PTE 97-11.
1998-02A 03/06/1998 3(2)	Samuel Arthur Butts III Manier Herod Hollabaugh & Smith First Union Tower Suite 2200 150 Fourth Avenue North Nashville, TN 37219-2494	Whether the UT Medical Group, Inc. Key Employee Incentive Plan should be considered a “bonus program” rather than a "pension plan" under ERISA section 3(2)(A).
1998-01A 01/21/1998 3(1)	Mr. Mark W. Kunst O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue 4748 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016	Whether a proposed grant from the National Distribution Pipeline Industry Communications and Productivity Fund (Pipeline Fund) to a training fund for Union members would, render the Pipeline Fund an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA section 3(1).

**1997**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1997-26A 11/07/1997 3(32)	Mr. Richard J. Tuggle, Jr. Tuggle Duggins & Meschan, P.A. P.O. Box 2888 228 West Market Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27402	Whether the Beaufort County Hospital Association, Inc. Employees' Pension Plan is a “governmental plan” within the meaning of ERISA section 3(32), and therefore excepted from ERISA Title I by section 4(b)(1).
1997-25A 10/24/1997 407(d)(5) 407(f)(1)	Mr. Larry E. Shapiro McDermott, Will & Emery 1200 Eighteenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether a redemption or conversion of the same class of publicly-traded preferred stock that is held by a defined benefit plan by holders other than the plan would trigger the application of the ownership limits in ERISA section 407(f)(1).