[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 9]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR4041.27]

[Page 745-747]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
                          GUARANTY CORPORATION
 
PART 4041--TERMINATION OF SINGLE-EMPLOYER PLANS--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart B--Standard Termination Process
 
Sec. 4041.27  Notice of annuity information.

    (a) Notice requirement. (1) In general. The plan administrator must 
provide notices in accordance with this section to each affected party 
entitled to plan benefits other than an affected party whose plan 
benefits will be distributed in the form of a nonconsensual lump sum.
    (2) Spin-off/termination transactions. The plan administrator must 
provide the information in paragraph (d) of this section to a person 
entitled to notice under Secs. 4041.23(c) or 4041.24(f), at the

[[Page 746]]

same time and in the same manner as required for an affected party.
    (b) Content of notice. The plan administrator must include, as part 
of the notice of intent to terminate--
    (1) Identity of insurers. The name and address of the insurer or 
insurers from whom (if known), or (if not) from among whom, the plan 
administrator intends to purchase irrevocable commitments (annuity 
contracts);
    (2) Change in identity of insurers. A statement that if the plan 
administrator later decides to select a different insurer, affected 
parties will receive a supplemental notice no later than 45 days before 
the distribution date; and
    (3) State guaranty association coverage information. A statement 
informing the affected party--
    (i) That once the plan distributes a benefit in the form of an 
annuity purchased from an insurance company, the insurance company takes 
over the responsibility for paying that benefit;
    (ii) That all states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico have established ``guaranty associations'' to protect 
policy holders in the event of an insurance company's financial failure;
    (iii) That a guaranty association is responsible for all, part, or 
none of the annuity if the insurance company cannot pay;
    (iv) That each guaranty association has dollar limits on the extent 
of its guaranty coverage, along with a general description of the 
applicable dollar coverage limits;
    (v) That in most cases the policy holder is covered by the guaranty 
association for the state where he or she lives at the time the 
insurance company fails to pay; and
    (vi) How to obtain the addresses and telephone numbers of guaranty 
association offices from the PBGC (as described in the applicable forms 
and instructions package).
    (c) Where insurer(s) not known. (1) Extension of deadline for 
notice. If the identity-of-insurer information in paragraph (b)(1) of 
this section is not known at the time the plan administrator is required 
to provide it to an affected party as part of a notice of intent to 
terminate, the plan administrator must instead provide it in a 
supplemental notice under paragraph (d) of this section.
    (2) Alternative NOIT information. A plan administrator that 
qualifies for the extension in paragraph (c)(1) of this section with 
respect to a notice of intent to terminate must include therein (in lieu 
of the information in paragraph (b) of this section) a statement that--
    (i) Irrevocable commitments (annuity contracts) may be purchased 
from an insurer to provide some or all of the benefits under the plan;
    (ii) The insurer or insurers have not yet been identified; and
    (iii) Affected parties will be notified at a later date (but no 
later than 45 days before the distribution date) of the name and address 
of the insurer or insurers from whom (if known), or (if not) from among 
whom, the plan administrator intends to purchase irrevocable commitments 
(annuity contracts).
    (d) Supplemental notice. The plan administrator must provide a 
supplemental notice to an affected party in accordance with this 
paragraph (d) if the plan administrator did not previously notify the 
affected party of the identity of insurer(s) or, after having previously 
notified the affected party of the identity of insurer(s), decides to 
select a different insurer. A failure to provide a required supplemental 
notice to an affected party will be deemed to be a failure to comply 
with the notice of intent to terminate requirements.
    (1) Deadline for supplemental notice. The deadline for issuing the 
supplemental notice is 45 days before the affected party's distribution 
date (or, in the case of an employee organization, 45 days before the 
earliest distribution date for any affected party that it represents).
    (2) Content of supplemental notice. The supplemental notice must 
include--
    (i) The identity-of-insurer information in paragraph (b)(1) of this 
section;
    (ii) The information regarding change of identity of insurer(s) in 
paragraph (b)(2) of this section; and
    (iii) Unless the state guaranty association coverage information in 
paragraph (b)(3) of this section was previously provided to the affected 
party,

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such information and the extinguishment-of-guarantee information in 
Sec. 4041.23(b)(9).