Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 137 / Tuesday, July 18, 1995 / Notices 36837

1The participant count calculation will be tied to

the appropriate participant count. Thus, in the case

of a post-distribution certification, the appropriate

participant count will be the number of participants

entitled to a distribution in the termination. Where

there is no clearly appropriate participant count,

the participant count generally will be determined

using the most recently filed Form 1 for the relevant

plan or plans.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

NW, Washington, D.C. 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Irving Williamson, Deputy General

Counsel, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, (202) 395–3432.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

314(f) of the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act amended section 310(a)

of the Trade Act to require the USTR,

within 180 days of the submission in

calendar year 1995 of the National

Trade Estimate (NTE) report, to review

United States trade expansion priorities

and identify foreign country practices,

the elimination of which is likely to

have the most significant potential to

increase United States exports, either

directly or through the establishment of

a beneficial precedent. A report on the

review and the practices identified must

be submitted to the Committee on

Finance of the Senate and the

Committee on Ways and Means of the

House of Representatives, and

published in the Federal Register. In

addition, the USTR must initiate

investigations under section 302(b)(1) of

the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(1)), no

later than 21 days after submission of

the report, with respect to all of the

foreign country practices so identified.

The USTR may also cite in the report

practices that may warrant

identification in the future or that were

not identified because they are already

being addressed and progress is being

made toward their elimination.

Requirements for Submissions

The USTR invites submissions on

foreign country practices that should be

considered for identification pursuant to

section 310 of the Trade Act.

Submissions should indicate whether

the foreign policy or practice at issue

was identified in the 1995 NTE report

published on March 31, 1995 by USTR

(U.S. Government Printing Office: 1995–

392–760/30253), and if so, should cite

the page number(s) where it appears in

the NTE and provide any additional

information considered relevant. If the

foreign practice was not identified in

the NTE Report, submissions should (1)

include information on the nature and

significance of the foreign practice; (2)

identify the United States product,

service, intellectual property right, or

foreign direct investment matter which

is affected by the foreign practice; and

(3) provide any other information

considered relevant. Such information

may include information on the trade

agreements to which a foreign country

is a party, and its compliance with those

agreements; the medium- and long-term

implications of foreign government

procurement plans; and the

international competitive position and

export potential of United States

products and services. Because

submissions will be placed in a public

file, open to the public inspection at

USTR, business-confidential

information should not be submitted.

Interested persons must provide

twenty copies of any submission to

Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant to the

Section 301 Committee, Room 222, 600

17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

20508, by no later than 12:00 noon on

Friday, August 4, 1995.

Public Inspection of Submissions

Within one business day of receipt,

submissions will be placed in a public

file, open for inspection at the USTR

Reading Room, in Room 101, Office of

the United States Trade Representative,

600 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

An appointment to review the file may

be made by calling Brenda Webb, (202)

395–6186. The USTR Reading Room is

open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to

12:00 noon and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00

p.m., Monday through Friday.

Irving A. Williamson,

Chairman, Section 301 Committee.

[FR Doc. 95–17484 Filed 7–17–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Assessment of Penalties for Failure to

Provide Required Information

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Statement of Policy.

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation is revising its policy on

penalties for failure to provide required

information in a timely manner. The

revised policy is designed to promote

voluntary compliance. It provides for

lower penalties for plans of small

businesses and for violations that are

speedily corrected.

DATES: The revised policy takes effect

on July 18, 1995 with respect to any

matter for which a notice of final

penalty assessment has not been issued

as of that date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,

1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20005–4026; 202–326–4024 (202–326–

4179 for TTY and TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

4071 of the Employee Retirement

Income Security Act of 1974 authorizes

the PBGC to assess a penalty of up to

$1,000 per day for failure to provide any

required notice or other material

information within the specified time

limit. A decision to assess a penalty

under section 4071 does not preclude

other enforcement or remedial action by

the PBGC.

On March 3, 1992, the PBGC issued

its first statement of policy on how it

would exercise this penalty authority.

Pursuant to the President’s April 21,

1995, directive on penalties, the PBGC

has reviewed its experience under this

penalty policy and has concluded that

a revised policy statement is appropriate

to promote voluntary compliance. This

replaces the March 1992 statement, and

applies to any notice or other material

information required to be provided to

the PBGC or other parties to which

section 4071 penalties may apply (other

than premium-related submissions).

The PBGC will amend Chapter 8,

Section 1 of the PBGC Operating Policy

Manual (and related departmental

manuals) to reflect these general

guidelines. The PBGC may amend these

guidelines through changes to the

Manual as the PBGC gains experience

with the new policy.

Penalty Guidelines

The PBGC will continue to consider

the facts and circumstances of each case

to assure that the penalty fits the

violation. Among the factors the PBGC

will consider are the importance and

time-sensitivity of the required

information, the extent of the omission

of information, the willfulness of the

failure to provide the required

information, the length of delay in

providing the information, and the size

of the plan. In most cases, the PBGC

will: (1) increase penalties as the period

of delinquency increases; (2) reduce

penalties for small plans; and (3) limit

total penalties based on plan size.

In general, the PBGC will assess a

penalty of $25 per day for the first 90

days of delinquency, and $50 per day

thereafter. In addition, the penalty will

be proportionately reduced in

accordance with the number of

participants in the case of plans with

fewer than 100 participants,1 subject to

a floor of $5 per day. For example, the

penalty for a plan with 25 participants
36838 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 137 / Tuesday, July 18, 1995 / Notices

1The proposed rule change was initially

submitted on May 1, 1995, but was amended twice

prior to publication of this Notice; once on May 25,

1995, and again on July 6, 1995. The first

amendment was a technical amendment intended

to clarify the scope of the rule change. The second

amendment added a time frame within which

members would be responsible to report certain

information. Both amendments are incorporated

herein and are available for copying in the

Commission’s Public Reference Room.

would be $6.25 per day (25% of $25 per

day) for the first 90 days, and $12.50 per

day (25% of $50 per day) thereafter.

Under these general guidelines, the

total penalty for any violation would not

exceed $100 times the number of plan

participants. In the above example,

because the plan has 25 participants, the

total penalty would not exceed $2,500.

The PBGC may assess a penalty larger

than the general penalty if there is a

willful failure to comply (e.g., where a

plan administrator willfully fails to

issue a notice to participants required

under section 4011 of ERISA) or if there

is a pattern or practice of failure to

provide material information. Similarly,

the PBGC may assess a penalty larger

than the general penalty if the harm to

participants or the PBGC resulting from

a failure to timely provide material

information is substantial. For example,

a larger penalty may apply where there

is a failure to provide the PBGC with

timely post-event notice of a reportable

event involving a large company or plan

or with annual information required by

section 4010 of ERISA.

The PBGC will generally assess the

full $1,000 per day penalty for failure to

provide an advance notice of a

reportable event under ERISA section

4043(b) or a notice to the PBGC of a

missed contribution under ERISA

section 302(f)(4). This information is so

time sensitive and significant that a

larger penalty is warranted.

Reasonable Cause Guidelines

The PBGC will waive all or part of a

section 4071 penalty where reasonable

cause is shown. The PBGC will evaluate

each request for a waiver to determine

whether the responsible person

exercised ordinary business care and

prudence and delay resulted from

circumstances beyond that person’s

control.

Other Matters

The PBGC will continue to review

initial penalty assessments if requested

in writing within 30 days of the date of

the notice of initial penalty assessment.

Assignment of penalty assessment and

review functions remains unchanged.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 12th day of

July 1995.

Martin Slate,

Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 95–17629 Filed 7–17–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–35956; File No. SR–NASD–

95–16]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. Relating to Amendment of

the NASD Rules of Fair Practice

Relating to a Customer Complaint

Reporting Rule

July 11, 1995.

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1), notice is

hereby given that on July 6, 1995,1 the

National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. (‘‘NASD’’ or ‘‘Association’’)

filed with the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)

the proposed rule change as described

in Items I, II, and III below, which Items

have been prepared by the NASD. The

Commission is publishing this notice to

solicit comments on the proposed rule

change from interested persons.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

The NASD is proposing to amend the

NASD Rules of Fair Practice to require

NASD members to report to the NASD

the occurrence of certain specified

events and quarterly summary statistics

concerning customer complaints. Below

is the text of the proposed rule change.

Proposed new language is italicized and

deleted language is bracketed.

Rules of Fair Practice

Article III

Reporting Requirements

Section

(a) Each member shall promptly

report to the Association whenever such

member or person associated with the

member:

(1) has been found to have violated

any provision of any securities law or

regulation, any rule or standards of

conduct of any governmental agency,

self-regulatory organization, or financial

business or professional organization, or

engaged in conduct which is

inconsistent with just and equitable

principles of trade; and the member

knows or should have known that any

of the aforementioned events have

occurred;

(2) is the subject of any written

customer complaint involving

allegations of theft or misappropriation

of funds or securities or of forgery;

(3) is named as a defendant or

respondent in any proceeding brought

by a regulatory or self-regulatory body

alleging the violation of any provision of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or

of any other federal or state securities,

insurance, or commodities statute, or of

any rule or regulation thereunder, or of

any provision of the By-laws, rules or

similar governing instruments of any

securities, insurance or commodities

regulatory or self-regulatory

organization;

(4) is denied registration or is

expelled, enjoined, directed to cease

and desist, suspended or otherwise

disciplined by any securities, insurance

or commodities industry regulatory or

self-regulatory organization or is denied

membership or continued membership

in any such self-regulatory organization;

or is barred from becoming associated

with any member of any such selfregulatory organization;

(5) is indicted, or convicted of, or

pleads guilty to, or pleads no contest to,

any criminal offense (other than traffic

violations);

(6) is a director, controlling

stockholder, partner, officer or sole

proprietor of, or an associated person

with, a broker, dealer, investment

company, investment advisor,

underwriter or insurance company

which was suspended, expelled or had

its registration denied or revoked by any

agency, jurisdiction or organization or is

associated in such a capacity with a

bank, trust company or other financial

institution which was convicted of or

pleaded no contest to, any felony or

misdemeanor;

(7) is a defendant or respondent in

any securities or commodities-related

civil litigation or arbitration which has

been disposed of by judgement, award,

or settlement for an amount exceeding

$15,000. However, when the member is

the defendant or respondent, then the

reporting to the Association shall be

required only when such judgement,

award, or settlement is for an amount

exceeding $25,000;

(8) is the subject of any claim for

damages by a customer, broker, or

dealer which is settled for an amount

exceeding $15,000. However, when the

claim for damages is against a member,

then the reporting to the Association

shall be required only when such claim