62706 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 13, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

* * * * * 

Robert F. Altneu, 

Director, Regulations & Disclosure Law 

Division, Regulations & Rulings, Office of 

Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

Approved: 

Thomas C. West, Jr., 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 

for Tax Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19768 Filed 9–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–14–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

29 CFR Part 4044 

Allocation of Assets in SingleEmployer Plans; Interest Assumptions 

for Valuing Benefits 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s 

regulation on Allocation of Assets in 

Single-Employer Plans to prescribe 

interest assumptions under the asset 

allocation regulation for plans with 

valuation dates in the fourth quarter of 

2023. These interest assumptions are 

used for valuing benefits under 

terminating single-employer plans and 

for other purposes. 

DATES: Effective October 1, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory Katz (katz.gregory@pbgc.gov), 

Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 

445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 

20024–2101, 202–229–3829. If you are 

deaf or hard of hearing, or have a speech 

disability, please dial 7–1–1 to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PBGC’s 

regulation on Allocation of Assets in 

Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part 

4044) prescribes actuarial 

assumptions—including interest 

assumptions—for valuing benefits under 

terminating single-employer plans 

covered by title IV of the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 

(ERISA). The interest assumptions in 

the regulation are also published on 

PBGC’s website (https://www.pbgc.gov). 

PBGC uses the interest assumptions in 

appendix B to part 4044 (‘‘Interest Rates 

Used to Value Benefits’’) to determine 

the present value of annuities in an 

involuntary or distress termination of a 

single-employer plan under the asset 

allocation regulation. The assumptions 

are also used to determine the value of 

multiemployer plan benefits and certain 

assets when a plan terminates by mass 

withdrawal in accordance with PBGC’s 

regulation on Duties of Plan Sponsor 

Following Mass Withdrawal (29 CFR 

part 4281). 

The fourth quarter 2023 interest 

assumptions will be 5.06 percent for the 

first 20 years following the valuation 

date and 4.37 percent thereafter. In 

comparison with the interest 

assumptions in effect for the third 

quarter of 2023, these interest 

assumptions represent no change in the 

select period (the period during which 

the select rate (the initial rate) applies), 

a decrease of 0.18 percent in the select 

rate, and a decrease of 0.21 percent in 

the ultimate rate (the final rate). 

Need for Immediate Guidance 

PBGC has determined that notice of, 

and public comment on, this rule are 

impracticable, unnecessary, and 

contrary to the public interest. PBGC 

routinely updates the interest 

assumptions in appendix B of the asset 

allocation regulation each quarter so 

that they are available to value benefits. 

Accordingly, PBGC finds that the public 

interest is best served by issuing this 

rule expeditiously, without an 

opportunity for notice and comment, 

and that good cause exists for making 

the assumptions set forth in this 

amendment effective less than 30 days 

after publication to allow the use of the 

proper assumptions to estimate the 

value of plan benefits for plans with 

valuation dates early in the fourth 

quarter of 2023. 

PBGC has determined that this action 

is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

under the criteria set forth in Executive 

Order 12866. 

Because no general notice of proposed 

rulemaking is required for this 

amendment, the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act of 1980 does not apply. See 5 U.S.C. 

601(2). 

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4044 

Employee benefit plans, Pension 

insurance, Pensions. 

In consideration of the foregoing, 29 

CFR part 4044 is amended as follows: 

PART 4044—ALLOCATION OF 

ASSETS IN SINGLE-EMPLOYER 

PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 4044 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1301(a), 1302(b)(3), 

1341, 1344, 1362. 

■ 2. In appendix B to part 4044, an entry 

for ‘‘October–December 2023’’ is added 

at the end of the table to read as follows: 

Appendix B to Part 4044—Interest 

Rates Used to Value Benefits 

* * * * * 

For valuation dates occurring in the month— 

The values of it are: 

it for t = it for t = it for t = 

*******

October–December 2023 ................................................. 0.0506 1–20 0.0437 >20 N/A N/A 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

Hilary Duke, 

Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory 

Affairs, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19803 Filed 9–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7709–02–P 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1