[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 221 (Friday, November 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64731-64857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-5521]



Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 221 / Friday, November 16, 2007 / 
Notices

[[Page 64731]]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

RIN 1210-AB06


Revision of Annual Information Return/Reports

AGENCIES: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor, Internal 
Revenue Service, Treasury, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of adoption of revisions to annual return/report forms.

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SUMMARY: This document contains revisions to the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report forms, including the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of 
Employee Benefit Plan and a new Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/
Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan (Short Form 5500 or Form 5500-
SF), filed for employee pension and welfare benefit plans under the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), 
and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code). The Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report forms, including the schedules and attachments, 
are an important source of financial, funding, and other information 
about employee benefit plans for the Department of Labor, the Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and the Internal Revenue Service (the 
Agencies), as well as for plan sponsors, participants and 
beneficiaries, and the general public. The revisions to the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report forms contained in this document, including the 
new Short Form 5500, are intended to streamline the annual reporting 
process, reduce annual reporting burdens, especially for small 
businesses, update the annual reporting forms to reflect current issues 
and agency priorities, incorporate new reporting requirements contained 
in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and facilitate electronic 
filing. Some of the forms revisions will apply on a transitional basis 
for the 2008 reporting year before all of the forms revisions are fully 
implemented for the 2009 reporting year as part of the switch under the 
ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST) to a wholly electronic filing 
system (EFAST2). The forms revisions affect employee pension and 
welfare benefit plans, plan sponsors, administrators, and service 
providers to plans subject to annual reporting requirements under ERISA 
and the Code.

DATES: Effective January 15, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth A. Goodman or Michael I. 
Baird, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. 
Department of Labor, (202) 693-8523, for questions relating to the Form 
5500, and its Schedules A, C, D, G, H, and I, and lines 1 through 11 of 
the Form 5500-SF (Short Form 5500), as well as the general reporting 
requirements under Title I of ERISA; Lisa Mojiri-Azad, Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS), Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 622-6060, or Ann Junkins, 
IRS, (202) 283-0722, for questions relating to Schedules SB, MB, and R 
of the Form 5500, lines 12 and 13 of the Short Form 5500, and the 
filing of Short Form 5500 instead of the Form 5500-EZ for plans that 
are not subject to Title I of ERISA, as well as questions relating to 
the general reporting requirements under the Internal Revenue Code; and 
Michael Packard, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), (202) 
326-4080, ext. 3429, for questions relating to Schedules SB and MB of 
the Form 5500, and lines 13 through 19 of Schedule R, as well as 
questions relating to the general reporting requirements under Title IV 
of ERISA. For further information on an item not mentioned above, 
contact Mr. Baird. The telephone numbers referenced above are not toll-
free numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    Sections 101 and 104 of Title I and section 4065 of Title IV of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), 
sections 6058(a) and 6059(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 
amended (Code), and the regulations issued under those sections, impose 
certain annual reporting and filing obligations on pension and welfare 
benefit plans, as well as on certain other entities.\1\ Plan 
administrators, employers, and others generally satisfy these annual 
reporting obligations by the filing of the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report of Employee Benefit Plan, including its schedules and 
attachments (Form 5500 Annual Return/Report), in accordance with the 
instructions and related regulations.
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    \1\ Other filing requirements may apply to certain employee 
benefit plans and to multiple-employer welfare arrangements under 
ERISA or to other benefit arrangements under the Code, and such 
other filing requirements are not within the scope of this Notice. 
For example, Code sec. 6033(a) imposes an additional reporting and 
filing obligation on organizations exempt from tax under Code sec. 
501(a), which may be related to retirement trusts that are qualified 
under sec. 401(a) of the Code.
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    The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report is the principal source of 
information and data available to the Department of Labor (Department 
or Labor), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) (collectively, Agencies) concerning the 
operations, funding, and investments of about 800,000 pension and 
welfare benefit plans. These plans cover an estimated 150 million 
participants and hold an estimated $4.3 trillion in assets. 
Accordingly, the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report constitutes an integral 
part of each Agency's enforcement, research, and policy formulation 
programs, and is a source of information and data for use by other 
federal agencies, Congress, and the private sector in assessing 
employee benefit, tax, and economic trends and policies. The Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report also serves as a primary means by which plan 
operations can be monitored by participants and beneficiaries and by 
the general public.
    On July 21, 2006, the Department published a final rule requiring 
electronic filing of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for reporting 
years beginning on or after January 1, 2008 (Electronic Filing Rule). 
71 FR 41359. Simultaneously with the publication of the Electronic 
Filing Rule, the Agencies published a notice of proposed forms 
revisions (July 2006 Proposal) proposing changes to the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report for the 2008 reporting year. 71 FR 41615. On 
December 11, 2006, the Agencies published a Notice of Supplemental 
Proposed Forms Revisions (Supplemental Notice). 71 FR 71562. The 
Supplemental Notice was necessary to make changes to the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report required by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, 
Pub. L. 109-280, 120 Stat. 780 (2006), enacted on August 17, 2006 
(PPA).
    The Agencies received 38 comment letters on the July 2006 
Proposal,\2\ and seven comments on the Supplemental Notice. Comments 
were submitted by various members of the regulated community, including 
representatives of employers, plans, and plan service providers. Copies 
of the comments are

[[Page 64732]]

posted on the Department's Web site at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/regs.
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    \2\ The Agencies also received a comment letter from the United 
States Department of Commerce, Economic and Statistics 
Administration, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), that indicated 
that the BEA relies on the information collected in the Form 5500 to 
prepare certain statistics.
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    After careful consideration of the issues raised by the written 
public comments, the Agencies decided to adopt the forms largely as 
proposed, but, in an attempt to strike a balance between ensuring 
adequate reporting and disclosure to participants, beneficiaries, and 
the Agencies, on the one hand, and the costs and administrative burdens 
attendant to the administration and maintenance of employee benefit 
plans on the other, the Agencies revised some of the annual reporting 
requirements in response to public comments. The Agencies now are 
publishing in this Notice the final forms revisions for the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report (including the Short Form 5500), generally 
effective for the 2009 reporting year (with certain transition changes 
effective for the 2008 reporting year). Set forth below is a general 
summary of the public comments received in response to the proposals, 
changes made in response to those comments, and an overview of the 
final forms revisions being adopted in this Notice.
    The Agencies are printing in this Notice information copies of the 
2009 Form 5500, 2009 Form 5500-SF, and 2009 Schedules A, SB, MB, C, D, 
G, H, I, and R. This Notice also includes information copies of the 
related instructions, except for the instructions to the Schedule SB 
and MB and certain new questions on the Schedule R, which the Agencies 
will publish after the Treasury/IRS develop the underlying substantive 
guidance under the PPA, and certain instructions relating to electronic 
filing procedures under the EFAST2 system. Information copies of the 
forms and the instruction package will also be posted on the 
Department's Web page at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa. Because of the switch 
to EFAST2 and a wholly electronic filing requirement, the information 
copies of the 2009 annual return/report forms printed in this Notice 
are not acceptable for and cannot be used for filing an annual return/
report under the EFAST2 system. Once the EFAST2 contract is awarded to 
a firm to develop the new wholly electronic filing system for the 2009 
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report forms, including the Form 5500-SF, the 
contractor may as part of its development of the new system need to 
make technical reformatting changes to the forms that may affect the 
appearance of the forms. Details on any changes to the appearance of 
the forms and on the wholly electronic filing and processing system, 
including details on electronic signature requirements, will be 
available as the contract is awarded and the system development is 
finalized. Although the paper forms will not be used for filing under 
the EFAST2 system, the final format of the forms and schedules will be 
the required format for satisfying disclosure obligations under ERISA, 
including the plan administrator's obligation to furnish copies of the 
annual report to participants and beneficiaries on request pursuant to 
section 104(b) of ERISA.

B. Discussion of the Public Comments

1. Deferral of Forms Revisions and Electronic Filing Mandate to the 
2009 Plan Year

    A significant number of the commenters, including several large 
industry groups representing plan sponsors and service providers, asked 
for a delay in the effective date of the forms changes. A number of the 
commenters asked for additional time to comment due to work being done 
to implement new statutory requirements enacted as part of the PPA. 
Some commenters also suggested that the comment period should be 
extended to allow more time to address the Schedule C (Service Provider 
Information) changes due to the significance of the changes in plan fee 
and expense reporting, the attendant compliance costs, and a desire to 
evaluate the Schedule C changes in conjunction with proposed 
regulations the Department has announced it will be publishing under 
ERISA section 408(b)(2).\3\ Three different commenters suggested that 
the effective date for the new reporting requirements for Code section 
403(b) plans be delayed until after the IRS publishes its final 
regulation on Code section 403(b) plans. Some commenters urged that the 
effective date be extended for the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report 
changes until 2009 or 2010 at the earliest to allow sufficient time to 
make necessary changes to comply with the new requirements. One 
commenter, who requested a delayed implementation date generally for 
the new forms and electronic filing requirement, suggested an earlier 
implementation date for the Short Form 5500 as a way of satisfying the 
PPA requirement of a simplified report for plans with fewer than 25 
participants.
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    \3\ As set forth in the Department's semi-annual regulatory 
agenda, 72 FR 22845, the rulemaking would amend the regulation at 29 
CFR section 2550.408b-2 setting forth the standards applicable to 
the exemption under ERISA section 408(b)(2) for contracting or 
making reasonable arrangements with a party in interest for office 
spaces or services. The proposed amendment is intended to ensure 
that plan fiduciaries are provided or have access to the information 
necessary to determine whether an arrangement for services is 
``reasonable'' within the meaning of the statutory exemption, as 
well as within the meaning of the prudence requirements of ERISA 
section 404(a)(1)(B).
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    The proposed revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report, which 
include both those set forth in the Agencies' July 2006 Proposal and 
those in the Supplemental Notice to address changes required by the 
PPA, are part of the switch under the ERISA Filing Acceptance System 
(EFAST) to a wholly electronic filing and processing system (EFAST2) 
that would replace the existing largely paper-based filing system. As 
part of that e-filing initiative, and as noted above, the Department 
published the Electronic Filing Rule, establishing an electronic filing 
requirement for annual reports filed for plan years beginning on or 
after January 1, 2008. In adopting the final Electronic Filing Rule, 
the Department responded to public comments seeking a delay in the 
wholly electronic filing system by agreeing to a one year deferral of 
the electronic filing mandate from the 2007 plan year to the 2008 plan 
year. The Department agreed to the deferral in order to facilitate an 
orderly and cost-effective migration to an electronic filing system by 
both the Department and the regulated community. Under the final 
Electronic Filing Rule published in July 2006, the vast majority of 
filers would have had until at least July 2009 to make any necessary 
adjustments to accommodate the electronic filing of their annual report 
because annual reports generally are not required to be filed until the 
end of the 7th month following the end of the plan year. The timing 
also provided service providers, software developers, and the 
Department additional time to work through electronic filing and 
processing issues.
    In evaluating the public comments seeking a further deferral of the 
implementation of the revised forms and, as a consequence, the 
electronic filing requirement, the Agencies evaluated the benefits of 
giving the regulated community more time to transition to the new 
EFAST2 electronic filing system, keeping in mind the effective dates 
mandated by the PPA for certain of the annual reporting changes. The 
Agencies continue to believe it is important for plans, service 
providers, and the Agencies to have an orderly and cost-effective 
migration to the EFAST2 electronic filing system. In light of the 
substantial number of comments expressing concern about needing more 
time to adjust recordkeeping and other annual reporting systems, the 
Agencies have decided to defer for an additional

[[Page 64733]]

year the implementation of annual reporting forms changes not mandated 
by the PPA,\4\ except for a few Schedule R items that the PBGC had 
determined that it needs to enable it to properly monitor the plans it 
insures. Thus, the current EFAST filing system will be continued for 
the 2007 and 2008 plan year filings. This includes the requirements to 
file the Schedule E, the Schedule SSA, and the IRS Form 5500-EZ, 
``Annual Return of One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) 
Retirement Plan'' (Form 5500-EZ), under the current EFAST system with 
the Department for the 2007 and 2008 reporting years. Also, as provided 
in the Electronic Filing Rule, delinquent or amended filings for prior 
plan years for which paper filing options were available also will be 
subject to the electronic filing requirement. The deferral of the 
electronic filing requirement applies to delinquent and amended 
filings. The Department will provide instructions prior to the 
inauguration of the system on how those filings are to be made under 
the electronic filing system.
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    \4\ It is significant to note that the implementation of the 
annual reporting form changes not mandated by the PPA has been 
deferred until after the publication of the IRS final regulations on 
Code section 403(b) plans.
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    Under the final regulations, the electronic filing requirement and 
all of the forms changes, except for those mandated by the PPA and the 
PBGC's new Schedule R items discussed below, will become effective for 
all annual report filings made under Part 1 of Subtitle B of Title I of 
ERISA for plan years (or reporting years for non-plan filings) 
beginning on or after January 1, 2009.\5\
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    \5\ The Supplemental Notice explained that the Department 
believed that the EFAST2 system would satisfy the PPA requirement 
that the Department make available electronically on its Web site 
certain actuarial information filed as part of the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report. See PPA Sec.  504, 29 U.S.C. Sec.  104(b). The 
Department believes that the related provision in the PPA calling 
for actuarial information to be filed electronically was intended to 
facilitate the Department's ability to meet its obligation to post 
the actuarial information on its Web site within 90 days after the 
information is filed as part of the plan's annual report. The 
Department believes it can still satisfy the web posting requirement 
under the current EFAST system without imposing a special electronic 
filing requirement on defined benefit pension plans for the 
transition 2008 plan year.
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    To effectuate the postponement of the electronic filing 
requirement, the Department, in the final rule being published 
contemporaneously with this Notice amending its annual reporting 
regulations, is including an amendment to the Electronic Filing Rule. 
Specifically, that final rule amends the Department's regulation at 29 
CFR 2520.104a-2 to provide that the electronic filing requirement is 
applicable for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. The 
vast majority of filers will now have until at least July 2010 to make 
any necessary adjustments to accommodate the non-PPA required changes 
(other than the PBGC Schedule R changes) to the form and those required 
for electronic filing of their annual report because, as noted above, 
annual reports generally are not required to be filed until the end of 
the 7th month following the end of the plan year.
    Short plan year filings for 2009 plan years and filings for DFEs 
for 2009 reporting years will be subject to a special transition rule. 
The instructions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report advise filers 
that the due date for their Form 5500 for a plan year of less than 12 
months (short plan year) is the last day of the 7th month after the 
short plan year ends. For purposes of determining the filing deadline, 
the instructions state that a short plan year ends on the date of the 
change in accounting period or upon the complete distribution of assets 
of the plan in the case of terminated or merged plans. For DFE filings, 
the instructions provide that DFEs (other than GIAs) must file 2009 
return/reports no later than nine and one half months after the end of 
the DFE year that ended in 2009, and the 2009 Form 5500 must report 
information for the DFE year (not to exceed 12 months in length). The 
Agencies historically have permitted short plan year filers and DFEs to 
use the prior year's forms if the current year forms are not available 
by the plan's or DFE's filing due date. The Agencies expect that, in 
some cases, filings for 2009 short plan years and DFE filings for 2009 
reporting years (e.g., if the DFE year differs from the 2009 calendar 
year) may be due during 2009 and before the January 1, 2010, date on 
which the new EFAST2 wholly electronic filing system is expected to 
become operational for return/report filing purposes. Plans filing for 
2009 short plan years and DFEs filing for 2009 reporting years will 
have the option of using the 2008 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report forms 
and filing for 2009 under the current EFAST filing system if they file 
before the date the new EFAST2 electronic filing system becomes 
operational. Alternatively, plans whose due date for their 2009 short 
plan year filing and DFEs whose due date for their 2009 reporting year 
filing falls before the new EFAST2 system becomes operational but who 
want to file electronically under the new EFAST2 system will be granted 
an automatic extension until after the EFAST2 system becomes 
operational in which to file. The Agencies intend to describe the terms 
and conditions for the automatic extension in the instructions for the 
2008 Form 5500 Return/Report.
a. PPA-Required Actuarial Schedules, Multiemployer Plan Reporting, and 
Asset Allocation Information
    The PPA-required changes in the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report 
(other than the simplified reporting requirement) are the new actuarial 
information schedules (Schedules SB and MB), lines 13a and 13b of the 
Schedule R (identifying information on significant contributors to 
multiemployer defined benefit plans), lines 14-17 of the Schedule R 
(additional information related to multiemployer defined benefit 
pension plans), line 18 of the Schedule R (certain liabilities to 
participants and beneficiaries under two or more pension plans), and, 
for multiemployer defined benefit plans only, the new line 7 of the 
Form 5500 (number of employers with an obligation to contribute to the 
multiemployer plan).\6\ To comply with the PPA, these reporting changes 
are being implemented under the current EFAST system for 2008 plan year 
annual reports.
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    \6\ The text of the question on the new line 7 has been revised 
from that in the July 2006 proposal to exactly match the language in 
the annual reporting requirement in the PPA.
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    The Agencies concluded that it would not be cost-effective or 
practical to create computer scannable versions of the Form 5500 and 
these schedules to be compatible with the outdated EFAST computer 
scannable form technology because these forms would have a limited one 
year useful life under the EFAST system during the transition period 
before implementation of the EFAST2 electronic filing system. Effective 
for the 2008 transition year, plans required to file actuarial 
information must check the box on the Form 5500 to indicate that they 
are filing a Schedule B, but instead of filing the current Schedule B, 
they will file Schedule SB or MB (whichever is applicable). The 
Schedule B will no longer be a valid schedule for 2008 plan year 
filings. Plan year 2008 Form 5500 Annual Return/Reports filed by 
pension plans subject to the minimum funding rules must include a 
Schedule SB or MB and not a Schedule B for 2008 plan years. Filings 
that include a Schedule B instead of a Schedule SB or MB will be 
rejected. As to the other PPA-required items (lines 13a, 13b, and 14-18 
of Schedule R and line 7 of Form 5500), for

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the transition year, filers will be directed in the instructions to 
include answers to those questions as an attachment to the current 
Schedule R. Similarly, lines 13c-e (for multiemployer defined benefit 
plans) and line 19 (asset allocation questions for large defined 
benefit plans) of the Schedule R also are being implemented on a 
transition basis for 2008 plan year annual reports. Filers will also be 
directed in the instructions to include answers to these lines as an 
attachment to the Schedule R.
    The Agencies also changed the 2007 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report 
instructions for short plan year filings (filings for years of less 
than 12 months) to accommodate these PPA changes. Specifically, the 
instructions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report historically have 
advised filers that the due date for their Form 5500 for a plan year of 
less than 12 months (short plan year) is the last day of the 7th month 
after the short plan year ends. For purposes of determining the filing 
deadline, the instructions state that a short plan year ends on the 
date of the change in accounting period or upon the complete 
distribution of assets of the plan in the case of terminated or merged 
plans. The Agencies have permitted short plan year filers to use the 
prior year's forms if the current year forms for the short plan year 
are not available by the plan's filing due date. The Agencies expect 
that, in some cases, filings for 2008 short plan years may be due 
during 2008 and before the final regulations and instructions for the 
Schedule SB or MB are available. Since the Schedule B will not be a 
valid schedule for plan year 2008 filings, filers will not have the 
option of using the 2007 Schedule B with a 2008 short plan year filing, 
but will be required to wait until the 2008 Forms are available for 
filing. The Agencies have indicated in the instructions for the 2007 
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report that an automatic extension that will be 
available for 2008 short plan year filings required to include a 
Schedule SB or Schedule MB and/or a supplemental attachment to Schedule 
R.
b. PPA-Required Simplified Reporting for Plans With Fewer Than 25 
Participants
    As noted in the Supplemental Notice, section 1103(b) of the PPA 
requires a simplified report for plans with fewer than 25 participants 
at the beginning of the plan year to be available for 2007 plan year 
filings, i.e., filings for plan years beginning after December 31, 
2006. The Supplemental Notice proposed to satisfy the simplified report 
requirement for 2008 plan years, i.e., those beginning after December 
31, 2007, by implementing the Short Form for 2008 plan year reports 
under the new EFAST2 system. The Supplemental Notice explained the 
Agencies' intention for the interim 2007 reporting year to give plans 
covering fewer than 25 participants that met the conditions for being 
eligible to file the Short Form 5500 the option of filing an 
abbreviated version of the current Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for 
small plan filers. The Supplemental Notice explained that the 
abbreviated version would largely replicate, within the context of the 
existing Form 5500 Annual Return/Report structure, the information that 
would be required to be reported on the proposed Short Form 5500 by 
allowing certain schedules to be excluded from the filing and requiring 
only certain line items to be completed on some of the required 
schedules. With the additional deferral of the electronic filing 
requirement, this simplified reporting option for plans with fewer than 
25 participants will be available for both the 2007 and 2008 plan year 
filings.
    For the 2007 and 2008 plan years, plans with fewer than 25 
participants at the beginning of the plan year that meet the 
eligibility requirements for the Short Form 5500, treating those 
conditions as if they applied for 2007 and 2008 plan year filings, may 
file the following as their annual return/report: (1) The entire Form 
5500; (2) a Schedule A for any insurance contract for which a Schedule 
A is required under current rules, completing lines A, B, C, D and the 
insurance fee and commission information in Part I; (3) if the 
reporting of actuarial information is required, the entire Schedule B 
for the 2007 plan year, and the entire Schedule SB or MB (whichever is 
applicable) for the 2008 plan year; (4) the entire Schedule I; (5) 
Schedule R identifying information and Part II; and (6) the entire 
Schedule SSA. The instructions to the 2007 Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report explain and 2008 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report will explain, 
respectively, this simplified reporting option.
    Some eligible small plan filers may want to wait until the 
implementation of the Short Form 5500 for the 2009 plan year in order 
to avoid having to make changes to their annual reporting systems and 
procedures for 2007 and 2008 plan year filings and then having to 
adjust them again to start filing the Short Form 5500 electronically 
for the 2009 plan year. The above simplified reporting alternative, 
accordingly, is available for plans that voluntarily choose to take 
advantage of the option. Plans with fewer than 25 participants may 
continue to file in accordance with the otherwise applicable small plan 
filing rules for the 2007 and 2008 plan years. Small plans with 25 or 
more participants that meet the eligibility requirements must wait 
until the 2009 plan year to take advantage of the Short Form's 
simplified reporting.

2. Short Form 5500

    The Short Form 5500 was proposed as a new two-page form for small 
plans (generally, plans with fewer than 100 participants) with secure 
and easy to value investment portfolios. As set forth in greater detail 
in the July 2006 Proposal, a plan would be eligible to file the Short 
Form if the plan: (1) Covers fewer than 100 participants or would be 
eligible to file as a small plan under the rule in 29 CFR 2520.103-
1(d); (2) is eligible for the small plan audit waiver under 29 CFR 
2520.104-46 (but not by virtue of enhanced bonding); (3) holds no 
employer securities; (4) has 100% of its assets in investments that 
have a readily determinable fair market value; and (5) is not a 
multiemployer plan.
    Commenters on the July 2006 Proposal generally supported the 
proposed Short Form 5500 as a way to simplify the annual reporting 
requirements and reduce annual reporting burdens for small plans. The 
Agencies, accordingly, have decided to adopt the Short Form 5500 
largely as proposed with only minor technical revisions to the form and 
the accompanying instructions.
    Two commenters suggested that the Agencies relax the conditions for 
plans to be eligible to file the Short Form 5500. The commenters noted 
the requirement in the PPA (enacted after the July 2006 Proposal was 
published) that Labor and the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) 
jointly develop a simplified report for plans that cover fewer than 25 
employees. One of the commenters suggested that Labor and Treasury use 
the Short Form 5500 to meet this requirement by eliminating any other 
eligibility conditions for plans covering fewer than 25 participants. 
That commenter also suggested that the Short Form 5500 eligibility 
requirement--that the plan hold 100% of its assets in secure, easy to 
value investments--be modified so that it tracked the 95% ``qualifying 
plan asset'' threshold that currently applies under the Department's 
regulation at 29 CFR 2520.104-46 for small pension plans to be eligible 
for the waiver of the general Title I requirement for employee benefit 
plans to be audited annually by an independent qualified public 
accountant (IQPA). Two other

[[Page 64735]]

commenters objected to the Short Form 5500 and reduced annual reporting 
for small plans, asserting that small plans, especially those with 
fewer than 25 participants, are more likely than plans of larger 
companies to suffer from mismanagement of funds and improper 
administration. Notwithstanding the PPA mandate to develop a simplified 
annual report, the commenters urged requiring more detailed reporting 
for small plans as a way of protecting against such abuses.
    The Department of Labor and the Department of Treasury continue to 
believe, as set forth in the Supplemental Notice, that the requirement 
in the PPA to provide ``simplified'' reporting for plans with fewer 
than 25 participants is satisfied by the simplified reporting scheme in 
the July 2006 Proposal. In addition, the Department of Labor does not 
view the PPA provision as a direction from Congress that was intended 
to preclude the Department from determining that plans with fewer than 
25 participants should meet conditions consistent with the purposes of 
Title I and the PPA to be eligible to file the new simplified report. 
To the contrary, the Department believes the PPA provision should be 
read consistently with the authority granted the Department in ERISA 
section 104(a)(2) and 104(a)(3) to create simplified reports for 
pension and welfare plans, both of which provisions acknowledge that 
the Department has such discretion. The Short Form 5500, as proposed, 
was targeted to provide a simplified report for plans with fewer than 
25 participants. Approximately 75% of all plans eligible to file the 
Short Form 5500 cover fewer than 25 participants and approximately 95% 
of plans with fewer than 25 participants are estimated to be eligible 
to file the Short Form 5500. The decision to prohibit multiemployer 
plans and plans that invest in employer securities from being eligible 
to use the Short Form 5500 is consistent with the PPA's emphasis on 
expanding the annual reporting requirements for multiemployer plans and 
increasing transparency and participant control over employer 
securities in individual account plans. As under the July 2006 
Proposal, even those small plans not eligible to use the Short Form 
5500 still would be able to avail themselves of the other simplified 
reporting options available to small plans under the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report. The commenter's suggestion to eliminate all of the Short 
Form 5500 eligibility conditions for plans covering fewer than 25 
employees therefore has not been adopted.
    The suggestion to modify the condition that 100% of the plan's 
assets are held in investments that have a readily determinable fair 
market value also is not being adopted. As noted above, the Short Form 
5500 conditions already require plans to satisfy the audit waiver 
conditions in 29 CFR 2520.104-46 to be eligible to file the Short Form. 
The condition in the audit waiver regulation that 95% of the plans 
assets be ``qualifying plan assets,'' focuses on whether the assets are 
held by a regulated financial institution, The Short Form 5500 
condition regarding types of plan investments, in contrast, is based on 
a premise that certain small plans, by virtue of all of their assets 
being held by regulated financial institutions and having a readily 
determinable fair market value, present reduced risks for their 
participants and beneficiaries. Using any percentage measure for assets 
with a readily determinable fair market value would create a risk that 
hard to value assets would be materially undervalued in order to meet 
the percentage threshold and result in plans with substantial holdings 
in hard to value assets being eligible to file the Short Form 5500. The 
Agencies continue to believe that the separate financial information 
regarding hard to value investments on the Schedule I is important for 
regulatory, enforcement, and disclosure purposes. The Agencies are not 
changing this provision because of their concerns that allowing plans 
with any hard to value assets to use abbreviated annual report filing 
(i.e., the Short Form 5500) could compromise enforcement and research 
needs of the Agencies and disclosure needs of participants and 
beneficiaries in such plans.

3. Code Section 403(b) Plan Reporting

    Under the July 2006 Proposal, the limited annual reporting options 
currently available to Code section 403(b) plans would have been 
eliminated so that Code section 403(b) plans would be subject to the 
same annual reporting rules that apply to other ERISA-covered pension 
plans. Two commenters representing employee benefit plan auditors and 
administrative service providers were supportive of the Department's 
proposal and agreed that requiring Code section 403(b) plans to comply 
with the same annual reporting rules that applied to other ERISA 
covered pension plans would improve transparency and accountability. 
Other commenters representing 403(b) plan sponsors and insurance and 
investment companies opposed the proposal. Those opposing the expanded 
reporting requirement argued that compliance with the reporting 
requirement would be both burdensome and costly given the fact that 
most 403(b) plans are a composite of individual contracts issued to 
employees by different 403(b) vendors without a central point for 
administration and recordkeeping. The commenters claimed that there is 
no record of abuse in the 403(b) plan area that supported the proposed 
changes. Certain commenters also suggested that different annual 
reporting rules for Code section 403(b) plans are justified by the fact 
that the tax exempt employers that sponsor Code section 403(b) plans do 
not have a tax incentive for sponsoring pension plans for their 
employees and might be more likely to terminate plans or refuse to 
sponsor plans based on concerns about administrative costs and burdens.
    After evaluating the comments, the Department continues to believe 
that subjecting Code section 403(b) plans to the same annual reporting 
rules that apply to other ERISA covered pension plans is consistent 
with the purposes of Title I of ERISA and the interests of covered 
participants and beneficiaries. The approach to annual reporting by tax 
sheltered annuity programs was premised historically on the conclusion 
that they differed from ordinary pension or deferred compensation 
plans. Code section 403(b) plans, which date back to 1958, were 
originally less in the nature of a plan than of an arrangement under 
which an employer purchased from an insurance company on behalf of an 
employee an individual annuity contract that could be tailored to the 
desires and financial means of the individual employee. Because 
contributions were required to be invested only in annuity contracts or 
in certain mutual fund custodial accounts, the Department had believed 
that the regulatory supervision of insured annuity contracts and of 
regulated investment companies provided much of the disclosure, 
fiduciary and funding protection afforded by Title I of the Act. The 
Department also had concluded that because section 403(b) programs may 
be individually tailored, the reporting and disclosure provisions of 
Title I could present substantial administrative difficulties for the 
employer and for the Department. Finally, the Department viewed section 
403(b) programs as similar to individual retirement account (IRA) based 
plans that were granted an exemption from the annual reporting 
requirements under Title I provided they met certain conditions.

[[Page 64736]]

    As the IRS indicated in the preamble to the recently published 
final regulations on Code section 403(b) plans (72 FR 41128, Jul. 26, 
2007), various amendments to section 403(b) over the past 40 years have 
diminished the extent to which the rules governing Code section 403(b) 
plans differ from the rules governing other employer-based plans, such 
as arrangements that include salary reduction contributions, i.e., Code 
section 401(k) plans. The IRS's final Code section 403(b) regulations 
would impose requirements involving the establishment of a more 
centralized system of recordkeeping for all Code section 403(b) plans. 
The establishment and growth since 1978 of 401(k) plans has made the 
``individually tailored'' character of Code section 403(b) plans less 
distinctive. Section 401(k) plans are often structured as participant 
directed with multiple investment options offered by separate 
investment providers, and many plans include brokerage accounts as a 
way of allowing employees to further tailor the plan to their 
individual investment objectives and financial means. Developments in 
the Code section 403(b) plan market have also raised questions about 
whether regulatory supervision of Code section 403(b) plan vendors 
under insurance and securities laws provides much of the disclosure, 
fiduciary, and funding protections afforded by Title I of the Act. In 
the fiscal years 2002 through 2006, the Department found violations in 
78 percent of its investigations of Code section 403(b) plans. Although 
the predominant issue in these investigations was delinquent employee 
salary contributions, investigations of Code section 403(b) plans also 
revealed delinquent employer contributions, imprudence, prohibited uses 
of assets, and reporting and disclosure violations. The high incidence 
of improper handling of employee contributions suggests a potentially 
broader laxity in fiduciary oversight. There are also reports that 
governmental entities that sponsor Code section 403(b) plans (which 
generally would be excluded from ERISA as governmental plans) are 
concerned about undisclosed fees, penalties, and restrictions in their 
Code section 403(b) plans and are making demands for additional 
disclosures. See, e.g., California Assembly Bill 2506, signed Sept. 29, 
2002 (codified at Cal. Education Code secs. 25100-25115).
    The Department believes that the annual report requirements, 
including an audit by an IQPA, provide important oversight of the Code 
section 403(b) plan's internal control structure and overall 
operations. The Department believes that preparing the financial 
statements and schedules as part of the annual report in compliance 
with the Department's requirements for reporting and disclosure under 
ERISA provides participants with greater assurance that the plan 
administrator or other authorized parties have properly monitored the 
financial condition and operation of the plan. The impact of having to 
meet the same annual reporting requirements applicable to other ERISA-
covered plans would be substantially less burdensome for small tax-
exempt employers, which generally should be eligible for the small plan 
audit waiver and for filing the Short Form 5500.
    While the new annual report requirements may result in additional 
costs to a Code section 403(b) plan, these reporting requirements would 
only apply to Code section 403(b) plans that are subject to Title I of 
ERISA and would subject those plans only to the same annual reporting 
requirements that apply to other ERISA-covered pension plans. In such 
cases, the administration and management of the Code section 403(b) 
plan have already been subject to ERISA's general fiduciary 
obligations. Such plans should, therefore, already have an 
administrative structure in place to ensure compliance with various 
Title I requirements, such as having a written plan document, 
furnishing summary plan descriptions and other ERISA required 
disclosures to participants and beneficiaries, and maintaining an 
adequate recordkeeping system so that the plan fiduciaries can 
prudently manage the plan and monitor plan service providers. In the 
Department's view, the process of preparing an annual report reinforces 
a recordkeeping and monitoring discipline on plan officials that 
facilitates better fiduciary compliance. In that regard, the Department 
does not believe that it would be helpful to adopt the suggestion by 
one commenter to have Code section 403(b) plans answer only a single or 
limited number of questions focused just on timely transmission of 
employee salary reduction contributions to the plan. The Department 
does not believe that continuing a general exemption from the audit 
requirement for Code section 403(b) plans subject to Title I annual 
reporting requirements is appropriate.
    As noted in the preamble to the July 2006 Proposal, small Code 
section 403(b) plans (generally covering fewer than 100 participants) 
should be able to meet the conditions for being exempt from the audit 
requirement and be eligible to file the proposed Short Form 5500.\7\ 
Thus, relative to the current requirements, the final rule provides 
significant annual reporting and audit relief for small tax exempt 
employers. In that regard, in the Department's view, Code section 
403(b) plans that were eligible to file as a small plan under 29 CFR 
2520.103-1(d) in the previous year and that have participant counts of 
less than 121 at the beginning of the 2009 plan year can file as small 
plans under the new filing rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ One commenter expressed concern that some Code section 
403(b) investments might not meet the Short Form 5500 eligibility 
requirement that 100% of the plan's assets be held in investments 
that have a readily determinable fair market value. The instructions 
published with the July 2006 Proposal specifically provided that 
investments in mutual fund shares and insurance contracts for which 
valuation information is provided by the insurer at least annually 
were assets that had a ``readily determinable fair market value'' 
for purposes of the Short Form 5500 eligibility conditions. Those 
instructions are carried over into the instructions to the final 
Short Form 5500.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One commenter that supported the proposal to apply generally 
applicable annual reporting rules to Code section 403(b) plans 
suggested that interim relief may be needed because auditors may refuse 
to take on initial engagements because records from prior years may not 
be adequate for current year audit purposes. Although Code section 
403(b) plans have not yet been subject to an audit requirement as part 
of the annual reporting process, as noted above, fiduciaries of such 
plans must keep records under ERISA section 107 to verify that they are 
in fact eligible to file as Code section 403(b) plans and have a 
general fiduciary obligation to keep adequate records to monitor the 
plan and ensure compliance with the fiduciary and other substantive 
requirements of Title I of ERISA.\8\

[[Page 64737]]

Further, Code section 403(b) plans are required to maintain various 
records in order to comply with Code requirements including, for 
example, discrimination testing, required distributions and compliance 
with maximum contribution limitations. Despite the existing 
recordkeeping requirements, the Department recognizes that auditors may 
face difficulties in providing an unqualified opinion in their initial 
audits of Code section 403(b) plans. In that regard, the final forms 
changes defer the reporting year to which this requirement applies for 
an additional year from that in the proposal. This Notice is thus being 
published over a year before the first plan year for which plan audits 
would be required, and over two years before the plan audits themselves 
would likely be commenced. In light of the extended lead time the 
publication date gives plans to make changes to their recordkeeping 
practices and make certain they have access to the necessary records in 
anticipation of the audit for the 2009 plan year, in the Department's 
view, it would be premature at this point to announce general 
transitional relief from the audit requirement. The Department will, 
however, remain open to reconsidering the issue to the extent 
developments suggest that a transitional enforcement policy or other 
transitional relief would be appropriate to address problems caused by 
lack of familiarity with the audit process or is needed to facilitate a 
smoother transition to the new annual reporting regime by Code section 
403(b) plans.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ One commenter argued that Code section 403(b) plans covered 
by ERISA have no ERISA section 107 recordkeeping obligations under 
Title I because they file under an alternative method of compliance 
under section 110 of ERISA, not under a simplified report or 
exemption under section 104 of ERISA, and ERISA section 107 only 
requires administrators to keep records necessary to verify the 
information actually filed on the Form 5500 when it is filed as an 
alternative method of compliance. ERISA section 107 provides that 
``[e]very person subject to a simplified requirement to file any 
report or to certify any information therefor under this title or 
who would be subject to such a requirement but for an exemption or 
simplified reporting requirement under section 104(a)(2) or (3) of 
this title, shall maintain records on the matters of which 
disclosure is required which will provide in sufficient detail the 
necessary basic information and data from which the documents thus 
required may be verified, explained, or clarified, and checked for 
accuracy and completeness. . . .'' Accepting the commenter's 
argument would lead to the anomalous result that large Code section 
403(b) plans would have very limited recordkeeping obligations under 
ERISA section 107, but plans exempt from any Form 5500 filing 
requirement would be required to keep records necessary to verify 
the information that would be required to be filed under section 103 
of ERISA. In any event, all Code section 403(b) plans filing a Form 
5500 under the limited reporting provisions available to Code 
section 403(b) plans would have to keep records under ERISA section 
107 to verify that they are in fact a pension plan or arrangement 
using a tax deferred annuity arrangement under Code section 
403(b)(1) and/or a custodial account for regulated investment 
company stock under Code section 403(b)(7) as the sole funding 
vehicle for providing pension benefits and would have a general 
fiduciary obligation to keep records adequate to ensure compliance 
with the fiduciary and other substantive requirements in Title I of 
ERISA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A few commenters contended that the ``universal availability'' 
requirement applicable to Code section 403(b) plans under the Internal 
Revenue Code and Treasury Department regulations will unfairly result 
in Code section 403(b) plans with only a small number of active 
participants being subject to the large plan audit requirement because 
all eligible employees are counted as covered participants. The 
Department notes that Code section 401(k) plans are currently subject 
to a similar rule where all employees who are eligible to make salary 
reduction contributions are required to be counted as participants 
regardless of whether they in fact make any contributions. The 
Department also expects that, like Code section 401(k) plans, a 
substantial percentage of large Code section 403(b) plans should be 
eligible for limited relief from the full audit requirement by taking 
advantage of the limited scope audit option available under the 
Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2520.103-8.
    Some additional technical changes were made to the final forms to 
make it clear that certain annual reporting options available to Code 
section 401(k) plans are also available to Code section 403(b) plans. 
Specifically, the Schedule H instructions have been modified to provide 
for aggregate reporting on Lines 4i (Schedule of Assets Held for 
Investment Purposes) and Line 4j (Schedule of Reportable Transactions) 
for individual annuity contracts and custodial accounts in Code section 
403(b) plans as is currently permitted for participant-directed 
accounts in Code section 401(k) plans. In addition, the Schedule A 
instructions have been expanded to make clear that the current rule 
allowing filers to report a group of individual policies issued by the 
same insurer on a single Schedule A would apply for Code section 403(b) 
individual annuity contracts. At the request of one commenter, Line 9 
of the Form 5500 has been changed to make clear that Code section 
403(b) plans that are funded with and pay benefits through Code section 
403(b)(7) ``custodial accounts'' should check ``trust'' for both 
funding and benefit arrangement.
    Finally, in light of the additional annual reporting obligations 
associated with maintaining a Code section 403(b) plan that is covered 
by Title I, several commenters stated that more guidance was necessary 
on the Department's safe harbor regulation at 29 CFR 2510.3-2(f) to 
assist plans in determining whether they were covered by Title I of 
ERISA. The commenters stated that this guidance was especially 
important in light of Treasury's then anticipated issuance of final 
regulations at 72 FR 41128, TD 9340 reflecting legislative changes made 
to Code section 403(b) since the existing regulations were adopted in 
1964 and incorporating interpretive positions that Treasury has taken 
in other guidance on Code section 403(b). The Department's safe harbor 
at 29 CFR 2510.3-2(f) states that a program for the purchase of an 
annuity contract or the establishment of a custodial account in 
accordance with provisions set forth in Code section 403(b) and funded 
solely through salary reduction agreements or agreements to forego an 
increase in salary, are not ``established or maintained'' by an 
employer under section 3(2) of ERISA, and, therefore, are not employee 
pension benefit plans subject to Title I, provided that certain factors 
are present. The Department agrees that it is important for Code 
section 403(b) plans to be able to determine whether they are covered 
by Title I for annual reporting and other ERISA compliance purposes. 
Thus, the Department issued guidance contemporaneously with Treasury's 
issuance of its revised regulations under Code section 403(b) on the 
continued availability of the safe harbor at 29 CFR 2510.3-2(f) and the 
interaction of the Department's safe harbor and the provisions of the 
Treasury regulations addressing employer tax compliance obligations in 
the ongoing operation of a Code section 403(b) arrangement. See FAB 
2007-02 (July 24, 2007) (available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/regs/fabmain.html).

4. Schedules SB and MB (Pension Plan Actuarial Information)

    Draft Schedules SB and MB were posted on the Department's Web site 
in conjunction with the Supplemental Notice. Instructions for these 
draft Schedules were not posted nor are they included in this Notice 
because their development hinges on guidance to be issued by the IRS 
and/or the PBGC implementing the PPA requirements underlying the Form 
5500 Annual Return/Report data elements. Specific guidance regarding 
the details required in Schedule SB and Schedule MB will be provided in 
future guidance and will be included in the instructions.
    The Agencies received no comments related to the new Schedule MB 
and multiple comments from one commenter on Schedule SB. That commenter 
suggested that Line 4a be eliminated because it is identical to the 
entry in the second column of Line 3d. The Agencies note that the 
amount reported on Line 4a will not be the same as the amount reported 
in Line 3d and that this will be made clear in the instructions.
    This commenter also suggested that item 6 be expanded to have one 
line for reporting regular target normal cost and another line for 
reporting at-risk target normal cost. The Agencies acknowledge that 
some plans will need to calculate both amounts in order to determine 
target normal cost, but conclude that it is not necessary to require 
that these interim calculations be reported. Guidance regarding the 
details of this calculation will be included in the instructions.
    This commenter suggested that the words ``not less than zero'' be 
added to

[[Page 64738]]

the end of the parenthetical definition for Line 30 on the Schedule SB. 
The Agencies concluded that this change is not necessary. Guidance 
regarding Line 30 will be included in the instructions.
    This commenter noted that the definitions for Lines 7 and 8 refer 
to Lines 13 and 35 from the prior year, but that these definitions will 
not be valid for 2008 unless the 2007 Schedule B is changed to include 
Lines 13 and 35 as defined in the 2008 Schedule SB. The Agencies note 
that Lines 13 and 35 will not be included on the 2007 Schedule B. The 
Schedule SB was designed to reflect various PPA reporting and 
disclosure provisions (generally effective for 2008 and subsequent 
years). Information on ``look back'' rules applicable for completing 
the questions on the Schedule SB will be included in the instructions.

5. Schedule C (Service Provider Information)

    The Department believes that an annual review of plan fees and 
expenses as part of the annual reporting process is part of a plan 
fiduciary's on-going obligation to monitor service provider 
arrangements with the plan. Commenters generally supported the goals of 
the proposed changes to the Schedule C, as stated in the proposal, of 
increasing transparency regarding fees and expenses paid by employee 
benefit plans and ensuring that plan officials obtain the information 
they need to assess the compensation paid for services rendered to the 
plan, taking into account revenue-sharing arrangements among plan 
service providers and potential conflicts of interests.
    Commenters representing insurance companies, banks, and other 
financial institutions, however, while generally supporting fee 
transparency and applauding the Department's initiatives in this area, 
raised concerns that the proposed Schedule C reporting scheme for 
indirect compensation was more extensive than necessary. They asserted 
that the proposed changes could result in duplicative, misleading, and 
confusing reporting. The commenters also argued that the proposed 
changes, if not narrowed, would impose significant administrative costs 
on service providers to track and disclose information on indirect 
compensation, which costs they likely would pass on to their employee 
benefit plan clients. These commenters suggested that reporting of 
indirect compensation, as proposed, should be narrowed in various ways: 
(1) Eliminate or narrow reporting of ``float'' income; (2) postpone any 
requirement to report ``soft dollars'' until after the Securities and 
Exchange Commission (SEC), as the primary regulator of soft dollar 
compensation, addresses the subject as it applies to investors 
generally; (3) except from reporting revenue sharing payments among 
affiliates and by other bundled service providers to entities that the 
bundled provider engages to provide services; (4) retain the current 
rules under which brokerage commissions are not required to be reported 
unless the broker is granted some discretion; (5) define ``service 
providers'' required to be listed in the Schedule C as limited to 
persons with direct service relationships with the plan and exclude 
from Schedule C reporting payments to ``subcontractors'' based on the 
premise that subcontractors are merely assisting the direct service 
provider in fulfilling its contractual obligations and are not 
providing services to the plan; (6) confirm that insurers and 
investment providers are not required to be listed as service providers 
on Schedule C solely as a result of the plan's purchase of the 
insurance contract or investment with the investment provider; and (7) 
integrate the annual reporting requirement into other regulatory 
disclosure requirements regarding fee and expense disclosure to avoid 
duplicative and confusing disclosure requirements.
    Two individual commenters suggested that the Schedule C should be 
completed by small plans as well as large plans and that the $5,000 
reporting threshold for listing a service provider on the Schedule C 
should be lowered or eliminated. Another commenter suggested that, if 
full Schedule C reporting was not expanded to small plans, investment-
related fees and expenses should be reported separately in a similar 
manner as administrative service provider expenses under the July 2006 
Proposal which called for administrative service provider expenses paid 
by the plan to be reported as an aggregate line item on Schedule I and 
the Short Form.
    As noted in the July 2006 Proposal, issues relating to the 
appropriate manner and scope of the reporting of service provider 
compensation on the Schedule C have been raised by the ERISA Advisory 
Council and the Government Accountability Office, as well as by Form 
5500 Annual Return/Report filers and plan service providers. The 
Department is working on a separate regulation setting forth the 
standards applicable to the exemption under ERISA section 408(b)(2) for 
contracting or making reasonable arrangements with a party in interest 
for services. See 72 FR 22845. That regulation is intended to eliminate 
the current uncertainty as to the information relating to services and 
fees that plan fiduciaries must obtain and service providers must 
furnish for purposes of determining whether a contract for services to 
be rendered to a plan is reasonable. Another rulemaking initiative on 
the Department's regulatory agenda involves review of participant-level 
disclosure, including the regulation governing ERISA section 404(c) 
plans (29 CFR 2550.404c-1), to ensure that participants and 
beneficiaries in individual account plans are provided the information 
they need, including information about fees and expenses, to make 
informed investment decisions. Id. Other federal agencies, for example 
the SEC, are also focusing on efforts to give investors, including 
employee benefit plans, better information about the actual amount they 
have paid investment fund managers during a given period.
    Against this backdrop, and inasmuch as plan administrative costs 
are being passed on to plan participants with increasing frequency, it 
is critical to ensure that the benefits of any new annual reporting 
requirement outweigh the attendant compliance costs--costs that may 
ultimately reduce retirement savings. The Schedule C requirements 
historically have been limited to large plans that are required to file 
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and have not covered the broader 
class of plans covered by the Department's other fee transparency 
initiatives. Considered in context with other fee disclosure 
initiatives at the Department and elsewhere that are more tailored to 
the concerns expressed by GAO and the ERISA Advisory Council on changes 
needed to provide 401(k) plan participants better information on fees, 
particularly investment fees indirectly incurred by participants 
directing the investment of assets in their individual 401(k) plan 
accounts, the Department does not believe expanding the Schedule C 
annual reporting requirements to small pension plans would be 
consistent with the direction from Congress in the PPA for the 
Department to simplify the annual report for plans sponsored by small 
businesses.
    The Department continues to believe that it is appropriate to 
modify the Schedule C reporting requirements for large plans in an 
effort both to clarify the reporting requirements and to ensure that 
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report serves a role in helping plan 
officials obtain the information they need to assess the reasonableness

[[Page 64739]]

of the compensation paid for services rendered to the plan, taking into 
account revenue sharing and other financial relationships or 
arrangements and potential conflicts of interest that might affect the 
quality of those services. After having carefully reviewed the public 
comments on the Schedule C proposal, the Schedule C is being adopted 
largely as proposed, but some revisions are being made to the proposed 
requirements. The changes are intended to reduce the administrative 
burdens on plans and plan service providers and clarify the reporting 
requirements without compromising the proposal's overall objectives.
a. Indirect Compensation Reporting on Schedule C
    Reportable compensation under the final Schedule C revisions 
continues to be defined to include money and any other thing of value 
(for example, gifts, awards, trips) received directly or indirectly 
from the plan (including fees charged as a percentage of assets and 
deducted from investment returns) for services rendered to the plan. 
The Department does not agree with the commenters who argued that only 
those persons with ``direct service relationships'' with the plan 
should be treated as providing services to the plan for Schedule C 
reporting purposes. The Department believes that such a conclusion 
would be inconsistent even with the current reporting requirements in 
the Schedule C. Under current reporting rules, reportable indirect 
compensation expressly includes ``among other things, payment of 
`finder's fees' or other fees and commissions by a service provider to 
an independent agent or employee for a transaction or service involving 
the plan.'' Nothing in the proposal was intended to restrict or 
diminish the existing requirement to report such finders' fees or 
commissions. Rather, the proposal was designed to expand indirect 
compensation reporting requirements. The Department also believes that 
adopting the commenters' suggestion would undermine the objective of 
improving disclosure of fee and compensation information because it is 
not consistent with the reality of the employee benefit plan 
marketplace where the nature and complexity of the business and 
investment environment in which plans operate has changed the ways in 
which plans obtain and pay for administrative, investment, and other 
services. Although the Department agrees that an investment of plan 
assets or the purchase of insurance is not, in and of itself, 
reportable service provider compensation for purposes of the Schedule 
C, in the Department's view, persons that provide investment 
management, recordkeeping, participant communication, and other 
services to the plan as part of a transaction with the plan should be 
treated as providing services to the plan or its participants for 
purposes of Schedule C reporting. Thus, under the final Schedule C 
revisions, and subject to the alternative reporting option described 
below, such persons would be required to be identified in Part I if 
they received, directly or indirectly, $5000 or more in reportable 
compensation for a transaction or service involving the plan.
    Several commenters suggested that a payment be reportable on 
Schedule C only if either the service provider's eligibility for the 
payment or the amount of the payment is based on a transaction directly 
involving assets of the plan. The commenters argued that such a test 
would be consistent with conflict of interest rule in ERISA section 
406(b)(3), which prohibits receipts by plan fiduciaries of 
consideration for their own personal account from any party dealing 
with a plan ``in connection with'' transactions involving plan assets. 
The Department does not agree that the standard for Schedule C 
reporting should be narrowed to parallel the prohibited transaction 
standard in ERISA section 406(b)(3). Unlike the prohibited transaction 
provision in 406(b)(3), the Schedule C revisions were not intended to 
be limited to receipts by plan fiduciaries or to identifying 
impermissible conflicts of interest. The Schedule C reporting of 
indirect compensation also is not limited to only those circumstances 
where a plan fiduciary affirmatively chooses the indirect service 
providers. Rather, one of the goals of the Schedule C changes is to 
improve fee disclosure to plan fiduciaries, especially where they do 
not have a role in determining the compensation paid to parties that 
are receiving fees for a transaction or service involving the plan. 
Schedule C reporting arises in part from ERISA section 103(c)(3), which 
requires information in the annual report regarding ``each person'' 
(not limited to just fiduciaries) who rendered services to the plan or 
who had transactions with the plan who received, directly or 
indirectly, compensation from the plan during the year for services 
rendered to the plan or its participants. Further, ERISA section 
103(c)(5) expressly provides that the administrator shall furnish as 
part of the annual report ``[s]uch financial and actuarial 
information'' as the ``Secretary may find necessary or appropriate.'' 
In the Department's view, the prohibited transaction standard in ERISA 
section 406(a)(1)(C)--transactions that constitute a ``direct or 
indirect'' furnishing of goods, services, or facilities to the plan--is 
generally a more suitable analog for Schedule C reporting. Thus, in the 
Department's view, the Schedule C reporting requirement should 
generally capture both persons who receive direct or indirect 
compensation and persons who provide services directly or indirectly to 
the plan.
    The Department nonetheless agrees that additional guidance on 
certain areas of concern raised by commenters would establish useful 
compliance guides for plan administrators and plan service providers.
    As was noted in the July 2006 Proposal, Schedule C was intended to 
capture information on compensation received by persons providing 
services, and not information on benefit payments to participants and 
beneficiaries. Where fully insured group health benefits, or similarly 
fully insured benefits under a plan, are purchased from and guaranteed 
by a licensed insurance company, insurance service, or other similar 
organization, and where information regarding that contract is reported 
on the Schedule A, compensation paid by the insurance company from its 
general assets to affiliates or third parties for administrative 
activities necessary for the insurer to satisfy its contractual 
obligation to provide benefits is not required to be treated as 
reportable service provider compensation for purposes of the Schedule 
C. Insurance investment contracts are not eligible for this exception. 
As described below in the discussion of the Schedule A (Insurance 
Information), a similar exclusion is being adopted in defining the 
scope of insurance fees and commissions that must be separately 
reported on the Schedule A. In determining whether such compensation is 
excludable from the Schedule C, the Department would look to whether 
the administrative services are necessary for the insurer to satisfy 
its contractual obligation to provide benefits under the plan and are 
not services incidental to the sale or renewal of a policy, whether 
payments by the insurer are out of its general assets to third parties 
without any other direct or indirect charge to the plan other than the 
policy premium, are made pursuant to a contract or written 
understanding to provide the services, and whether the amount of the 
compensation paid by the insurer is

[[Page 64740]]

reasonable in light of the value of the services provided.
    Under the proposal, Schedule C reportable compensation included 
brokerage commissions and fees directly or indirectly charged to the 
plan on purchase, sale, and exchange transactions regardless of whether 
the broker is granted discretion. Commenters urged retaining the 
current limitation under which such compensation is reported on the 
Schedule C only for brokers granted discretion. The Department 
continues to believe that brokerage fees and commissions may constitute 
a significant part of a plan's annual expenses and that continuing the 
current exemption from the Schedule C reporting for such expenses is 
not appropriate. A review of expenses as part of the annual reporting 
process is part of a plan fiduciary's on-going obligation to monitor 
service provider arrangements with the plan. Requiring the reporting of 
such brokerage commissions and fees should emphasize and reinforce that 
monitoring obligation. The Department understands that information on 
brokerage fees and commissions may be provided to the plan by parties 
other than the broker receiving the fee or commission. For example, a 
number of commenters indicated that in many cases the broker will not 
know the party on whose behalf a brokerage transaction is being 
executed because the instructions to execute trades are often provided 
by investment managers who control investment portfolios for multiple 
ERISA plans, non-ERISA plans, and non-plan clients. The commenters 
asserted that it may be very difficult for the broker to identify fees 
and commissions it receives from ERISA plan transactions, much less 
identify fees and commissions it receives on transactions involving a 
particular ERISA plan. The Department notes that the plan administrator 
is the party with the obligation to complete the Schedule C. Further, 
the Schedule C does not require that information on reportable fees and 
commissions necessarily be furnished to the administrator by the party 
receiving the fee or commission. Rather, in the situation described by 
the commenters, the investment manager should have information on which 
transactions are being executed for which clients and should have 
information on the fees and commissions it is being charged for those 
transactions. In such a case, the investment manager, rather than the 
broker, may be the appropriate party to provide the plan administrator 
with information on those service provider fees and commissions.
    Many of the comments raising concerns about the difficulties and 
burdens of reporting indirect compensation focused on ``float'' 
revenue; \9\ securities brokerage commissions (including soft dollar 
commissions\10\); and service fees charged against plan investments and 
reflected in the net value of the plan's investment in mutual funds, 
bank investment funds, and insurance company investment contracts. 
According to the GAO, see, e.g., ``Private Pensions: Changes Needed To 
Provide 401(k) Plan Participants and the Department of Labor Better 
Information on Fees'' (GAO 07-21, Nov. 2006), these investment-related 
fees indirectly paid by plans and plan participants account for the 
largest portion of total plan fees regardless of plan size. Services 
provided for these fees can include investment management (e.g., 
selecting and managing the securities included in a mutual fund); 
consulting and providing financial advice (recommending vendors for 
investment options or other services); custodial or trustee services 
for plan assets; and shareholder services (such as telephone or web-
based customer services for participants). Record-keeping fees were 
identified as generally constituting the second-largest portion of 
these indirect fees. Record-keeping fees are usually paid to a service 
provider to set up and maintain the plan. These fees cover activities 
such as enrolling plan participants, processing participant investment 
selections, preparing and mailing account statements, and other related 
administrative activities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ Financial service providers (e.g., banks and trust 
companies) sometimes place ERISA plan assets in a general account 
for short periods of time in order to facilitate certain 
transactions, such as while waiting for investment instructions from 
the plan's fiduciaries or in order to make a distribution or other 
disbursement. The period that begins when the plan money is 
deposited in the general account, and ends when the investment 
instructions are executed or the disbursement check clears, is known 
as the ``float.'' During this float period, the money often is 
invested in conservative, short-term investments. In some cases, the 
ERISA plan is credited with the earnings on these investments. In 
others, the financial service provider keeps the earnings as part of 
its compensation.
    \10\ Soft dollars include research or other products or 
services, other than execution, received from a broker-dealer or 
other third party in connection with securities transactions.
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    The commenters indicated that the burden and complexity of 
reporting investment-related fees is due in large part to the fact that 
a substantial majority of retirement plan service providers maintain 
plan records and investment information at an omnibus account level. 
Certain commenters described omnibus accounting as ``best practice'' in 
the industry. They suggested that efficiencies in data exchanges and 
settlement transactions between funds and retirement plan record 
keepers generated by omnibus accounting are used to reduce plan service 
costs. These savings were described as based in part upon the service 
provider maintaining omnibus trading accounts with investment-related 
service compensation based upon a percentage of the total assets in an 
investment fund. A commenter representing the mutual fund industry 
asserted that it would be extremely difficult to parse out by plan (in 
dollars) specific components of a fund's expenses for purposes of Form 
5500 reporting. The commenter suggested that the data systems overhaul 
that would be needed to track this information would be prohibitively 
expensive. Other commenters suggested that, although it may be possible 
with current data systems to generate an estimate of the amount of 
investment-related fees reflected in the periodic net asset valuation 
of a plan's investment on a case-by-case basis, systematically 
performing such a task each year for each investing plan would be 
difficult given the variation in omnibus account investment fees and 
the pervasiveness of their use as a means of compensating service 
providers for an array of investment-related services.
    In a similar vein, several commenters expressed concern about the 
Schedule C reporting requirements in the case of revenue sharing among 
members of a bundled service arrangement (including, in particular, 
revenue sharing among affiliates from investment-related fees charged 
at the omnibus account level). The commenters explained that bundled 
service arrangements include arrangements where the plan hires one 
company to provide, either directly or through affiliated entities or 
unaffiliated subcontractors, an array of services rather than 
purchasing the services on an individual basis. In some typical 
arrangements, a bundle of services is included as part of an investment 
transaction and the service providers are paid out of investment 
management and other charges levied on an investment fund comprised of 
many ERISA plans, other plans, and, in some cases, non-plan investors. 
Several commenters asked that the final Schedule C revisions confirm 
that payments received in such a bundled arrangement by a service 
provider from an affiliate not be separately reportable on Schedule C. 
The commenters argued

[[Page 64741]]

that separate reporting was not necessary to identify possible 
conflicts of interest because the self-interest such a service provider 
has in its affiliate should be readily apparent to the plan fiduciary 
evaluating an investment in the bundled arrangement or any advice or 
recommendation by that service provider relating to its affiliate. The 
commenters also argued that separate disclosures on revenue sharing 
among affiliates are not necessary where the total compensation 
received by the affiliated group is to be reported. The commenters 
argued that allocation of revenues among affiliates may not be based on 
the value of services provided by the respective affiliates to 
investing plans, but instead may be driven by tax accounting, cash flow 
or other internal business purposes of the affiliate group. They also 
argued that, although they could attempt to allocate a cost to each 
service in the bundled, the annual report does not in other cases 
require service providers to report their cost, as opposed to the 
charges paid by the plan. The commenters also argued that reporting 
revenue sharing among affiliates would create a confusing distinction 
between entities that provide services using employees in multiple 
divisions of one company and entities that use several separate 
subsidiaries to provide the services. One of the commenters suggested 
that if multiple affiliates within an organizational group provided 
services to a plan, it should be sufficient to identify in Part I of 
Schedule C the organization together with its participating affiliates 
and report compensation on an aggregate basis.
    Other commenters representing ``unbundled'' or ``open 
architecture'' investment providers asserted that allowing aggregate 
reporting for bundled/affiliated providers, without having a parallel 
rule for unbundled providers would generate misleading information for 
plan administrators. The commenters represented that unbundled 
investment service arrangements use the same basic omnibus accounting 
and omnibus account fee arrangements as bundled providers. In the 
unbundled context, revenue sharing is used to compensate unaffiliated 
entities providing the same recordkeeping and shareholder services 
provided by affiliates in a bundled provider arrangement. They pointed 
out that technological improvements in information management systems 
and data exchange between investment funds and retirement plan record 
keepers have given unbundled providers the ability to offer cost and 
fee structures competitive to those of bundled providers. They also 
argue that unbundled arrangements give plans access to a wider range of 
unaffiliated investment vehicles than is typically offered by bundled 
providers.
    Representatives of the ``unbundled'' service providers claim that, 
just like the bundled providers, the parties providing sales, 
recordkeeping, participant communication, and other services are often 
paid indirectly from charges levied against the investment funds in 
which the plan accounts are invested. They read the Schedule C proposal 
as requiring, in the case of bundled providers, reporting of a single 
sum equal to the total compensation, including investment management 
and other asset-based fees, paid by the plan without reporting the 
allocation of those charges to affiliated service providers in the 
bundle. In comparison, they read the proposal to require that the plan 
report, in the ``unbundled'' structure, both the total investment 
management and other asset-based fees as well as report allocations 
from those fees to the unaffiliated service providers. The commenters 
suggested, therefore, that, although an unbundled arrangement may 
provide the same services as a bundled arrangement and the various 
service providers may be paid out of the same investment management and 
omnibus asset-based charges as in a bundled arrangement, the Schedule C 
reporting could make it appear as if the unbundled arrangement included 
more fees.
    The Department has decided to revise the Schedule C reporting 
requirement in an effort to address both the concerns regarding the 
burden and expense of reporting plan specific components of omnibus 
asset-based charges and concerns over disparate reporting treatment of 
affiliated service provider groups and unaffiliated providers using 
essentially the same indirect compensation arrangements. In that 
regard, the Department notes that even commenters generally supporting 
the Schedule C proposal urged the Department to provide flexibility, 
consistent with the spirit of the proposed Schedule C changes, in 
defining acceptable methods of reporting fee and expense information 
and allocating the fees and expenses for specific service provider 
compensation to individual plans.
    Thus, the final Schedule C revisions include a new definition of 
what would constitute a bundled arrangement for Schedule C reporting 
purposes. In the case of such bundled arrangements, although revenue 
sharing within the bundled group generally does not need to be 
separately reported, the person or persons in the bundle receiving 
separate fees charged against the plan's investment (e.g., investment 
management fees, float revenue, and other asset-based fees such as 
shareholder servicing fees, 12b-1 fees, and wrap fees if charged in 
addition to the investment management fee) must, subject to the 
alternative reporting option described below, be treated as receiving 
separate reportable compensation for Schedule C purposes. Also, and 
subject to the alternative reporting option described below, any person 
in the bundle who is a fiduciary to the plan or provides one or more of 
the following services to the plan contract administrator, consulting, 
investment advisory (plan or participants), investment management, 
securities brokerage, or recordkeeping--receiving amounts as 
commissions (including finders' fees), soft dollars or other 
nonmonetary compensation, float revenue, or transaction-based charges 
(e.g., brokerage commissions) must be separately reported on the 
Schedule C if their total reportable compensation equals or exceeds 
$5,000. The Department believes that having to disclose the receipt of 
separate fees actually charged against the plan's investment would not 
require service providers to disclose information legitimately 
classified as proprietary or confidential. Further, in the case of 
commissions, soft dollars, finders' fees, float revenue, and 
transaction-based charges paid to affiliates, the Department believes 
such charges are just as likely for both affiliate groups and 
unaffiliated providers to be relevant to the plan fiduciary in 
evaluating possible conflicts of interest.
    Except as described above, the Department continues to believe that 
it is generally sufficient for Schedule C reporting purposes to treat 
an affiliate group as a single person and identify that affiliate group 
in Part I of the Schedule C as the party receiving compensation from 
the plan for rendering services to the plan. The Department emphasizes, 
however, that if one or more of the affiliates or a member of a bundled 
arrangement received compensation from sources outside the affiliate 
group or bundled arrangement in connection with the investment 
transaction with the plan or services provided to the plan, that 
compensation also would have to be included as part of the reportable 
compensation received in determining Schedule C reporting requirements.
    For purposes of this Schedule C reporting rule, an ``affiliate'' of 
a person includes any person, directly or

[[Page 64742]]

indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controlling, controlled 
by, or under common control with the person. The instructions for the 
Schedule C have been revised to provide that ``control,'' with respect 
to a person other than an individual, means the ability to exercise a 
controlling influence over the management or policies of such person.
    In attempting to strike a balance between the costs and benefits of 
improved disclosure of investment-related fees and expenses, the 
Department believes some of the concerns regarding the burden and 
complexity of allocating fees charged in an omnibus account structure 
can be addressed by further modifying the Schedule C requirements so 
they rely on disclosures regarding those fees resulting from other 
regulations or business practices to the extent those disclosures meet 
the objectives underlying the Department's Schedule C proposal. The 
final Schedule C revisions thus include an alternative reporting option 
for ``eligible indirect compensation.'' To constitute eligible indirect 
compensation for this purpose, the compensation has to be of a certain 
type and the plan must have received certain disclosures. The eligible 
compensation types are compensation not paid directly by the plan or 
plan sponsor but received by plan service providers from omnibus level 
fees charged to investment funds in which the plan invests where the 
charges are reflected in the value of the investment or return on 
investment of the participating plan or its participants and for: 
distribution, investment management, recordkeeping or shareholder 
services; commissions and finder's fees paid to persons providing 
direct or indirect services to the participating plans; float revenue; 
securities brokerage commissions and other transaction-based fees 
(whether or not they are capitalized as investment costs); and ``soft 
dollar'' revenue. For the alternative reporting option to be available, 
in addition to being within that class of investment fees, the plan 
administrator must also be furnished written materials, including in 
electronic form, that disclose the existence of the indirect 
compensation; the services provided for the indirect compensation or 
the purpose or purposes for the payment of the indirect compensation; 
the amount (or estimate) of the compensation or a description of the 
formula used to calculate or determine the compensation; and the 
identity of the party or parties paying and receiving the compensation. 
The Department believes that any written disclosure, whether 
regulatory, contractual, or voluntary, could be relied upon so long as 
all of the elements of the disclosure were provided to the plan 
administrator. Further, the necessary information could be provided to 
the plan administrator in separate disclosures from multiple parties.
    In the case of service providers who received only eligible 
indirect compensation, the plan administrator would be able to check a 
box on the Schedule C to indicate that there were such service 
providers and that the plan had received the appropriate disclosures, 
and then identify on the Schedule C each person from whom the plan 
administrator received the necessary disclosures regarding the eligible 
indirect compensation. For example, 12b-1 fees received by a party 
providing recordkeeping services to a plan would not have to be 
separately reported on the Schedule C if the disclosures in the mutual 
fund prospectus together with disclosures in the service contract 
advised the plan administrator of the fact that the 12b-1 fees were 
being received, what the fees were paid for, the amount or estimate of 
the fees received or the formula used to calculate the amount of the 
fees received, and the party from whom the recordkeeper was receiving 
the fees. Similarly, ``soft dollars'' received by an investment manager 
in the form of research or other permissible services in connection 
with securities trades on behalf of plan clients need not be separately 
reported on the Schedule C if disclosures in the SEC Form ADV, together 
with disclosures in the investment management contract, advised the 
plan administrator that the manager is receiving ``soft dollars,'' the 
reason the person was receiving the ``soft dollar'' payment, the amount 
of ``soft dollars'' or the formula used to determine the amount of 
``soft dollars'' that the manager receives in connection with each 
securities transaction, and the party or parties from whom the 
investment manager is receiving the ``soft dollars.'' The Department 
recognizes that it may not be practicable to provide a formula or 
estimate to calculate the value of certain types of ``soft dollar'' 
non-monetary compensation at the plan level, particularly so-called 
``proprietary'' soft dollar arrangements, such as access to information 
from certain research specialists. In such circumstances, a description 
of the eligibility conditions sufficient to allow a plan fiduciary to 
evaluate them for reasonableness and potential conflicts of interests 
would satisfy the ``amount of compensation'' prong of the disclosure 
alternative for Schedule C reporting. When reporting service providers 
who received eligible indirect compensation and other compensation, the 
service provider would be required to be separately listed on the 
Schedule C if the total compensation equaled or exceeded the $5,000 
threshold. The plan administrator would check a box to indicate that 
some of the compensation was eligible indirect compensation and 
complete the other elements of the Schedule C to report information on 
the balance of the direct and indirect compensation received by the 
service provider. Since the identity of the service provider would be 
included on the Schedule C in such cases, separately listing the person 
from whom the plan received the required disclosures regarding the 
eligible indirect compensation would not be necessary.
    The Department has previously expressed its opinion that in hiring 
and retaining service providers plan fiduciaries must engage in an 
objective process designed to elicit information necessary to assess 
the qualifications of the provider, the quality of services offered, 
and the reasonableness of the fees charged in light of the services 
provided. In addition, the process should be designed to avoid self-
dealing, conflicts of interest, or other improper influence. The 
alternative reporting option being adopted as part of the Schedule C 
revisions for eligible indirect compensation is intended to emphasize 
and reinforce the obligation to review of plan expenses as part of a 
plan fiduciary's on-going obligation to monitor service provider 
arrangements. It also provides the Department with adequate reporting 
to engage in effective oversight activities while addressing concerns 
about annual reporting burdens and costs, which are increasingly being 
passed on to plan participants and beneficiaries. A party seeking to 
avail itself of the alternative reporting option would also bear the 
burden of maintaining records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with 
the conditions of the alternative reporting option.
    Several commenters asked that the Department modify the proposed 
Schedule C requirement applicable to plan fiduciaries and certain 
enumerated service providers who received, directly or indirectly, 
$5,000 or more in total compensation, and also received more than 
$1,000 in reportable compensation from a person other than the plan or 
plan sponsor. Under the proposal, the Schedule C would have had to 
provide

[[Page 64743]]

information identifying the payor of such indirect compensation, the 
payor's relationship with the plan or services provided to the plan by 
the payor, the amount paid, and the nature of the compensation. The 
enumerated service providers were contract administrator, securities 
brokerage (stock, bonds, commodities), insurance brokerage or agent, 
custodial, consulting, investment advisory (plan or participants), 
investment or money management, recordkeeping, trustee, appraisal, or 
investment evaluation. The commenters expressed concern that the list 
of enumerated service providers was overbroad because it included most 
types of plan service providers, including those where compensation 
arrangements did not present any real conflict of interest concerns. 
The commenters also objected because the reporting requirement 
substantially reduced the costs savings and burden reductions of the 
aggregate reporting of compensation by affiliates and bundled service 
providers. In light of the other revisions being made to the reporting 
requirements for bundled service arrangements described above, the 
Department is revising the Schedule C instructions to limit the 
enumerated service provider list to types of providers where 
compensation arrangements presenting conflict of interest concerns are 
most likely to exist.
    Modifications were also suggested to the aspect of the Schedule C 
proposal that required reporting business meals, gifts, promotional 
items, and other similar non-monetary forms of compensation. Commenters 
complained that the proposal would require costly tracking and 
reporting by plan service providers of typical business expenses only 
remotely connected to the plans. One commenter cited, as an example, 
the need to track and report when an employee of a plan service 
provider is treated to a business lunch by another service vendor to 
discuss the services the vendor provides to the service provider's plan 
clients. The commenter questioned whether the cost of such tracking and 
potential reporting, which ultimately could be passed on to the plan or 
the plan sponsor, is justified based on value to plan fiduciaries 
evaluating the reasonableness of service provider fees. The Department 
recognizes that providing meals, entertainment, free travel, or other 
gratuities may serve an ordinary business purpose, such as cultivating 
goodwill or securing or maintaining a commercial relationship, but 
continues to believe that non-monetary compensation should be subject 
to Schedule C reporting rules. Access to this information should help 
plan fiduciaries gauge whether the service provider's business 
decisions with regard to the plan may be influenced by any such 
personal benefits. At the same time, excepting from reporting 
occasional and insubstantial free meals, gifts, and promotional items 
will help to ensure that service providers are not burdened with 
reporting routine business gratuities that should be of little interest 
to plan fiduciaries.
    The Department thus has modified the Schedule C reporting 
requirements to exclude ordinary business gifts that are both 
occasional and of insubstantial value, for example, widely distributed 
items such as pens with a company name permanently imprinted or 
ordinary business lunches, where the cost of the gift or meal would be 
tax deductible for federal income tax purposes for the person providing 
the gift or meal and the gift or meal would not be taxable income to 
the recipient. For this exemption to apply, the gift must be valued at 
less than $50, and the aggregate value of gifts from one source in a 
calendar year must be less than $100, but gifts with a value of less 
than $10 do not need to be counted toward the $100 annual limit. If the 
$100 aggregate value limit is exceeded, the aggregate value of all the 
gifts will be reportable. Gifts from multiple employees of one service 
provider should be treated as originating from a single source when 
calculating whether the $100 threshold applies. On the other hand, in 
applying the threshold to an occasional gift received from one source 
by multiple employees of a single service provider, the amount received 
by each employee should be separately determined in applying the $50 
and $100 thresholds. For example, if six employees of a company 
providing administrative services to employee benefit plans attend a 
business conference put on by a broker designed to educate and explain 
the broker's employee benefit business services, where refreshments 
valued at $20 per individual are provided at no cost to the employees, 
the gratuities would not be reportable on the Schedule C even though 
the total cost of the refreshments would be $120. The Schedule C 
instructions have also been revised to emphasize that these thresholds 
are for purposes of Schedule C reporting only and to caution filers 
that the payment or receipt of gifts and gratuities of any amount by 
plan fiduciaries may violate ERISA and give rise to civil liabilities 
and criminal penalties.
    Commenters also expressed concern that the Schedule C reporting 
rule allowing any reasonable method of allocating indirect compensation 
among multiple plans as long as the method is disclosed to the plan 
administrator would result in confusion for plan officials because 
service providers will not necessarily be using consistent methods in 
allocating indirect compensation. The diversity in the form and manner 
of payment of indirect compensation described in the comments, however, 
defied applying a single allocation method for such compensation among 
multiple plans. Thus, in circumstances where the amount of indirect 
compensation received by a person is attributable to more than one 
plan, allowing any reasonable allocation method but also requiring the 
method of allocation to be disclosed to the plan administrator provides 
the parties with appropriate flexibility in meeting the annual 
reporting requirement while ensuring the plan administrator is properly 
informed.
    Several commenters raised concerns about the proposed indirect 
compensation reporting requirements as possibly leading to confusion 
among plan officials over ``double reporting'' of service provider 
compensation. They cited as an example of such ``double reporting'' 
situations where an investment advisor is paid an investment management 
fee from a mutual fund, and the investment advisor uses some of that 
revenue to pay fees to brokers, pension consultants, and others for 
marketing and distribution expenses. The commenters were concerned that 
if the investment management fee received by the investment manager and 
the fee received by a broker, for example, are both required to be 
reported as indirect compensation on the Schedule C, plan officials 
could incorrectly conclude that the plan paid the broker's fee in 
addition to the investment management fee. The Department believes that 
the modifications to the form and instructions described above, 
including the alternative reporting option for eligible indirect 
compensation, should address this concern by giving service providers 
flexibility that will allow them to provide plans with disclosures that 
can be used to satisfy the Schedule C reporting requirements while also 
clearly explaining the indirect compensation in a way that will enable 
the service providers to avoid creating confusion about the indirect 
fees and compensation they receive.
    The Schedule C is also being modified so that service providers 
required to be

[[Page 64744]]

listed would separately report direct compensation paid by the plan and 
indirect compensation received from sources other than the plan or the 
plan sponsor, for example, compensation charged against investment 
assets. In addition, in light of the fact that particular service 
providers may receive direct and indirect compensation of various types 
from various sources, in order to provide more informative disclosures 
about the types of fees being paid to or received by plan service 
providers, the final forms revisions expand the service codes currently 
required on the Schedule C, which identify the types of services 
provided, to include fee codes designed to better identify the types of 
direct and indirect compensation received. For example, codes were 
added for direct payments by the plan out of a plan account, including 
charges to plan forfeiture accounts and fee recapture accounts, charges 
to a plan's trust account before allocations are made to individual 
participant accounts, and direct charges to plan participant individual 
accounts (e.g., loan charges, brokerage account service fee, 
distribution service charge). Codes for types of indirect compensation 
include common investment fees indirectly paid by plans and 
participants, such as sales loads (including charges on purchases and 
deferred sales charge); redemption fees; purchase fees paid to the fund 
(not to a broker); exchange fees charged to an investor when they 
exchange (transfer) to another fund within the same fund group; account 
maintenance fees; investment management fees paid out of fund assets to 
the fund's investment adviser for investment portfolio management; 
distribution and service (12b-1) fees; shareholder service fees; 
custodial fees; legal expenses; accounting fees; and transfer agent 
expenses. The fee codes should provide plan sponsors, participants and 
beneficiaries, and the Department with better information on the types 
of compensation being paid directly or indirectly by the plan.
    The Department believes that this revised framework for the 
Schedule C continues to accomplish the objectives of improving Schedule 
C reporting of fee and compensation information, while addressing many 
of the concerns of the commenters relating to annual reporting burdens, 
costs, and potentially duplicative and confusing disclosures to plan 
officials. It also provides sufficient flexibility so that plans and 
service providers can use other current or future regulatory disclosure 
regimes, such as soft dollar disclosure requirements developed by the 
SEC, as part of satisfying ERISA's annual reporting requirements.
b. Miscellaneous Schedule C Issues
    One commenter asked the Department to confirm that revenue sharing 
payments, such as sales loads and 12b-1 fees received from the mutual 
funds and other revenue sharing payments from distributors and/or 
advisors of the mutual fund for sub-transfer agency services and 
shareholder services, are not necessarily ``plan assets'' for purposes 
of the fiduciary responsibility provisions of Title I of ERISA solely 
by virtue of being required to be listed on the Schedule C. The 
commenter pointed out that some revenue sharing payments to plan 
service providers are calculated based on the amount of assets a plan 
or a group of plans have invested in a particular investment vehicle or 
family of vehicles at a given time. Other revenue sharing payments are 
not asset-based, but may involve a flat fee. In the Department's view, 
the Schedule C reporting requirements are not restricted to plan asset 
payments. In general, in evaluating plan investments, identification of 
plan assets is governed either by the ``plan asset'' regulation (29 CFR 
2510.3-101), or, in situations beyond the regulations, the assets of an 
employee benefit plan are identified on the basis of ordinary notions 
of property rights. See, e.g., Advisory Opinion 2005-22A. In the 
context of a plan's investment in a mutual fund or other investment 
vehicle, the plan's beneficial interest generally is its ownership of 
shares, units, or an undivided interest in the underlying assets of the 
vehicle. The fact that revenue sharing payments charged against the 
assets in an investment vehicle are required to be reported on Schedule 
C or disclosed under the alternative reporting option would not, by 
virtue of the reporting requirement alone, make those revenue sharing 
payments plan assets under the plan asset regulation or under ordinary 
notions of property rights.
    One commenter suggested that revising the instructions to Schedule 
C to clarify that health and welfare plans exempt from the financial 
reporting and audit requirements by reason of meeting the conditions in 
the Department's limited exemption in 29 CFR 2520.104-44, including 
plans that rely on the enforcement policy guidance in the Department's 
Technical Release 92-01, are not required to file a Schedule C. The 
Department has modified the instructions for the Schedule C to make it 
clear that, although neither the limited exemption at 2520.104-44 nor 
Technical Release 92-01 expressly address Schedule C reporting 
requirements, plans that meet the conditions of the exemption or the 
enforcement policy guidance are not required to complete and file a 
Schedule C to report information on service provider compensation. 
Another commenter requested confirmation that where the plan sponsor 
pays expenses of the plan, the amounts paid by the plan sponsor, and 
not reimbursed by the plan, would not have to be reported on Schedule 
C. The Schedule C and its instructions continue to provide that 
reporting is only required for amounts directly or indirectly paid by 
or received from the plan.
    Several commenters expressed concern with the statement in the July 
2006 Proposal that if reportable compensation is due to a person's 
position with or services rendered to more than one plan, the total 
amount of compensation received should be reported on the Schedule C of 
each plan if the compensation could not reasonably be allocated among 
the various separate plans. The commenters' concern focused on an 
example in the preamble to the July 2006 Proposal involving a $1,000 
gift from a securities broker to an investment adviser given because of 
the investment adviser's relationship with ERISA plans as potential 
clients for the securities broker. The preamble assumed the $1,000 gift 
could not be reasonably allocated among the ERISA plans and indicated 
that in such a case the $1,000 should be reported on the Schedule C of 
all plans for which the investment advisor performed services. The 
commenters urged clarifying in the instructions that, as long as a 
reasonable allocation can be made in such circumstances, the total 
value of the gift or other consideration is not required to be reported 
on the Schedule C of each plan. The Department agrees that in the case 
of gifts or other consideration attributable to multiple plans, only an 
allocable share of value of the gift or other consideration needs to be 
included on each plan's Schedule C as long as the value of the gift or 
other consideration can be reasonably allocated among the multiple 
plans.
    Commenters also expressed concerns, similar to those submitted by 
insurers on the Schedule A described below, regarding the requirement 
to identify service providers that fail or refuse to provide the 
administrator with the information needed to complete the Schedule C. 
The Department continues to believe that identifying service providers 
that fail to provide information needed to complete the

[[Page 64745]]

Schedule C is important information that will allow the Department to 
better carry out its responsibilities to administer and enforce the 
provisions of Title I of ERISA. As noted below in connection with the 
similar question being added to the Schedule A, the instructions for 
the Schedule C have been changed to remind plan administrators that 
they have an obligation to take reasonable and prudent steps to secure 
the necessary Schedule C information and that administrators generally 
should contact the service providers and make a request for Schedule C 
information before identifying a service provider on the Schedule C as 
having failed or refused to provide necessary information.
    One commenter requested confirmation that the proposed changes 
regarding reporting of indirect compensation did not require service 
provider compensation reported on a Schedule C filed for a master trust 
investment account (MTIA) or 29 CFR 2520.103-12 investment entity (103-
12IE) also to be reported on the participating plans' Schedule Cs. The 
indirect compensation reporting requirements were not intended to 
change the rule in the current instructions to the Schedule C, which 
emphasizes that compensation to a service provider should not be 
reported both on the Schedule C for the plan and on the Schedule C for 
the MTIA or 103-12IE in which the plan participates. Rather, plan 
filers must include the plan's share of compensation paid during the 
year to an MTIA trustee or other person providing services to the MTIA 
or 103-12IE only if such compensation is not subtracted from the total 
income of the MTIA or 103-12IE in determining the net income (loss) 
reported on the MTIA or 103-12IE's Schedule H, Line 2k, or is not 
reported on the MTIA's or 103-12IE's Schedule C.
    Two commenters urged the Department not to eliminate the provision 
in the current Schedule C under which only the ``top 40'' highest 
compensated service providers are required to be listed on the Schedule 
C reporting, as proposed. The commenters suggested that the ``top 40'' 
limit be retained or replaced with some other limit based on a larger 
number of service providers or requiring service providers to be listed 
when their compensation exceeded a specified percentage of total plan 
expenses. The commenters suggested that, for a very large plan, 
requiring all service providers that received $5,000 or more in direct 
or indirect compensation could require the plan to list hundreds of 
service providers and substantially complicate their Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Reports. A review of Form 5500 Annual Return/Report data for 
reports filed before the ``top 40'' limit was adopted in the 1999 Form 
5500 Annual Return/Report indicates that only a few very large plans 
reported 40 or more service providers on the Schedule C. A review of 
more recent Schedule C data also reflects that the 40th highest paid 
service provider generally was paid as much or nearly as much as the 
15th or 20th highest paid service provider even though the Schedule C 
requires service providers to be reported in descending order of amount 
of compensation. Based on these data, the Department does not believe 
continuing the ``top 40'' limit is appropriate.
    One commenter suggested that clarifying the reporting year in which 
termination of an accountant or an enrolled actuary must be reported on 
Schedule C. Although not expressing a preference for either result, the 
commenter indicated that it was not clear whether the termination 
should be reported on the form filed for the year in which the 
accountant was terminated or on the form filed for the year in which a 
new accountant performed the plan audit. The instructions have been 
revised in response to the comment to state more explicitly the 
existing rule that the termination of an accountant or an enrolled 
actuary must be reported in the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for the 
plan year in which the accountant or enrolled actuary was terminated.

6. Schedule A (Insurance Information)

    The Agencies received a number of comments in response to the 
proposed addition of a new section to the Schedule A to identify 
insurance providers that fail to give plan administrators the 
information necessary to complete the Schedule A. A commenter 
representing plan auditors, which supported the change based on the 
auditors' experience of having difficulty getting information needed to 
complete plan audits, also requested an expansion of the requirement to 
cover insurance carriers that did not provide the requisite information 
in a timely fashion. In contrast, insurance industry commenters 
expressed concern that the reporting requirement may create unnecessary 
administrative burdens when plan administrators wrongly identify 
insurers as having failed to provide required information. One 
insurance industry commenter, describing testimony before the ERISA 
Advisory Council on this issue as ``unsubstantiated anecdotal 
reports,'' objected to the Department's reliance on a report of the 
ERISA Advisory Council (see 71 FR at 41620), as support for adding the 
new section. Two insurance industry commenters suggested that, if the 
reporting requirement was retained, plan administrators should be 
required to advise insurers before identifying the insurer on the 
Schedule A as having failed to provide required information.
    Section 103(a)(2) of ERISA provides that, if some or all of the 
information necessary to enable the administrator to comply with the 
requirements of Title I of ERISA is maintained by an insurance carrier 
or other organization that provides some or all of the benefits under a 
plan or holds assets of the plan in a separate account, such carrier or 
other organization is required to transmit and certify the accuracy of 
such information to the administrator within 120 days after the end of 
the plan year. Given the importance of plan administrators receiving 
timely information necessary to complete Schedule A, especially fee and 
commission information, the recurring reports of difficulties in this 
area, and the recommendation by the ERISA Advisory Council that such a 
question be included on the Schedule A to assist plan administrators 
and the Department in enforcing the insurance carriers' obligations in 
this regard, the Department continues to believe that insurance 
providers that fail to provide the necessary information should be 
identified on Schedule A.
    The Department nonetheless agrees that, in addition to the 
insurer's obligation to provide information, plan administrators have 
an obligation to take reasonable and prudent steps to secure the 
necessary Schedule A information. The Department also accepts that 
there may be instances where plan administrators and insurers disagree 
over what information is required and other instances where 
administrators may identify an insurer on the Schedule A based the 
administrator's erroneous conclusion that the insurer failed to provide 
required information. The current instructions for the Schedule A that 
remind filers of the insurer's obligation to provide information needed 
to complete the Schedule A, accordingly, are being expanded to remind 
plan administrators that they have an obligation to take reasonable and 
prudent steps to secure the necessary Schedule A information and that 
they generally should contact the insurer and make a request for any 
missing

[[Page 64746]]

information before identifying an insurance provider on the Schedule A.
    Another commenter requested confirmation that electronic 
transmission of the required Schedule A information would satisfy the 
insurer's obligation under ERISA section 103(a)(2). The commenter noted 
that some plan administrators may believe that insurers are required 
under ERISA to provide plan administrators with a completed copy of the 
Schedule A that the administrator could file as part of the plan's 
annual report. The commenter noted that some insurers had developed 
such a practice as part of the services they provided to policyholders, 
but indicated that such practices could be difficult to continue in a 
wholly electronic filing environment. In the Department's view, nothing 
in ERISA precludes insurers and plan administrators from agreeing to 
the insurer's electronic transmission of Schedule A information to the 
administrator. The Department also anticipates that some software 
providers will have EFAST2 compatible systems that will enable multiple 
parties, including insurers, to include information as part of the 
development of the plan's annual report. The Department also agrees 
that while insurers are required to provide the information necessary 
for the plan administrator to complete the Schedule A, insurers are not 
required by ERISA to provide the information on a completed Schedule A 
itself.
    One commenter suggested that the requirement to report fees, 
commissions, and other compensation paid to agents, brokers, and other 
persons in connection with an insurance contract placed with or 
retained by the plan should be reported on Schedule C instead of on 
Schedule A. The commenter suggested that such a change would facilitate 
a ``level playing field'' in the annual reporting area between insurers 
and banks, investment companies, and other investment product 
providers. Another commenter suggested that there should be a de 
minimis reporting exception on the Schedule A under which persons 
receiving monetary or non-monetary commissions and fees totaling less 
than $500 would not be required to be listed on the Schedule A. One 
insurance company commenter complained that the Schedule A approach to 
the reporting of fees and commissions was unduly burdensome on insurers 
and service providers and lacked a clearly articulated purpose. The 
commenter asked that the Agencies limit or clarify Schedule A reporting 
in several ways: Limit Schedule A fee and commission reporting to 
``sales-related'' compensation; exempt from Schedule A reporting 
payments to a ``general agent or manager'' even if the amounts are paid 
in connection with a policy placed with or retained by an employee 
benefit plan; address whether compensation can be reported on a 
Schedule A for the year in which the compensation was paid rather than 
for the year in which the right to the payment accrued; confirm that 
payments are not required to be reported if they are made after the 
year in which an insurance contract or policy is terminated; and 
establish safe harbor methods for allocation of compensation 
attributable to multiple policies.
    The July 2006 Proposal did not include any proposed changes to the 
fee and commission reporting requirements on the Schedule A.\11\ The 
Department issued Advisory Opinion 2005-02A in February 2005 to address 
a reported pattern and practice among some in the insurance industry of 
underreporting commission and fee payments to brokers, agents, and 
other persons. This pattern and practice was reported to be based on 
incorrect interpretations of the Schedule A, the Schedule A 
instructions, and other guidance issued by the Department regarding the 
Schedule A reporting requirements. The Advisory Opinion was intended to 
explain clearly the Department's views regarding the current Schedule A 
reporting requirements. After carefully considering the public comments 
on the Schedule A, the Department does not believe that the comments 
provide a basis for making major substantive changes to the Schedule A 
reporting requirements at this time. The Department, however, agrees 
that two changes adopted as part of the final Schedule C reporting 
requirements should also be adopted as part of the Schedule A reporting 
requirements on insurance fees and commissions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ Although the proposal eliminated the Schedule A filing 
requirement for plans eligible to file the Short Form 5500, the 
Short Form 5500, consistent with the overall objective of improving 
fee transparency, the Short Form 5500 adopted from the Schedule A 
requirement to report aggregate insurance fees and commissions, in 
the form of a compliance question.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Specifically, the Department previously clarified, as part of an 
update of the instructions following the publication of Advisory 
Opinion 2005-02A, that compensation paid by the insurer to third 
parties for recordkeeping and claims processing services provided to 
the insurer as part of the insurer's administration of the insurance 
policy is not required to be reported as fees and commissions on Line 2 
of the Schedule A.\12\ One commenter complained that the instructions 
should have been expanded to include other similar types of 
administrative functions. One insurance organization gave as an example 
its national accounts programs under which its regional group health 
insurance programs are able to offer ERISA plans access to medical 
providers in all fifty states pursuant to agreements with its other 
regional programs that operate in those states. The Department agrees 
that where benefits have been purchased from and guaranteed by a 
licensed insurance company, insurance service, or other similar 
organization, payments by the insurer from its general assets to 
affiliates or third parties for performing administrative activities as 
part of the insurer satisfying its contractual obligation to provide 
the fully insured benefits under the plan (such as recordkeeping and 
claims processing services) and where there is no direct or indirect 
charge to the plan for the administrative services other than the 
insurance premium, the payments by the insurer to the affiliates or 
third parties do not need to be reported on Line 2 of Schedule A as 
``fees and other commissions.'' In determining whether such 
compensation is excludable from fee and commission reporting on the 
Schedule A, the Department would look to whether the services is 
necessary for the insurer to satisfy its contractual obligation to 
provide benefits, not services for the insurer incidental to the sale, 
placement, retention or renewal of a policy, whether payments to third 
parties are made pursuant to a contract or written understanding to 
provide the services, and whether the amount of the compensation paid 
by the insurer is reasonable in light of the value of the services 
provided. The instructions for the Schedule A have been revised 
accordingly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ If commissions and finders' fees are imbedded in insurance 
company payments to agents, brokers or others for services that are 
part of the insurer satisfying its contractual obligation to provide 
benefits under the plan, such as payments for claims processing or 
recordkeeping, such commission and finders' fees would still be 
reportable on the Schedule A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The other Schedule C change that the Department is also adopting as 
part of the Schedule A fee and commission reporting requirements is the 
provision excluding occasional and insubstantial non-monetary 
compensation paid by an insurance company to agents, brokers and other 
persons from the fees and commissions that would otherwise be required 
to be reported on the Schedule A. The same restrictions governing this

[[Page 64747]]

exception under the Schedule C will apply to the Schedule A. The 
instructions for the Schedule A have been revised accordingly.

7. Removal of IRS-Only Schedules

    Generally commenters were supportive of the removal of IRS-only 
schedules. One commenter suggested, however, that the IRS should 
provide guidance on the method and format of reporting information 
formerly on the Schedule SSA. The IRS is reviewing alternatives for 
simplifying the filing of the data formerly on the Schedule SSA and 
working with stakeholders in exploring and evaluating simplification 
and other changes while ensuring that this data remains a source of 
information for the Social Security Administration. The Agencies note 
that due to the additional one-year deferral in implementing the annual 
reporting form changes not mandated by the PPA (except for a few 
Schedule R items), the removal of IRS-only forms and schedules as a 
result of the electronic filing mandate will also be delayed until the 
electronic filing system is in place. Therefore, Form 5500-EZ, Schedule 
E, and Schedule SSA will continue to be filed under the current EFAST 
processing system for the 2007 and 2008 plan years.

8. Compliance Questions (Schedule H, Schedule I, Short Form 5500)

a. Delinquent Participant Contributions and Loan Repayments on Schedule 
H, Line 4a
    The comments submitted on this issue generally supported the 
Department's inclusion in the instructions of a format for a 
supplemental schedule to be used by the plan's accountant for purposes 
of rendering an opinion on whether delinquent participant contributions 
information on Line 4a of Schedule H is presented fairly, and is in all 
material respects the information required to be reported. Commenters 
also supported the proposal to revise the instructions to expressly 
confirm that delinquent participant loan payments can be included on 
Line 4a as opposed to being reported in response to the general 
prohibited transaction question on Line 4d. Accordingly, the revised 
instructions for line 4a are being adopted as proposed.
    One commenter thought that it would be easier to report delinquent 
contribution information if the items on the proposed standardized 
schedule were incorporated into Line 4a itself and the requirement to 
attach a supplemental schedule were eliminated. A commenter 
representing accountants stated that including a standard schedule for 
reporting delinquent contributions in the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report instructions was helpful, but suggested that it be revised to be 
identical to the prohibited transaction schedule included in Schedule 
G.
    The revisions to the 2002 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report eliminated 
the need for plan administrators to double report delinquent 
participant contributions on Line 4a (which specifically asked about 
delinquent transmittal of participant contributions) and Line 4d (which 
asked about prohibited transactions with parties in interest). Rather, 
the instructions for Line 4a expressly state that the amounts paid by a 
participant or beneficiary to an employer and/or withheld by an 
employer for contribution to the plan become plan assets as of the 
earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated 
from the employer's general assets (see 29 CFR 2510.3-102) and caution 
that an employer holding these assets after that date commingled with 
its general assets will have engaged in a prohibited use of plan assets 
(see ERISA section 406). A delinquent participant contribution reported 
on Line 4a is, by definition, a prohibited transaction. Reporting that 
transaction again on Line 4d was unnecessary and made it difficult for 
the Agencies to use effectively the information reported on Line 4d in 
cases where the plan was reporting other prohibited transactions on 
Line 4d.
    Likewise, having the Line 4a supplemental schedule format match the 
prohibited transaction format on Schedule G also would result in 
unnecessary reporting. By definition the party-in-interest involved is 
the employer and the prohibited transaction is the delinquent 
transmittal of participant contribution or delinquent transmittal of 
participant loan repayments. The Schedule G requirements to identify 
the parties involved and describe the nature of the prohibited 
transaction are therefore unnecessary. Further, the Schedule G is 
structured so that it can be used to report a diverse variety of 
prohibited transactions, whereas the additional elements on the 
proposed format for the Line 4a supplemental schedule are tailored for 
the specific prohibited transaction involved. Finally, line 4a requires 
reporting delinquent contributions regardless of whether the prohibited 
transaction has been fully corrected under the Department's Voluntary 
Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) and the conditions of Prohibited 
Transaction Class Exemption 2002-51 have been satisfied, but Schedule G 
only requires reporting if an exemption does not apply.
    The Department had posted a series of frequently asked questions 
(FAQs) on its Web site at http://www.dol.gov to provide guidance to 
plan administrators and accountants on complying with the requirements 
of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for reporting delinquent 
participant contributions. The format of the supplemental schedule 
included in the July 2006 Proposal was taken in large part from similar 
formats included in those FAQs. The July 2006 Proposal was intended to 
incorporate the guidance in those FAQs into the instructions to the 
Form 5500 in order to make that guidance more generally available to 
plan administrators and to assist accountants in satisfying their 
obligations under ERISA section 103 to treat the information on Line 4a 
as subject to the audit requirement and as part of the supplemental 
schedules for purposes of the IQPA report and opinion.
b. Reporting Blackouts and Blackout Notices
    One commenter expressed concern about the structure of the 
compliance questions proposed for Schedule H, Schedule I, and the Short 
Form 5500 on whether there was a ``blackout period'' subject to the 
notice requirements in section 101(i) of ERISA and the Department's 
regulation at 29 CFR 2520.101-3. Specifically, the commenter noted that 
the proposal would require a plan administrator whose plan had 
experienced a ``blackout period'' during the reporting year to answer 
that a blackout notice was not provided even in cases where an 
exception from the notice requirement applied. Although the proposed 
instructions expressly directed filers to indicate that they had not 
provided a notice even in cases where an exception from the notice 
requirement applied, the blackout notice questions have been modified 
to address the commenter's concern. The first question asking whether 
there was a blackout remains unchanged. The second question has been 
modified to have filers check ``yes'' if they either provided the 
required notice or one of the exceptions to providing the notice 
applied or ``no'' if they did not provide notice and no exception 
applied.
c. Reporting ``Deemed'' Distributions
    One commenter suggested moving line items regarding defaulted 
participant loans as ``deemed'' distributions on the Short Form 5500,

[[Page 64748]]

Schedule H, and Schedule I from the financial section to the compliance 
section. The commenter argued that loans that are deemed distributed 
for tax purposes generally continue to be plan assets for plan 
qualification and financial reporting such that traditional 
recordkeeping and financial reporting systems do not ``write off'' the 
deemed distribution amount from the books. The Agencies established the 
current regime for reporting deemed distributions during the last major 
revision of the forms in connection with the 1999 Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report. The Agencies considered off-balance sheet reporting for 
deemed distributions, but that approach failed to address various 
reporting questions such as: what is the appropriate value for carrying 
loans that have been deemed distributed where there is no reasonable 
expectation that the loan would be repaid until offset against an 
account value at the time of an actual distribution; should the value 
include continued accrual of interest payments as they become due even 
after the loan is deemed distributed and, if so, would that practice 
inappropriately inflate the apparent value of plan assets; and if the 
loan is required to be carried as a plan asset, with or without 
interest accruals, should an offsetting increase in a reserve for bad 
debts be included in the financial statements to avoid an inflated 
figure for total plan assets. The treatment of deemed distributions 
currently set forth in the instructions dealt with these questions as a 
financial reporting matter within the context of treating the loans as 
deemed, not actual, distributions. While the requirements relating to 
participant loans (including defaulted participant loans) are a 
compliance matter and information relating to these loans must be 
maintained as part of the plan's records, the Agencies have determined 
not to make the change suggested by the commenter. The IRS, however, is 
considering whether to further clarify the reporting of defaulted 
participant loans in the instructions.
d. Reporting ``Incurred But Not Reported''
    Funded health and welfare plans may be exposed to a financial 
obligation for claims that have been incurred, for example, by a 
participant who obtained covered health care treatment from a doctor or 
hospital, but that have not yet been reported to the plan in the form 
of a claim for benefits. Many funded plans thus establish an ``Incurred 
But Not Reported'' (IBNR) accounting reserve for such claims that have 
been incurred but not yet been submitted for payment. The financial 
accounting for these obligations is required under the American 
Institute of Certified Public Accountant's Statement of Position 01-2, 
but that accounting treatment is not consistent with Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report reporting requirements, which allow funded welfare plans 
to report IBNR on the Schedule H financial statements as a plan 
liability. A commenter representing the accounting industry suggested 
modifying the instructions for Schedule H to shift reporting of IBNR 
for welfare plans from the financial statements on the Schedule H to 
the general compliance questions on the Schedule H, presumably in order 
to avoid the need for the accountant's report to include a reconciling 
note reflecting the difference between the Schedule H financial 
statements and any separate financial statements prepared by the 
accountant for purposes of rendering the required accountant's opinion 
under section 103 of ERISA. The reason that IBNR was permitted to be 
included in the Schedule H financial statements was due to comments 
from representatives of large funded welfare benefit plans that 
maintained their financial records on a cash basis and claimed that 
their IBNR reserve can often amount to a fairly significant liability 
for plans such that failing to include the liability on the Schedule H 
for a cash basis filer created the false impression that the plan was 
substantially overfunded at the end of the plan year. There was nothing 
in the accounting industry comment that suggested the above described 
problem was no longer a concern for large funded welfare plans or that 
explained how the proposed change would substantially benefit employee 
benefit plans, their participants and beneficiaries, or the Agencies, 
and, accordingly the option to include IBNR as part of the plan's 
liabilities is not being converted into a mandatory compliance question 
for all welfare plans that file the Schedule H at this time.
e. Assets Without Readily Determinable Current Value
    Line 4g of the Schedule H is a compliance question that asks 
whether the plan held any assets whose current value was neither 
readily determinable on an established market nor set by an independent 
third party appraiser. If the answer to Line 4g is ``yes,'' the filer 
is required to report the value of those assets. Line 4g currently 
gives examples of assets that may not have a readily determinable value 
on an established market (e.g., NYSE, AMEX, over the counter, etc.) 
including real estate, nonpublicly traded securities, shares in a 
limited partnership, and collectibles. An accounting industry commenter 
suggested that the instructions be revised to include expressly ``hedge 
funds, certain [common and collective trusts], and stable value funds'' 
as examples of assets required to be reported on Line 4g. The Agencies 
did not adopt this suggestion. Rather than there being a generally 
accepted definition of what constitutes a ``hedge fund'' or ``stable 
value fund,'' the class of investments that might fit within those 
terms is quite diverse. More importantly, regardless of the label used 
to describe an investment, the standard for Line 4g remains the same--
assets should be listed if they do not have a readily determinable 
value on an established market and were not valued by an independent 
third-party appraiser during the plan year.
    The comment did, however, lead the Agencies to evaluate the 
instructions and conclude that a strict reading of Line 4g might lead 
filers to conclude that certain types of common plan investments are 
required to be reported on Line 4g, such as insurance investment 
contracts and mutual fund shares. The Agencies, therefore, are 
modifying the instructions to Line 4g to make clear that insurance 
investment contracts for which the plan received valuation information 
at least annually and mutual fund shares are not reportable on Line 4g.
f. Reporting Mutual Fund Dividends
A commenter suggested that Line 2b of Schedule H (dividends) should be 
expanded to add an entry for dividend payments on mutual fund shares. 
The Schedule H currently has entries for dividend payments on common 
and preferred stock and for income gain/loss for mutual fund 
(Investment Company) shares, but no entry for dividend payments on 
mutual fund shares. The Agencies believe separately identifying mutual 
fund share dividends would provide useful information and would 
eliminate possible confusion on where to report such income. 
Accordingly, the Agencies are adding a new Line 2b(2)(C) to report 
mutual fund dividend payments.
g. Reporting ``Total Fees Paid''
    A commenter asked for clarification as to whether the lines on 
Schedule H and Schedule I for ``total fees paid'' include indirect 
compensation. The commenter correctly noted that the proposed 
instructions for these Schedules did not expressly include indirect 
compensation and that the balance sheet structure of the financial 
statements on these Schedules was

[[Page 64749]]

consistent with a conclusion that only compensation paid directly by 
the plan would be reported. The Department agrees that indirect 
compensation received from parties other than the plan, although it may 
be a reportable fee or expense on the Schedule C or Schedule A, is not 
reportable on the balance sheet structured asset/liability and income/
expense statements in the Schedule H, the Schedule I, or the Short Form 
5500.
    9. Schedule R (Retirement Plan Information)
a. Minimum Funding
    One commenter suggested simplifying line items on the Short Form 
5500 and the Schedule R concerning minimum funding. The Agencies have 
determined that the minimum funding reporting requirements are 
necessary and consistent with the PPA's additional reporting 
requirements relating to plan funding and to ensuring transparency and 
accountability. The Agencies, however, have determined to make certain 
revisions to the minimum funding information on Schedule R and the 
Short Form 5500 to avoid any discrepancies in the data being reported. 
Therefore, the Short Form 5500 and Schedule R minimum funding questions 
are being revised to provide adequate information on minimum funding to 
the Agencies, participants, and other interested persons.
b. Asset Allocation Information for Very Large Defined Benefit Pension 
Plans
    Twelve commenters addressed the PBGC's efforts to gather 
information on the allocation of assets by large defined benefit 
pension plans. (Two of these commenters reiterated their concerns when 
commenting on the Supplemental Notice.) Four commenters asserted that 
most of the information is already included as a part of the Schedule H 
and that collecting this data is unnecessary. Six commenters said it 
would be difficult or costly to obtain the requested asset allocation 
breakdowns for assets invested in commingled funds. Two asked that the 
effective date of the additional information be delayed. The commenters 
acknowledged that such information is required on the SEC Form 10-K. 
Two pointed out that the 10-K data are aggregated from all of the 
sponsor's defined benefit plans and do not include the detailed debt 
breakout requested in the proposal. Four noted that the data on the SEC 
Form 10-K may be as of a date that is different from the plan reporting 
date for the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report. Three also noted that non-
publicly traded companies are not required to file the SEC Form 10-K 
and, therefore, do not necessarily collect this information. One 
suggested that the new funding requirements of the recently enacted PPA 
diminish the value of this information. One commenter supported the 
proposal to move the asset allocation information from Schedule B to 
Schedule R (as noted in the Supplemental Notice).
    Two commenters noted that providing the Macaulay duration would be 
time consuming and costly. Four suggested that the Macaulay duration is 
not a good measure of risk and does not address the callability of some 
bonds. Others suggested that the effective duration is a more commonly 
used measure than the Macaulay duration. Three commented that the debt 
holdings of some plans are split among several different bond managers 
and providing a single duration measure for all of the plan's debt 
holdings could be difficult.
    In an effort to address the comments citing the burden of complying 
with the data collection, the questions were modified to reduce the 
number of calculations. Specifically, instead of asking for the 
distribution by four categories (stocks, debt, real estate, and other) 
and then asking for a separate breakdown of the debt, the questions 
have been restructured to ask for data on five categories of assets 
(stocks, investment-grade debt, high-yield debt, real estate, and 
other) that should sum to 100 percent. Holdings of government bonds 
would be included in the appropriate debt group which should generally 
be investment-grade debt.
    In response to comments on the appropriateness of reporting the 
average duration determined using the Macaulay measure, two changes 
have been made. First, ranges are provided so that, in most cases, an 
estimate will suffice (0-3 years, 3-6 years, 6-9 years, 9-12 years, 12-
15 years, etc.). Guidance regarding how to determine the average 
duration when there are multiple bond portfolios will be included in 
the instructions to the 2008 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report. It is 
anticipated that the instructions will provide that the weighted 
average of the individual portfolio average durations (where the 
weights are the values of the bond portfolios) be reported for plans 
with several bond portfolios.
    Second, any generally accepted measure of duration may be used 
(effective duration, modified duration, Macaulay duration, etc.). An 
item has been added to report the measurement basis that was used to 
determine the average duration.
    As redesigned, the allocation of assets questions will provide the 
PBGC with important data necessary to enable it to monitor properly the 
plans it insures. The data will be particularly useful for the PBGC's 
Early Warning program, which is designed to identify plans whose risk 
to the PBGC is increasing. For many plans the PBGC is unable to derive 
this information from the current Schedule H data. Knowing not only the 
level of plan assets relative to its liabilities but also how well a 
plan's assets match these liabilities is integral information the PBGC 
needs to properly assess the risks and exposures the Agency faces.
    The difficulty in obtaining asset allocation information for assets 
invested in commingled funds is appreciated, and, in fact, is the 
reason the PBGC needs to collect these data on the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report. For publicly traded companies, the allocation of these 
assets is reported on companies' Form 10-K. Even in cases where 
aggregated data are reported on the Form 10-K or where data are 
determined as of a different date, the disaggregated information should 
be accessible without undue burden. Also, most financial information is 
available on a daily basis and the incremental costs for obtaining this 
data for the valuation date should not be significant. The cost of 
obtaining the data may be somewhat higher for non-publicly traded 
companies that may need to institute new procedures to obtain this 
information; however, the PBGC's need for this data for plans of non-
publicly traded companies is also great. The PBGC believes ample notice 
has been given to allow companies to make whatever data gathering 
arrangements are necessary because notification of these questions was 
given at least three years prior to the first date they would be due 
(July 31, 2009 for calendar year plans) and because similar information 
is already required to be provided on the Form 10-K.
    The bond portfolio duration information will help the PBGC properly 
monitor the plans it insures in several ways. First, as an insurer, the 
PBGC needs to know not only what proportion of a plan's liabilities is 
covered by its assets, but also how well those assets immunize the 
liabilities. Second, it will assist the PBGC in its monitoring 
activities and indicate which plans are moving to more risky asset 
investments that could increase the PBGC's exposure or the likelihood 
that the PBGC will receive a claim from that plan. Third, it will 
inform the PBGC of how to negotiate better protections for the plan's 
participants should such negotiations become necessary. Finally, it 
would assist the PBGC's modeling

[[Page 64750]]

efforts for informing policy makers if additional legislative or 
regulatory changes are needed to protect plan participants and the 
insurance programs.
    One commenter suggested that the strengthened funding rules under 
the PPA negate the need for the additional asset allocation 
information. The new funding rules do not guarantee that the plans that 
the PBGC insures will become and remain fully funded in the future. 
Even if they do become fully funded, the PBGC's risk is highly 
dependent on how well plans' assets immunize their liabilities. A 
decrease in the price of stocks generally or a decrease in interest 
rates can quickly move a plan from being fully-funded to being only 80 
percent funded, or worse.
c. Information on Major Contributors to Multiemployer Defined Benefit 
Pension Plans
    One comment was submitted about the PBGC's efforts to obtain data 
on major contributors to multiemployer pension plans. The commenter 
questioned how information should be reported in situations where a 
contributing employer has multiple contribution rates, contribution 
base units, or bargaining agreement expiration dates with respect to 
different groups of participants under the plan. In response to this 
comment, question 13 has been slightly modified. In this situation, in 
lieu of reporting this information directly on the form, plan 
administrators will check a box to indicate that the employer 
contributes under two or more collective bargaining agreements or at 
different rates for different classes of participants and include, as 
an attachment, a summary of the date each collective bargaining 
agreement expires and/or information about each contribution rate.
d. Number of Participants on Whose Behalf No Contributions Were Made by 
an Employer and Ratio of Participants on Whose Behalf No Employer Had 
an Obligation To Make Contributions
    One commenter suggested that the definition of ``participant'' for 
this purpose needs to be clearly defined. Although no comments were 
submitted with respect to the question on the ratio of participants on 
whose behalf no employer had an obligation to make contributions, the 
wording on the Schedule R has been revised to conform more closely to 
the wording in section 503(a) of the PPA. Terms will be defined in the 
instructions for the Schedule R.
e. Information on the Number of Employers Who Withdrew From the Plan 
During the Preceding Year and the Amount of Their Withdrawal Liability
    One commenter questioned whether the definition of ``withdrew'' is 
the definition contained in the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments 
Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-364, 94 Stat. 1208, which includes special 
rules for plans in the construction, entertainment, and other 
industries. See ERISA section 4203. Guidance regarding the definition 
of ``withdrew'' for this purpose will be included in the instructions 
to the 2008 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report.

10. Streamlining Form

a. Reducing the Number of Supplemental Attachments
    A commenter who was focused particularly on the Short Form 5500 
suggested that it would further streamline the filing process for small 
plans if the Agencies eliminated supplemental attachments for Line D of 
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and Line C of the Short Form 5500 
regarding filing under extension or under the Delinquent Filer 
Voluntary Correction Program (DFVC Program). The Agencies agree that 
eliminating those supplemental attachments would facilitate electronic 
filing, especially for small plans. Accordingly, for those filing on 
extension or under the DFVC Program, filers would now simply check a 
box as to the type of extension (IRS Form 5558, Corporate tax 
extension, special extension) or the DFVC Program. A new space is being 
added to this line for filers using a special extension, i.e. disaster 
relief or combat extension, to provide a brief description of the 
extension. Filers would no longer have to attach a copy of the request 
for extension filed with the IRS or create a special supplemental 
attachment to describe the filing under a special extension or the DFVC 
Program, although they would continue to be required to maintain a copy 
of any request for an extension filed with the IRS as part of their 
records.
    That commenter also suggested that the supplemental schedules 
should not be required to be attached if information on Schedule H, 
Line 4i (assets held for investment) and Line 4j (5% reportable 
transactions), are in the IQPA report. Past experience with the 
supplemental schedule for Line 4a strongly suggests that making this 
change could give rise to confusion among accountants regarding their 
obligations to render opinions on the supplemental schedules required 
to be part of the annual report. See ERISA section 103(a)(3)(A). 
Accordingly, and although acknowledging that many IQPA reports include 
information on Schedule H, Line 4i (assets held for investment) and 
Line 4j (5% reportable transactions), the change is not being made at 
this time.
b. Welfare Plan Reporting
    Two commenters suggested that welfare plans have separate reporting 
forms and instructions. This comment appears to be based on the premise 
that the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report is primarily designed to 
collect information about the activity of retirement plans and that 
creating a separate form for welfare plans would be more appropriate 
than having the welfare plan fit itself into a retirement plan-oriented 
filing. As noted in the preamble to the proposal, the Department 
believes that generally retaining the current reporting requirements is 
important for disclosure purposes for both the Department and for 
participants and beneficiaries in the welfare plans that currently 
report. Rather than being designed for pension plans versus welfare 
plans, the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report is primarily focused on 
collecting financial information about funded plans and plans that use 
insurance products to provide benefits. The Department already exempts 
most small welfare plans from the requirement to file a Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report and exempts most large welfare plans from the 
financial reporting and audit requirements in its regulations at 29 CFR 
2520.104-20 and 2520.104-44. The structure of the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report was modified in 1999 further to remove pension related 
information from the welfare plan annual report by structuring the Form 
5500 Annual Return/Report as a main Form 5500, which includes basic 
identifying information, and separate schedules that focus on 
particular subject matter or filing requirements. The Department also 
believes that considerations for having a separate form for welfare 
plans will be less significant in a system where all filing is 
electronic. Under any type of electronic system, we anticipate that 
filers would need to access the instructions relevant only to their 
type of plan, eliminating any potential confusion from determining in a 
unified form package which instructions are relevant to the filer.
    The commenters also suggested that the Department reconsider the 
ERISA Advisory Council Working Group's recommendation to eliminate the 
audit requirement for large, funded welfare

[[Page 64751]]

plans that do not accumulate assets, but maintain it for multiemployer 
welfare plans and for single-employer welfare plans that accumulate 
assets. As noted in the preamble to the July 2006 Proposal, the 
Department believes that retaining the current requirements as they 
relate to funded welfare plans (i.e., those with assets held in trust) 
and large fully insured plans, without imposing new reporting burdens 
on all welfare plans best serves to balance the needs of the Department 
and participants and beneficiaries and the burden associated with the 
reporting requirements.

11. Electronic Filing and Manual Signature Requirements

    A commenter noted that instructions to Forms 5500 and 5500-SF under 
the section entitled ``How to File--Electronic Filing Requirement'' 
contain the following statement: ``Even though the Forms 5500 and 5500-
SF must be filed electronically, the administrator must keep a copy of 
the Forms 5500 and 5500-SF, including schedules and attachments, with 
all required manual signatures on file as part of the plan's records * 
* *.'' The commenter asked for confirmation that plan sponsors may 
satisfy the Department's record retention rule by maintaining an 
electronic version (as permitted under ERISA section 107) and, 
therefore, are not required to keep a paper signature copy of the 
filing. The Department notes that its electronic filing regulations 
require that plan administrators and direct filing entities maintain an 
original copy of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report, with all required 
signatures, as part of their records. See 29 CFR 2520.103-1, 2520.103-
2, 2520.103-9, 2520.103-12. The Department's regulations under ERISA 
section 107 permit filers to use electronic media for record 
maintenance and retention, so long as they meet the requirements of 29 
CFR 2520.107-1.
    Commenters also asked how manual signatures on schedules filed with 
the Form 5500 will be handled under the EFAST2 electronic filing 
system. Enrolled actuaries will continue to have the obligation to sign 
a copy of the plan's Schedule SB or MB (whichever is applicable) and an 
electronic copy of the manually signed schedule must be filed as part 
of the plan's electronic filing under the EFAST2 system. To meet this 
obligation, the plan or the enrolled actuary must use EFAST-approved 
software capable of generating a printed version of the Schedule SB or 
MB (whichever is applicable). The completed version of the schedule 
must be printed, manually signed by the enrolled actuary, and converted 
into an electronic image (such as a pdf document) of the schedule 
showing the manual signature, and that electronic image file must be 
attached to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report e-filing. A signed copy 
of the schedule must also be kept on file as part of the plan's records 
pursuant to the above noted requirements in the Department's annual 
reporting regulations. It is expected that the Form 5500 Annual 
Returns/Reports filed by plans subject to the IQPA audit requirement 
will follow a similar procedure in attaching a copy of the signed IQPA 
report to the plan's electronically filed annual report.
    One commenter noted that the Form 5500 signature section contains a 
declaration that the signatories have ``examined this return/report, 
including accompanying schedules, statements and attachments, as well 
as the electronic version of this return/report,'' and noted that it is 
unclear what action must be taken by the plan sponsor and plan 
administrator to satisfy the requirement to examine the electronic 
version. The declaration on the Form 5500, as well as on the Short Form 
5500, continues to provide that the person signing the Form must 
examine a copy of the electronic version of the annual return/report. 
The Agencies expect that EFAST2 will be designed in a manner so that 
all required signatures will satisfy the applicable statutory and 
regulatory provisions.

C. Overview of the Forms Revisions

    The revisions to the annual return/report forms involve the 
following major categories of changes, along with other technical 
revisions and updates, to the current structure and content of the Form 
5500 Annual Return/Report:
    <bullet> Establishment of the Short Form 5500 as a new simplified 
report for certain small plans effective for 2009 plan year;
    <bullet> Removal of the IRS-only schedules from the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report as a result of the move to a wholly electronic 
filing system effective for 2009 plan year;
    <bullet> Elimination of the special limited financial reporting 
rules for Code section 403(b) plans effective for 2009 plan year;
    <bullet> Revision of the Schedule C (Service Provider Information) 
to clarify the reporting requirements and improve the information plan 
officials receive regarding amounts being received by plan service 
providers effective for 2009 plan year;
    <bullet> Replacement of Schedule B with Schedule SB and Schedule MB 
to reflect the changes in reporting and funding requirements for single 
and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the PPA effective 
for 2008 plan year;
    <bullet> Modification of the Schedule R to add questions required 
by the PPA to gather information on pension plan funding and compliance 
with minimum funding requirements effective for 2008 plan year but 
filed as an attachment rather than as actual schedules. These 
modifications will be effective in standard format for 2009 plan year;
    <bullet> Modification of the Schedule R to collect data PBGC needs 
to properly monitor the plans it insures effective for 2008 plan year 
but filed as an attachment rather than as an actual schedule. These 
modifications will be effective in standard format for 2009 plan year; 
and
    <bullet> Miscellaneous changes to the schedules and instructions to 
improve and clarify reporting effective for 2009 plan year.
    In addition to the description of the form changes contained in 
this Notice, the Agencies have included the following appendices: (1) 
Appendix A--a facsimile of the Short Form 5500; (2) Appendix B--
Instructions to the Short Form 5500; (3) Appendix C--facsimiles of the 
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report, Schedule A, Schedule SB, Schedule MB, 
Schedule C, Schedule D, Schedule G, Schedule H, Schedule I, and 
Schedule R; and (4) Appendix D--the instructions for the 2009 Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report.\13\
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    \13\ The instruction language published here is based on that 
for the 2007 plan year. The Agencies may make changes for the 2008 
and/or 2009 plan years not requiring notice and comment that will be 
made publicly available in time for filing, which will be 
incorporated into the final 2009 Instructions to the extent 
appropriate. In addition, the Agencies have eliminated the Schedule 
B (Actuarial Information) and replaced it with the Schedule SB 
(Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Information) and 
Schedule MB (Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain Money 
Purchase Plan Actuarial Information) for plan years beginning after 
December 31, 2007. Instructions for those Schedules are dependent on 
substantive rulemaking under the PPA and will be published 
separately in advance of the time for filing the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report for plan years beginning after December 31, 2007.
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1. Short Form 5500 as New Simplified Report for Certain Small Plans

    The Agencies are adopting the new two page form--the Short Form 
5500--to be filed by certain small plans (generally, plans with fewer 
than 100 participants) with secure and easy to value investment 
portfolios--as proposed, except that the instructions for the line item 
for ``administrative expenses'' has been modified slightly to make it 
consistent with parallel line items on Schedules H and I.

[[Page 64752]]

    A pension or welfare plan will be eligible to file the Short Form 
5500 if the plan: (1) Covers fewer than 100 participants or would be 
eligible to file as a small plan under the 80 to 120 rule in 29 CFR 
2520.103-1(d); (2) is eligible for the small plan audit waiver under 29 
CFR 2520.104-46 (but not by virtue of enhanced bonding); (3) holds no 
employer securities at any time during the plan year; (4) at all times 
during the plan year, has 100% of its assets in investments that have a 
readily determinable fair market value; and (5) is not a multiemployer 
plan. For this purpose, participant loans meeting the requirements of 
ERISA section 408(b)(1), whether or not they have been deemed 
distributed, and investment products issued by banks and licensed 
insurance companies that provide valuation information at least 
annually to the plan administrator will be treated as having a readily 
determinable fair market value.
    Most Short Form 5500 filers will not be required to file any 
schedules, although defined benefit pension plans and money purchase 
plans currently amortizing funding waivers will be required to file 
Schedule SB or MB.\14\
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    \14\ Short Form 5500 filers will not be required to file 
Schedule D, but DFEs in which such plans invest will still be 
required to list the plan name and Employer Identification Number 
(EIN) on Part II of the DFE's Schedule D.
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    Small plans that are not eligible to file the Short Form 5500 will 
continue to be able to file simplified reports as under the current 
system. Specifically, small plan Form 5500 Annual Return/Report filers 
will file the Form 5500 and Schedules A, SB or MB, D, I, and R, where 
applicable. The conditions for the small pension plan audit waiver in 
29 CFR 2520.104-46 remain unchanged. Small pension plans will still be 
able to claim the audit waiver even if they are not eligible to file 
the Short Form 5500. Conversely, small pension plans filing the Short 
Form 5500 will continue to be required to meet all applicable 
requirements for the audit waiver, including the enhanced Summary 
Annual Report (SAR) and other disclosure requirements of that 
regulation.\15\ Similarly, all welfare plans that file the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report and have fewer than 100 participants are currently 
exempt from the audit requirement without regard to how their assets 
are invested. See 29 CFR 2520.104-46(b)(2). The Short Form 5500 will 
not change the welfare plan audit waiver conditions. For a funded 
welfare plan to be eligible to file the Short Form 5500, however, the 
plan will have to meet that form's requirements regarding investment 
assets.
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    \15\ Small defined benefit plans to which the SAR no longer 
applies under the PPA for plan years after December 31, 2007, will 
have to provide the enhanced information in the new Defined Benefit 
Plan Funding Notice. The Department anticipates publishing a model 
notice, along with revisions to 29 CFR 2520.104-46, with regard to 
this change.
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2. Removal of IRS-Only Components From the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report

    As described in detail in the July 2006 Proposal, in order to 
effectuate the electronic filing requirement that will be effective for 
the 2009 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report, the portions of the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report required to satisfy filing obligations imposed by 
the Code, but not required under ERISA, had to be removed because the 
Code and regulations thereunder do not permit the IRS to mandate 
electronic filing of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report. Therefore, 
effective for the 2009 plan year (when mandatory electronic filing is 
implemented), the following form and schedules will not be filed with 
the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report to the Department, but will be filed 
to the IRS: Form 5500-EZ Annual Return of One-Participant (Owners and 
Their Spouses) Retirement Plan and the Schedule SSA (Annual 
Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred 
Vested Benefits).\16\ In addition, the Schedule E (ESOP Annual 
Information) will no longer be required to be part of the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report. \17\ Three questions on employee stock ownership 
plan (ESOP) information on the Schedule E will be moved to the Schedule 
R effective for the 2009 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report. The IRS, 
however, has advised the Department that it intends that plan 
administrators, employers, and certain other entities that are subject 
to filing and reporting requirements under the Code must continue to 
satisfy any applicable requirements in accordance with IRS revenue 
procedures, regulations, publications, forms, and instructions and that 
the IRS will advise filers of how to provide the information on the 
Form 5500-EZ and the information formerly required on the Schedule SSA 
in advance of the time for filing of the 2009 Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report. In addition, as described in detail in the July 2006 proposal 
and to ease the burdens on these filers, the IRS has also advised the 
Department that certain Form 5500-EZ filers will be permitted to 
satisfy the requirement to file the Form 5500-EZ with the IRS by filing 
the proposed Short Form 5500 electronically through the EFAST 
processing system. Information regarding the Form 5500-EZ filers who 
would be eligible for this proposed electronic filing option is 
included in the proposed instruction for the Short Form 5500 under 
``Specific Instructions for One-Participant Plans.''
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    \16\ Schedule P (Annual Return of Fiduciary of Employee Benefit 
Trust) was removed from Form 5500 filings beginning with the 2006 
plan year (2005 plan year for Form 5500-EZ), in anticipation of the 
move to electronic filing. See, Announcement 2007-63, 2007-30 I.R.B. 
65. In addition, Schedule T (Qualified Pension Plan Coverage 
Information) was removed from Form 5500 filings beginning with the 
2005 plan year. The IRS notes that this change was not intended to 
effect the applicable required or optional non-discrimination 
testing (including the testing options described in Revenue 
Procedure 93-42), 1993-2 C.B. 540.
    \17\ The Schedule E is being removed effective for the 2009 Form 
5500 in anticipation of the move to electronic filing.
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3. Elimination of Limited Reporting Option for Code Section 403(b) 
Pension Plans

    Code section 403(b) plans that are subject to Title I of ERISA now 
will be subject to the annual reporting rules that apply to other 
ERISA-covered pension plans, including eligibility for the Short Form 
5500.

4. Addition of New Questions to Schedules on Title I Compliance, 
Service Provider Compensation, and Pension Plan Funding

a. Schedule A: Identify Insurers That Fail To Supply Information
    As proposed, a new check box is being adopted on the Schedule A to 
permit plans to identify situations in which the insurance company or 
other organization that provides some or all of the benefits under a 
plan has failed to provide Schedule A information. Space also is 
provided for the administrator to indicate the type of information that 
was not provided. As a separate Schedule A is required for each 
insurance contract, the identity of the insurance company or 
organization will be self-evident. This would give the Department more 
usable data on insurers that fail to satisfy their disclosure 
obligations under section 103(a)(2) of ERISA and the Department's 
regulations. A reminder is being added to the Schedule A instructions 
to advise plan administrators that they should contact the insurer to 
request the required information and to advise the insurer that the 
plan administrator intends to identify the insurer on the Schedule A as 
not having provided the information needed.
b. Actuarial Schedules--New Schedules SB and MB
    The Agencies have adopted their proposal to eliminate the existing

[[Page 64753]]

Schedule B and create two new Schedules--the Schedule SB, ``Single-
employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Information,'' and the Schedule 
MB, ``Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain Money Purchase 
Plan Actuarial Information.'' This is necessary because the PPA 
significantly changed the funding requirements applicable to defined 
benefit pension plans. These changes render the existing Schedule B 
largely obsolete, especially for single-employer defined benefit 
pension plans. While the PPA changes for multiemployer defined benefit 
pension plans allow for continued use of a reporting scheme similar to 
the existing Schedule B, a number of Schedule B changes are needed for 
multiemployer plans.

i. New Schedule SB ``Single-employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial 
Information''

    The Schedule SB is to be filed for all single-employer defined 
benefit plans (including multiple-employer defined benefit plans).\18\ 
The Schedule SB will capture identifying information about the plan and 
plan sponsor, the type of plan, and prior year plan size. It includes 
basic information about plan assets, number of participants, funding 
target information, and a statement by an enrolled actuary. It consists 
of basic actuarial worksheets designed to allow the Agencies to 
evaluate the plan's compliance with the funding requirements as amended 
by sections 101, 102, 111, and 112 of the PPA, and to ensure that the 
reporting requirements under ERISA, as amended by section 503 of the 
PPA, are included on the schedule. The material is divided into 
sections consisting of ``Basic information,'' ``Beginning of year 
carryover and prefunding balances,'' ``Funding percentages,'' 
``Contributions and liquidity shortfalls,'' ``Assumptions used to 
determine funding target and target normal cost,'' ``Miscellaneous 
items,'' ``Reconciliation of unpaid minimum required contributions for 
prior years,'' and ``Minimum required contribution for current year.'' 
Airlines that have frozen pension plans electing the alternate funding 
schedule and plans for which the effective date of the new PPA funding 
rules is delayed (PBGC settlement plans, certain defense contractors, 
certain rural electrical cooperatives, etc.) will not be required to 
fill out all of these sections. Instead, additional information related 
to the applicable funding rules for such plans will be provided as an 
attachment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ Unike multiemployer plans within the meaning of ERISA 
sections 3(37) and 4001(a)(3) to which more than one employer is 
required to contribute, which must be maintained pursuant to one or 
more collective barganing agreements between one or more employee 
organization and more than one employer, and which must satisfy 
other requirements prescribed in regulations issued by the 
Department at 29 CFR 2510.3-37, multiple-employer plans are plans 
that cover the employees of two or more employers but are treated as 
single-employer plans for various purposes under ERISA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ii. New Schedule MB, ``Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain 
Money Purchase Plan Actuarial Information''

    Schedule MB is to be filed for multiemployer defined benefit plans 
and for money purchase plans (including target benefit plans) that are 
currently amortizing funding waivers. Schedule MB is very similar to 
the existing Schedule B.
    New items that have been added include (1) accrued liability 
determined using the unit credit cost method, (2) information about 
whether the plan is in endangered, seriously endangered, or critical 
status, and, if so, whether the plan is complying with the applicable 
requirements for its funding improvement or rehabilitation plan, and 
(3) information required by PPA section 503. Information that was 
applicable solely to single-employer plans has been eliminated.

5. Schedule C: Compensation Received by Plan Service Providers

    As in the proposal, the Schedule C will consist of three parts. 
Part I of the Schedule C will require the identification of each person 
who received, directly or indirectly, $5,000 or more in total 
compensation (i.e., money or anything else of value) in connection with 
services rendered to the plan or their position with the plan during 
the plan year. Direct compensation would be reported on a separate line 
item from compensation received from sources other than the plan or 
plan sponsor in connection with the service provider's position with 
the plan or services provided to the plan. The final revisions also 
provide an alternative disclosure option for reporting certain eligible 
indirect compensation provided that certain disclosures are made to the 
plan administrator regarding the compensation and the party or parties 
paying and receiving the indirect compensation. With respect to such 
compensation for which those disclosures were not provided, and other 
indirect compensation received from sources other than the plan or plan 
sponsor, filer would report a total amount. They would also provide 
identifying information regarding the payor and the nature of 
compensation received by certain key service providers where the amount 
was $1,000 or more and where the amount was an estimate rather than an 
actual amount.
    A new Part II for Schedule C provides a place for plan 
administrators to identify each fiduciary or service provider that 
failed or refused to provide the information necessary to complete Part 
I of the Schedule C.
    The third part of the Schedule C (Part III) will be the current 
Part II of the Schedule C, used for reporting termination information 
on accountants and enrolled actuaries. The proposal would not alter 
these current requirements.

6. Schedules H and I: Compliance With Blackout Notice Requirements

    Plan administrators now will report on Schedule H or I, or the 
Short Form 5500, as appropriate, whether there has been a temporary 
suspension, limitation, or restriction lasting more than three 
consecutive business days of any ability of participants or 
beneficiaries to direct or diversify assets credited to their accounts, 
to obtain loans from the plan, or to obtain plan distributions. If 
there was a blackout, plan administrators will have to state if 
participants either were provided the required notice of this 
suspension period or one of the exceptions to providing the blackout 
notice applies.

7. Schedules H and I: Failure To Pay Benefits When Due

    As in the July 2006 Proposal, a compliance question that would 
require plan administrators to answer whether the plan has failed to 
pay any benefits when due during the plan year is added to the Schedule 
H and Schedule I, and is also included on the new Short Form 5500.

8. Schedule I: Separate Disclosure of Fees Paid to Administrative 
Service Providers

    The disclosure requirements for direct compensation paid by small 
plans for administrative expenses, i.e., professional and 
administrative salary, fee, and commission payments, were expanded in 
the proposal and are modified here in response to comments suggesting 
that the requirements for Short Form 5500, Schedule I, and Schedule H 
filers be more uniform. As with the proposal, the Short Form 5500 and 
Schedule I have a separate line item for direct payments to 
professional and administrative service providers, which will promote 
better awareness among plan fiduciaries regarding these fee payments 
and will provide participants, beneficiaries, and government regulatory 
agencies with improved

[[Page 64754]]

disclosure of these plan expenses. The instructions have been modified, 
however, to make more explicit that the information included in the 
administrative expense line on the Short Form 5500 and Schedule I more 
directly correlates to those line items on the Schedule H that ask for 
a more detailed breakout of such information.

9. Schedule R

    As proposed, Schedule R has been modified for 2009 to include 
additional questions required by section 503 of the PPA and to collect 
information on how assets are invested. Certain ESOP questions 
previously on the Schedule E also have been moved to the Schedule R.
    The new Part V collects PPA-required information on multiemployer 
defined benefit plans and additional information related to major 
contributing employers. Asset allocation questions for large defined 
benefit plans (1,000 or more participants) are included in Part VI. 
Such plans must provide a breakdown of plan assets by type of 
investment (stock, investment-grade debt, high-yield debt, real estate, 
and other). Information on the average duration of combined investment-
grade and high-yield debt is also required. For this purpose, duration 
may be determined using any generally accepted methodology.
    Schedule R has been modified, as proposed, to ask the following 
questions regarding the operations and investments of the ESOP: (1) 
Whether any unallocated employer securities or proceeds from the sale 
of unallocated securities were used to repay any exempt loan; (2) 
whether the ESOP holds any preferred stock, and if so, whether the ESOP 
has an exempt loan with the employer as lender that is part of a 
``back-to-back'' loan--the repayment terms of the employer loan to the 
ESOP are substantially similar to the repayment terms of a loan to the 
employer from a commercial lender; and (3) whether the ESOP holds any 
stock that is not readily tradable on an established securities market.
    The new PPA-related questions and the asset allocation questions on 
the 2009 Schedule R, but not the ESOP questions, will be required to be 
submitted as a non-standard attachment to the 2008 Schedule R under the 
original EFAST system.

10. Other Improvements and Clarifications of Form 5500 Reporting 
Requirements

    The last category of revisions involves technical amendments to the 
Form 5500, individual schedules, and instructions to clarify and 
improve existing reporting requirements that either were set forth in 
the proposal or are being made in response to public comments.
a. Form 5500
    A question asking for the number of contributing employers in a 
multiemployer plan is added to the Form 5500. The instructions for the 
funding and benefit checklists have been expanded to clarify that Code 
section 403(b) plans invested in annuity contracts should check 
``insurance'' and plans using Code section 403(b)(7) custodial accounts 
should check ``trust.'' The Form 5500 includes a checklist of the 
various schedules that may be required to be attached. In addition to 
revising the checklist to eliminate the IRS-only Schedules, and 
replacing the Schedule B with the Schedules SB and MB, the Agencies 
have also kept the other proposed cosmetic changes to the presentation 
of the schedule checklist. Under the current filing requirements, plans 
must include on the Form 5500 all of the plan characteristics that 
apply to the plan from a list of codes included in the instructions. 
These ``feature'' codes allow the Agencies to identify and classify the 
universe of filers by their major characteristics. New plan feature 
codes for defined contribution pension plans with automatic enrollment 
features and default investment provisions have been added. The 
Agencies also have eliminated the feature codes for certain types of 
plans that are not subject to Title I of ERISA because they will not be 
filing the Form 5500 with EFAST under the proposed electronic filing 
system. The optional line for identifying the principal preparer of the 
Form 5500 is deleted.
b. Schedules H and I: New Supplemental Schedule for Line 4a of the 
Schedule H for Reporting Delinquent Participant Contributions
    The instructions continue to state that delinquent participant 
contributions reported on Schedule H, Line 4a, should be treated as 
part of the supplemental schedules for purposes of the required IQPA 
audit and opinion. The instructions separately also provide that, if 
the information contained on Schedule H, Line 4a, is not presented in 
accordance with the Department's regulatory requirements, the IQPA 
report must make the appropriate disclosures in accordance with 
Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS). The instructions to 
Schedule H, Line 4a, are modified to require delinquent participant 
contributions to be presented on a standardized supplemental schedule 
where delinquent participant contributions are identified on Line 4a 
and are expanded to include the guidance contained in the previously 
released ``FAQs on Reporting Delinquent Participant Contributions on 
the Form 5500,'' available on the Department's Web site at http://www.dol.gov, that make explicit the IQPA's separate opinion obligations 
under ERISA and GAAS.\19\ The new Schedule H, ``Line 4a ``Schedule of 
Delinquent Participant Contributions'' will identify the total 
participant contributions transferred late to the plan, the total that 
are nonexempt prohibited transactions, and the total contributions 
fully corrected under the VFCP. See 71 FR 20262 (Apr. 19, 2006). Those 
that constitute nonexempt prohibited transactions would be broken down 
into contributions not corrected, contributions corrected outside of 
the VFCP, and contributions pending correction in the VFCP.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ The addition of the supplemental schedule to provide a 
format for describing the delinquent participant contributions does 
not alter the IQPA's duty to treat Line 4a itself as one of the 
supplemental schedules for purposes of its audit duties both under 
ERISA and under GAAS.
    \20\ A similar addition would be made to the instructions for 
Line 4a of the Schedule I applicable to small plans filers who are 
not eligible for the audit waiver.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, as proposed, the Schedule H and I instructions for 
Line 4a now permit inclusion of delinquent forwarding of participant 
loan repayments on Line 4a of the Schedule H or Schedule I, and Line 
10a of the Short Form 5500, provided that filers that choose to include 
such participant loan repayments on Line 4a use the same supplemental 
schedule and IQPA disclosure requirements for the loan repayments as 
for delinquent transmittals of participant contributions. At the 
suggestion of one commenter, a checkbox has been added to the new line 
4a Schedule to identify whether loan repayments are included.
c. Schedule R: New Minimum Funding Question
    Schedule R currently contains questions regarding minimum required 
contributions for certain defined contribution plans. An additional 
question now asks whether the minimum funding amount reported will be 
met by the funding deadline and the minimum funding questions have been 
revised to avoid any discrepancies in the date being reported.

[[Page 64755]]

d. Miscellaneous Technical Adjustments
    Various commenters submitted technical suggestions on how to 
further improve and clarify various portions of the proposals which 
focused principally on technical corrections and improvements in the 
instructions as opposed to changes on the forms. The Agencies have 
reviewed the comments and made various technical corrections/ 
clarifications in response to those comments.

D. Regulations Relating to the Proposed Form

    As noted above, certain amendments to the annual reporting 
regulations under ERISA are necessary to accommodate some of the 
revisions to the forms. The Department is publishing separately today 
in the Federal Register amendments to the Department's annual reporting 
regulations. That document includes a discussion of the findings 
required under sections 104 and 110 of ERISA that are necessary for the 
Department to adopt the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report, as revised 
herein, and the new Short Form 5500, as an alternative method of 
compliance, limited exemption, and/or simplified report under the 
reporting and disclosure requirements of Part 1 of Subtitle B of Title 
I of ERISA.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)), the July 2006 Proposal solicited 
comments on the information collections included in the proposed 
revision of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report pursuant to Part 1 of 
Subtitle B of Title I and Title IV of ERISA and the Internal Revenue 
Code. The Department also submitted an information collection request 
(ICR) to OMB in accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3507(d), contemporaneously 
with publication of the July 2006 Proposal, for OMB's review of the 
Department's information collections previously approved under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0110.\21\ Public comment on the information 
collections contained in the Supplemental Notice was also solicited in 
connection with its publication in December, 2006. Although no public 
comments were received that specifically addressed to the paperwork 
burden analysis of the information collections, the comments that were 
submitted in response to the July 2006 Proposal and the Supplemental 
Notice, which are described earlier in this preamble, contained 
information relevant to the costs and administrative burdens attendant 
to the proposals. The Agencies took into account such public comments 
in connection with making changes to the proposals, analyzing the 
economic impact of the proposals, and developing the revised paperwork 
burden analysis summarized below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ On August 29, 2006, OMB issued a notice indicating that it 
would continue its approval of the information collections approved 
under Control No. 1210-0110 as currently in effect, but would not 
approve the Department's request for approval of revisions to the 
ICR until after consideration of public comment on the July 2006 
Proposal and promulgation of a final rule, describing any changes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In connection with the publication of this Notice, the Department 
and the PBGC submitted ICRs to OMB for its review and approval of the 
information collections contained in the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report, as herein revised, and the new Short Form 5500. OMB has 
approved these ICRs. The IRS has not submitted an ICR to OMB, but will 
do so in advance of release of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and 
the Short Form 5500 for public use as agreed with OMB. The public is 
advised that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number. The Department intends to publish 
a notice announcing OMB's decision upon review of the Department's ICR.
    A copy of the ICR for an Agency may be obtained by contacting the 
appropriate PRA addressee shown below or at www.RegInfo.gov. PRA 
Addressees: Department of Labor: Gerald B. Lindrew, Office of Policy 
and Research, U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-5718, Washington, 
DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-8410; Fax: (202) 219-4745. Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation: Disclosure Division of the Office of the 
General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, 
NW., 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20005-4026. Telephone: (202) 326-4040 
(TTY and TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-
800-877-8339 and asked to be connected to (202) 326-4040). Fax: (202) 
326-4042. Except as otherwise indicated, these are not toll-free 
numbers.
    The following is a summary of the information collection and the 
Agencies' estimates of the burden it imposes for plan year 2007:
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agencies: Employee Benefits Security Administration (OMB No. 1210-
0110); Internal Revenue Service (OMB No. 1545-0710); Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation (OMB No. 1212-0057).
    Title: Form 5500 Series.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Form Number: DOL/IRS/PBGC Form 5500, DOL/IRS/PBGC Form 5500-SF, and 
Schedules.
    Total Respondents: 780,000.
    Total Annual Responses: 780,000.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1.13 million (see below for 
break-out of annual burden hours by Agency).
    Total Annual Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $333 million 
(see below for break-out of total annual burden cost by Agency).
    The Agencies' burden estimation methodology excludes certain 
activities from the calculation of ``burden.'' If the activity is 
performed for any reason other than compliance with the applicable 
federal tax administration system or the Title I annual reporting 
requirements, it is not counted as part of the paperwork burden. For 
example, most businesses or financial entities maintain, in the 
ordinary course of business, detailed accounts of assets and 
liabilities, and income and expenses for the purposes of operating the 
business or entity. These recordkeeping activities were not included in 
the calculation of burden because prudent business or financial 
entities collect and maintain such information for ordinary and 
customary business reasons unrelated to annual return/reporting under 
ERISA. This analysis accounts only for time necessary for gathering and 
processing information associated with the annual return reporting, 
including learning about changes in the reporting requirements.\22\ In 
addition, an activity is counted as a burden only once if performed for 
both Code and Title I annual return/reporting purposes. The Agencies, 
therefore, have included in their PRA calculations a burden for reading 
the instructions, but no additional recordkeeping burden attributable 
to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report or the Short Form 5500.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ The Agencies have designed the instruction package for the 
5500 Forms so that filers generally will be able to complete the 
Form 5500 Annual Return/Report or the Short Form 5500 by reading the 
instructions without needing to refer to the statutes or regulations 
themselves.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paperwork and Respondent Burden

    Estimated time needed to complete the forms listed below reflects 
the combined requirements of the IRS, the Department, and the PBGC. The 
time needed by a particular plan will vary depending on individual 
circumstances.

[[Page 64756]]

The estimated average times are shown in Table 1 below.

                                   Table 1.--Burden by Schedule and Year \23\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Pension                                 Welfare
                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Large              Small              Large                 Small
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Plan Year 2007 Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 5500......................  1 hr., 43 min....  1 hr., 17 min....  1 hr., 45 min....  1 hr., 14 min.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sch A......................  2 hr., 41 min....  2 hr., 44 min....  3 hr., 30 min....  2 hr., 36 min.
    Sch B......................  7 hr., 56 min....  7 hr., 55 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch C......................  2 hr., 22 min....  .................  3 hr., 8 min.....  ......................
    Sch D......................  1 hr., 39 min....  20 min...........  1 hr., 52 min....  20 min.
    Sch E......................  3 hr., 18 min....  3 hr., 18 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch G......................  11 hr., 29 min...  .................  11 hr............
    Sch H......................  7 hr., 12 min....  .................  8 hr.............
    Sch I......................  .................  1 hr., 57 min....  .................  1 hr., 48 min.
    Sch R......................  1 hr., 36 min....  1 hr., 3 min.....  .................  ......................
    Sch SSA....................  6 hr., 25 min....  1 hr., 42 min....  .................  ......................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Plan Year 2008 Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Form 5500..................  1 hr., 43 min....  1 hr., 17 min....  1 hr., 45 min....  1 hr. 14 min.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sch A......................  2 hr., 41 min....  2 hr., 44 min....  3 hr., 30 min....  2 hr., 36 min.
    Sch MB.....................  9 hr., 12 min....  4 hr., 29 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch SB.....................  9 hr., 8 min.....  9 hr., 19 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch C......................  2 hr., 22 min....  .................  3 hr., 8 min.....  ......................
    Sch D......................  1 hr., 39 min....  20 min...........  1 hr., 52 min....  20 min.
    Sch E......................  3 hr., 18 min....  3 hr., 18 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch G......................  11 hr., 29 min...  .................  11 hr............  ......................
    Sch H......................  7 hr., 12 min....  .................  8 hr.............  ......................
    Sch I......................  .................  1 hr., 57 min....  .................  1 hr., 48 min.
    Sch R......................  1 hr., 55 min....  1 hr., 10 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch SSA....................  6 hr., 25 min....  1 hr., 42 min....  .................  ......................
Simplified Filing Option for     .................  2 hr., 34 min....  .................  2 hr., 32 min.
 Certain Small Plans.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Plan Year 2009 Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Form 5500..................  1 hr., 54 min....  1 hr., 19 min....  1 hr. 45 min.....  1 hr., 14 min.
    Sch A......................  2 hr., 52 min....  2 hr., 51 min....  3 hr., 39 hr.,...  2 hr., 43 min.
    Sch MB.....................  7 hr., 52 min....  4 hr., 14 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch SB.....................  6 hr., 38 min....  6 hr., 49 min....  .................  ......................
    Sch C......................  3 hr., 4 min.....  .................   3 hr., 38 min...  ......................
    Sch D......................  1 hr., 39 min....  20 min...........  1 hr. , 52 min...  20 min.
    Sch G......................  11 hr., 29 min...  .................  11 hr............  ......................
    Sch H......................  7 hr., 42 min....  .................  8 hr., 35 min....  ......................
    Sch I......................  .................  2 hr., 5 min.....  .................  1 hr., 55 min.
    Sch R......................  1 hr., 43 min....  1 hr., 5 min.....  .................  ......................
    Short Form 5500............  .................  2 hr., 32 min....  .................  2 hr., 32 min.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The aggregate hour burden for the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report 
(including schedules and Short Form 5500) is estimated to be 1.13 
million for plan year 2007, 1.12 million for plan year 2008, and 
854,000 hours for plan year 2009. The hour burden reflects annual 
filing activities carried out directly by filers. The cost burden is 
estimated to be $333 million for plan year 2007, $329 million for plan 
year 2008, and $278 million for plan year 2009. The cost burden 
reflects filing services purchased annually by filers. Presented below 
is a chart showing the total hour and cost burden of the revised Form 
5500 Annual Return/Report and the new Short Form 5500, separately 
allocated across the Department and the IRS. There is no separate PBGC 
entry on the chart because, as explained below, its share of the 
paperwork burden is very small relative to that of the IRS and the 
Department.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ In 2007 and 2008, certain eligible small plans have a 
simplified reporting alternative, as described above, which allows 
eligible filers to complete fewer schedules and line items on 
certain schedules. For eligible filers that choose to use the 
simplified reporting option, the burden of filing will be smaller 
than the tables indicate, because this option allows eligible plans 
to fill out fewer line items and schedules.

[[Page 64757]]



                                                            Table 2.--Agency Burdens By Year
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Pension plans                        Welfare plans                 Total
                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Total
                                                                  Large        Small        Large        Small        Large        Small
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Agency Plan Year 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOL....................................  Hours...............      219,000      213,000      102,000        3,000      321,000      216,000      536,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         $MM.................          $42          $87          $65         $1.3         $107          $88         $195
IRS/SSA................................  Hours...............      250,000      327,000       13,000        2,000      264,000      329,000      592,000
                                         $MM.................          $33         $100         $1.7         $0.7          $35         $101         $136
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Agency Plan Year 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOL....................................  Hours...............      219,000      197,000      102,000        3,000      321,000      200,000      521,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         $MM.................          $42          $81          $65         $1.3         $107          $83         $190
IRS/SSA................................  Hours...............      257,000      321,000       13,000        2,000      270,000      323,000      593,000
                                         $MM.................          $36          $99         $1.7         $0.6          $38         $100         $138
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Agency Plan Year 2009 \24\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOL....................................  Hours...............      258,000      164,000      105,000        2,000      363,000      166,000      529,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         $MM.................          $49          $61          $67         $0.8         $117          $62         $178
IRS....................................  Hours...............      143,000      164,000       14,000        2,000      158,000      166,000      323,000
                                         $MM.................          $26          $69           $2         $0.6          $28          $70          $98
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The paperwork burden allocated to the PBGC includes a portion of 
the general instructions, basic plan identification information, a 
portion of Schedules MB and SB, and a portion of Schedule R. The PBGC's 
Estimated Share of Total Annual Burden is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ Due to the removal of Schedules E and Schedule SSA, no 
burden is associated with SSA for plan year 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <bullet> 1,800 hours and $1.6 million for plan year 2007,
    <bullet> 2,000 hours and $1.8 million for plan year 2008, and
    <bullet> 1,200 hours and $1.3 million for plan year 2009.

Appendix A

BILLING CODE 4510-29-P

[[Page 64758]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN16NO07.000


[[Page 64759]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN16NO07.001


[[Page 64760]]


BILLING CODE 4510-29-C

Appendix B

2009 Instructions for Form 5500-SF

Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan

    ERISA refers to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974, and Code references are to the Internal Revenue Code, unless 
otherwise noted.

EFAST Processing System

    Under the computerized ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST), you 
must electronically file your 2009 Form 5500-SF. You may file your 2009 
Form 5500-SF on-line, using EFAST's web-based filing system or you may 
file through an EFAST-approved vendor. For more information, see the 
instructions for Electronic Filing Requirement.

General Instructions

    The Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee 
Benefit Plan (Form 5500-SF), is a simplified annual reporting form for 
use by certain small pension and welfare benefit plans. To be eligible, 
the plan generally must have fewer than 100 participants at the 
beginning of the plan year; it must be exempt from the requirement that 
the plan's books and records be audited by an independent qualified 
public accountant; it must have 100% of its assets invested in certain 
secure investments with a readily determinable fair value; it must hold 
no employer securities; and it must not be a multiemployer plan. See 
Who May File Form 5500-SF for more detailed instructions on who may 
file the Form 5500-SF. Plans required to file an annual return/report 
that are not eligible to file the Form 5500-SF must file a Form 5500, 
Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan or Form 5500-EZ Annual 
Return of One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan 
(to the extent applicable), with all required schedules and attachments 
(Form 5500).
    To reduce the possibility of correspondence and penalties, we 
remind filers that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of 
Labor (DOL), and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have 
consolidated their return/report forms to minimize the filing burden 
for employee benefit plans. Administrators and sponsors of employee 
benefit plans generally will satisfy their IRS and DOL annual reporting 
requirements for the plan under ERISA sections 104 and 4065 and Code 
section 6058 by filing either the Form 5500, Form 5500-SF, or Form 
5500-EZ, Annual Return of One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) 
Retirement Plan (Form 5500-EZ),. Defined contribution and defined 
benefit pension plans may be required to file additional information 
with the IRS regarding their compliance with tax laws. See http://www.irs.gov for more information. Defined benefit pension plans covered 
by the PBGC may have special additional requirements, including filing 
the PBGC Form 1, Premium Package, and reporting certain transactions 
directly with that agency. See the PBGC's Premium Payment Package (Form 
1 Package), available at http://www.pbgc.gov.
    The Form 5500-SF must be filed electronically. See How to File--
Electronic Filing Requirement instructions. Your entries will be 
initially screened. Your entries must satisfy this screening in order 
to be filed. Once filed, your form may be subject to further detailed 
review, and your filing may be rejected based upon this further review.
    ERISA and the Code provide for the assessment or imposition of 
penalties for not submitting the required information when due. See 
Penalties.
    Annual reports filed under Title I of ERISA must be made available 
by plan administrators to plan participants and by the DOL to the 
public pursuant to ERISA sections 104 and 106.

    Note: The IRS Form 5500-EZ generally is used by one-participant 
plans (as defined below) that are not subject to the requirements of 
section 104(a) of ERISA to satisfy the annual reporting and filing 
obligations imposed by the Code. Certain one-participant plans who 
are eligible to file a Form 5500-EZ may file the Form 5500-SF to 
satisfy the filing obligations under the Code. One-participant plans 
that are eligible to file the Form 5500-SF electronically complete 
only certain questions on the Form 5500-SF. (See Specific 
Instructions for One-Participant Plans). Therefore, a plan that is 
required to file Form 5500-EZ may file the paper Form 5500-EZ with 
the IRS or the Form 5500-SF electronically. For more information on 
filing with the IRS go to http://www.irs.gov/ep or call 1-877-829-
5500.

How To Get Assistance

    If you need help completing this form or have related questions, 
call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided] (toll free). The 
EFAST Help Line is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 
p.m., Eastern Time.
    You can access the EFAST Web Site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 
http://www.efast.dol.gov to:
    <bullet> View forms and related instructions.
    <bullet> Get information regarding EFAST, including approved 
software vendors.
    <bullet> See answers to frequently asked questions about the Form 
5500-SF, the Form 5500 and its Schedules, and EFAST.
    <bullet> Access the main EBSA and DOL Web Sites for news, 
regulations, and publications.
    You can access the IRS Web Site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 
http://www.irs.gov to:
    <bullet> View forms, instructions, and publications.
    <bullet> See answers to frequently asked tax questions.
    <bullet> Search publications on-line by topic or keyword.
    <bullet> Send comments or request help by e-mail.
    <bullet> Sign up to receive local and national tax news by e-mail.
    You can order related forms and IRS publications by calling 1-800-
TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). You can order EBSA publications by calling 
1-866-444-3272. In addition, most IRS forms and publications are 
available at your local IRS office.

Table of Contents

Pension and Welfare Plans Required To File Annual Return/Report
Plans Exempt From Filing
Who May File Form 5500-SF
What To File
When To File
Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program
Change in Plan Year
Penalties
How To File--Electronic Filing Requirement
Specific Instructions for One-Participant Plans

Specific Line By Line Instructions

Part I--Annual Report Identification Information
Part II--Basic Plan Information
Part III--Financial Information
Part IV--Plan Characteristics
Part V--Compliance Questions
Part VI--Pension Funding Information
Part VII--Plan Terminations & Transfers of Assets

Pension and Welfare Plans Required To File Annual Return/Report

    All pension benefit plans and welfare benefit plans covered by 
ERISA must annually file a Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF unless they are 
eligible for a filing exemption. (Code section 6058 and ERISA sections 
104 and 4065). An annual return/report must be filed even if the plan 
is not ``tax qualified,'' benefits no longer accrue, contributions were 
not made during this plan year, or contributions are no longer made. 
Pension benefit plans required to file include both defined benefit 
plans and defined contribution plans. Profit

[[Page 64761]]

sharing, stock bonus, money purchase, 401(k) plans, Code section 403(b) 
plans and IRA plans established by an employer are among the pension 
benefit plans for which an annual return/report must be filed. Welfare 
benefit plans provide benefits such as medical, dental, life insurance, 
apprenticeship and training, scholarship funds, severance pay, 
disability, etc.

Plans Exempt From Filing

    The DOL has issued regulations under which some pension plans and 
many welfare plans with fewer than 100 participants are exempt from 
filing an annual return/report. Do not file a Form 5500-SF for an 
employee benefit plan that is any of the following:
    1. A welfare plan that covers fewer than 100 participants as of the 
beginning of the plan year and is unfunded, fully insured, or a 
combination of insured and unfunded. For this purpose:
    a. An unfunded welfare benefit plan has its benefits paid as needed 
directly from the general assets of the employer or the employee 
organization that sponsors the plan.

    Note: Plans which are NOT unfunded include those plans that 
received employee (or former employee) contributions during the plan 
year and/or used a trust or separately maintained fund (including a 
Code section 501(c)(9) trust) to hold plan assets or act as a 
conduit for the transfer of plan assets during the plan year.

    b. A fully insured welfare benefit plan has its benefits provided 
exclusively through insurance contracts or policies, the premiums of 
which must be paid directly to the insurance carrier by the employer or 
employee organization from its general assets or partly from its 
general assets and partly from contributions by its employees or 
members (which the employer or organization forwards within 3 months of 
receipt). The insurance contracts or policies discussed above must be 
issued by an insurance company or similar organization (such as Blue 
Cross, Blue Shield or a health maintenance organization) that is 
qualified to do business in any state.
    c. A combination unfunded/insured welfare plan has its benefits 
provided partially as an unfunded plan and partially as a fully insured 
plan. An example of such a plan is a welfare plan that provides medical 
benefits as in a above and life insurance benefits as in b above. See 
29 CFR 2520.104-20 and the DOL Technical Release 92-01.

    Note: A ``voluntary employees' beneficiary association'' as used 
in Code section 501(c)(9) (``VEBA'') should not be confused with the 
employee organization or employer that establishes and/or maintains 
(i.e., sponsors) the welfare benefit plan.

    2. An unfunded pension benefit plan or an unfunded or insured 
welfare benefit plan: (a) whose benefits go only to a select group of 
management or highly compensated employees, and (b) which meets the 
terms of 29 CFR 2520.104-23 (including the requirement that a 
registration statement be timely filed with DOL) or 29 CFR 2520.104-24.
    3. Plans maintained only to comply with workers' compensation, 
unemployment compensation, or disability insurance laws.
    4. An unfunded excess benefit plan.
    5. A welfare benefit plan maintained outside the United States 
primarily for persons substantially all of whom are nonresident aliens.
    6. A pension benefit plan maintained outside the United States 
primarily for the benefit of persons substantially all of whom are non-
resident aliens.
    7. An annuity or custodial account arrangement under Code section 
403(b)(1) or (7) not established or maintained by an employer as 
described in DOL Regulation 29 CFR 2510.3-2(f).
    8. A simplified employee pension (SEP) described in Code section 
408(k) that conforms to the alternative method of compliance described 
in 29 CFR 2520.104-48 or 29 CFR 104-49. A SEP is a pension plan that 
meets certain minimum qualifications regarding eligibility and employer 
contributions.
    9. A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers 
(SIMPLE) that involves SIMPLE IRAs under Code section 408(p).
    10. A church welfare plan under ERISA section 3(33).
    11. A church pension plan if the pension plan did not elect 
coverage under Code section 410(d).
    12. An unfunded dues financed pension benefit plan that meets the 
alternative method of compliance provided by 29 CFR 2520.104-27.
    13. An individual retirement account or annuity not considered a 
pension plan under 29 CFR 2510.3-2(d).
    14. A governmental plan.
    15. A welfare benefit plan that participates in a group insurance 
arrangement that files a return/report Form 5500 on its behalf. A group 
insurance arrangement generally is an arrangement that provides 
benefits to the employees of two or more unaffiliated employers (not in 
connection with a multiemployer plan or a collectively bargained 
multiple-employer plan), fully insures one or more welfare plans of 
each participating employer, uses a trust (or other entity such as a 
trade association) as the holder of the insurance contracts and uses a 
trust as the conduit for payment of premiums to the insurance company. 
For further details, see 29 CFR 2520.104-43.
    16. An apprenticeship or training plan meeting all of the 
conditions specified in 29 CFR 2520.104-22.
    17. A One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan 
(generally referred to as a One-Participant Plan) that has elected to 
file a Form 5500-EZ or is exempt from filing the Form 5500-EZ. A one-
participant plan is: (1) A plan that covers only an individual or an 
individual and his or her spouse who wholly own a trade or business, 
whether incorporated or unincorporated; or (2) a plan for a partnership 
that covers only the partners or the partners and the partners' 
spouses. See Specific Instructions for One-Participant Plans. One-
participant plans may be eligible to file the Form 5500-SF 
electronically (See How to File--Electronic Filing Requirement 
instructions) or the paper Form 5500-EZ with the IRS. See http://www.irs.gov/ep or call 1-877-829-5500.
    18. An unfunded dues financed pension benefit plan that meets the 
alternative method of compliance provided by 29 CFR 2520.104-27.
    For more information on plans that are exempt from filing an annual 
return/report, see the Instructions for Form 5500 Annual Return/Report 
of Employee Benefit Plan or call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be 
provided].

Who May File Form 5500-SF

    If your plan is required to file an annual return/report, you may 
file the Form 5500-SF instead of the Form 5500 only if you meet all of 
the eligibility conditions listed below.
    1. The plan (a) covered fewer than 100 participants at the 
beginning of plan year 2009, or (b) under 29 CFR 2520.103-1(d) was 
eligible to and filed as a small plan for plan year 2008 and did not 
cover more than 120 participants at the beginning of plan year 2009 
(see instructions for line 5);
    TIP: If a Code section 403(b) plan would have been eligible to file 
as a small plan under 29 CFR 2520.103-1(d) in 2008 (i.e., the plan was 
eligible to file in the previous year under the small plans 
requirements and has a participant count of less than 121 at the 
beginning of the 2009 plan year), then it can rely on 29 CFR 2520.103-
1(d) to file as a small plan in 2009.
    2. The plan does not hold any employer securities at any time 
during the plan year;

[[Page 64762]]

    3. At all times during the plan year, the plan is 100% invested in 
certain secure, easy to value assets such as mutual fund shares, 
investment contracts with insurance companies and banks valued at least 
annually, publicly traded securities held by a registered broker 
dealer, cash and cash equivalents, and plan loans to participants (see 
the instructions for line 6a);
    4. The plan is eligible for the waiver of the annual examination 
and report of an independent qualified public accountant (IQPA) under 
29 CFR 2520.104-46 (but not by reason of enhanced bonding), which 
requirement includes, among others, giving certain disclosures and 
supporting documents to participants and beneficiaries regarding the 
plan's investments (see instructions for line 6b); and
    5. The plan is not a multiemployer plan.

    Note: Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and Direct Filing 
Entities (DFEs) may not file the Form 5500-SF.

    TIP: Section III of Schedule D must be completed by DFEs for all 
participating plans even those plans filing the Form 5500-SF.

    Note: One-participant plans should follow the ``Specific 
Instructions for One-Participant Plans'' in lieu of the instructions 
1-5 above.

    CAUTION: One-participant plans that are ESOPs cannot file the Form 
5500-SF electronically. These plans must file the paper Form 5500-EZ 
with the IRS.

What To File

    Plans required to file an annual return/report that meet all of the 
conditions for filing the Form 5500-SF may complete and file the Form 
5500-SF in accordance with its instructions. Single-employer Defined 
Benefit pension plans using the Form 5500-SF must also file the 
Schedule SB (Form 5500), Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial 
Information (Schedule SB). Money Purchase plans amortizing a waiver 
using the Form 5500-SF must also file the Schedule MB (Form 5500), 
Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain Money Purchase Plan 
Actuarial Information (Schedule MB). See the instructions for Schedules 
SB and MB. One-participant plans see Specific Instructions for One-
Participant Plans. Plans filing under an extension of time or the DOL's 
Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program must retain the required 
supporting documentation with their records (see instructions for box 
C). No other schedules or attachments have to be filed with the Form 
5500-SF.

When To File

    File the 2009 Form 5500-SF for plan years that began in 2009. The 
form, and any required schedules and attachments, must be filed by the 
last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the plan year (not 
to exceed 12 months in length) that began in 2009.

    Note: If the filing due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or 
Federal holiday, the return may be filed on the next day that is not 
a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday.

Extension of Time To File

Using Form 5558

    If filing under an extension of time based on the filing of an IRS 
Form 5558, Application For Extension Of Time To File Certain Employee 
Plan Returns (Form 5558), check the appropriate box on the Form 5500-
SF, Part I, item C. A one-time extension of time to file the Form 5500-
SF (up to 2\1/2\ months) may be obtained by filing IRS Form 5558 on or 
before the normal due date (not including any extensions) of the annual 
return/report. You must file the Form 5558 with the Department of the 
Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0027. A copy 
of the completed extension request must be retained with the filer's 
records.

Using Extension of Time To File Federal Income Tax Return

    An automatic extension of time to file Form 5500 until the due date 
of the Federal income tax return of the employer will be granted if all 
of the following conditions are met: (1) The plan year and the 
employer's tax year are the same; (2) the employer has been granted an 
extension of time to file its Federal tax return to a date later than 
the normal due date for filing the Form 5500; and (3) a copy of the 
application for extension of time to file the Federal income tax return 
is maintained with the filer's records. An extension of time granted by 
using this automatic extension procedure CANNOT be extended further by 
filing a Form 5558, nor can it be extended beyond a total of 9\1/2\ 
months beyond the close of the plan year.

    Note: An extension of time to file the Form 5500-SF Return/
Report described in this section does not operate as an extension of 
time to file the PBGC Form 1.

Other Extensions of Time

    The IRS, DOL, and PBGC may announce special extensions of time 
under certain circumstances, such as extensions for presidentially 
declared disasters or for service in, or in support of, the Armed 
Forces of the United States in a combat zone. See http://www.irs.gov 
and http://www.efast.dol.gov for announcements regarding such special 
extensions. If you are relying on one of these announced special 
extensions, check the appropriate box on the Form 5500-SF, Part I, Line 
C and enter a brief citation to the announcement for the extension in 
the space provided. For example, indicate ``Disaster Relief Extension'' 
or ``Combat Zone Extension.''

Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance (DFVC) Program

    The DFVC Program facilitates voluntary compliance by plan 
administrators who are delinquent in filing annual return/report forms 
under Title I of ERISA by permitting administrators to pay reduced 
civil penalties for voluntarily complying with their DOL annual 
reporting obligations. If the Form 5500-SF is being filed under the 
DFVC Program, check the appropriate box on Form 5500-SF. See http://www.efast.dol.gov for information concerning the DFVC Program. Do not 
submit penalty payments to EFAST.

Change in Plan Year

    Generally, only defined benefit pension plans need to get approval 
for a change in plan year. (See Code section 412(c)(5)). However, under 
Rev. Proc. 87-27, 1987-1 C.B. 769, these pension plans may be eligible 
for automatic approval of a change in plan year.
    If a change in plan year for a pension or a welfare plan creates a 
short plan year, file the form and applicable schedules by the last day 
of the 7th month after the short plan year ends. Fill in the short plan 
year beginning and ending dates in the space provided and check the 
appropriate box in Part I, Line B of the Form 5500-SF. For purposes of 
this return/report, the short plan year ends on the date of the change 
in accounting period or upon the complete distribution of assets of the 
plan. Also see the instructions for Final Return/Report to determine if 
``the final return/report'' in Line B should be checked.

Penalties

    Plan administrators and plan sponsors must provide complete and 
accurate information and must otherwise comply fully with the filing 
requirements. ERISA and the Code provide for the DOL and the IRS, 
respectively, to assess or impose penalties for not giving complete 
information and for not filing statements and returns/reports. Certain 
penalties are administrative (i.e., they may be imposed or assessed in 
an administrative proceeding by one of the governmental agencies 
delegated to

[[Page 64763]]

administer the collection of the Form 5500-SF data). Others require a 
legal conviction.

Administrative Penalties

    Listed below are various penalties under ERISA and the Code that 
may be assessed or imposed for not meeting the annual return/report 
filing requirements. Generally, whether the penalty is assessed under 
ERISA or the Code, or both, depends upon the agency for which the 
information is required to be filed. One or more of the following 
administrative penalties may be assessed or imposed in the event of 
incomplete filings or filings received after the due date unless it is 
determined that your explanation for failure to file properly is for 
reasonable cause:
    1. A penalty of up to $1,100 a day for each day a plan 
administrator fails or refuses to file a complete report. See ERISA 
section 502(c)(2) and 29 CFR 2560.502c-2.
    2. A penalty of $25 a day (up to $15,000) for not filing returns 
for certain plans of deferred compensation, trusts, and annuities, and 
bond purchase plans by the due date(s). See Code section 6652(e).
    3. A penalty of $1,000 for not filing an actuarial statement. See 
Code section 6692.

Other Penalties

    1. Any individual who willfully violates any provision of Part 1 of 
Title I of ERISA shall be fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned 
not more than 10 years, or both. See ERISA section 501.
    2. A penalty up to $10,000, five (5) years imprisonment, or both, 
may be imposed for making any false statement or representation of 
fact, knowing it to be false, or for knowingly concealing or not 
disclosing any fact required by ERISA. See section 1027, Title 18, U.S. 
Code, as amended by section 111 of ERISA.

How To File--Electornic Filing Requirement

    Under the computerized ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST), you 
must file your 2009 Form 5500-SF electronically. You may file your 2009 
Form 5500-SF on-line, using EFAST's web-based filing system, or you may 
file through an EFAST-approved vendor. Detailed information on 
electronic filing is available at (insert web address). For telephone 
assistance, call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided]. The 
EFAST Help Line is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 
p.m., Eastern Time.
    CAUTION: Annual reports filed under Title I of ERISA must be made 
available by plan administrators to plan participants and by the DOL to 
the public pursuant to ERISA sections 104 and 106. Even though the Form 
5500-SF must be filed electronically, the administrator must keep a 
copy of the Form 5500-SF, including schedules and attachments, with all 
required manual signatures on file as part of the plan's records and 
must make a paper copy available on request to participants, 
beneficiaries, and the DOL as required by section 104 of ERISA and 29 
CFR 2520.103-1.
    Answer all questions with respect to the plan year unless otherwise 
explicitly stated in the instructions or on the form itself. Therefore, 
responses usually apply to the year entered at the top of the first 
page of the form.
    Your entries will be screened. Your entries must satisfy this 
screening in order to be filed. Once filed, your form may be subject to 
further detailed review, and your filing may be rejected based upon 
this further review. To reduce the possibility of correspondence and 
penalties:
    <bullet> Complete all lines on the Form 5500-SF unless otherwise 
specified. Also complete or electronically attach, as required, any 
applicable schedules and attachments.
    <bullet> Do not enter ``N/A'' or ``Not Applicable'' on the Form 
5500-SF or Schedules SB/MB unless specifically permitted. ``Yes'' or 
``No'' questions on the forms and schedules cannot be left blank, but 
must be answered either ``Yes'' or ``No,'' and not both.
    The Form 5500-SF, Schedules SB/ MB, and any attachments are open to 
public inspection, and the contents are public information subject to 
publication on the Internet. Do not enter social security numbers in 
response to questions asking for an employer identification number 
(EIN). Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security 
number on the Form 5500-SF or on a schedule or attachment that is open 
to public inspection may result in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on Form SS-4, Application 
for Employer Identification Number. You can obtain Form SS-4 by calling 
1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.

Signature and Date

    The Form 5500-SF Annual Return/Report and any applicable schedules 
must be signed and dated. The administrator is required under ERISA to 
maintain a copy of the annual report with all required signatures, as 
part of the plan's records, even though the return/report is filed 
electronically. See 29 CFR 2520.103-1.
    Electronic signatures on annual returns/reports filed under EFAST2 
are affected by the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. 
Information on those requirements will be made available for electronic 
filing under EFAST2.

Specific Instructions for One-Participant Plans

    A one-participant plan is: (1) A pension benefit plan that covers 
only an individual or an individual and his or her spouse who wholly 
own a trade or business, whether incorporated or unincorporated; or (2) 
a pension benefit plan for a partnership that covers only the partners 
or the partners and the partners' spouses. One-participant plans may be 
eligible to file an abbreviated version of the Form 5500-SF 
electronically or the paper Form 5500-EZ with the IRS.
    One-participant plan filers that meet the following conditions are 
eligible to file an abbreviated Form 5500-SF electronically:
    1. The plan is a one-participant plan.
    2. The plan meets the minimum coverage requirements of section 
410(b) without being combined with any other plan you may have that 
covers other employees of your business.
    3. The plan does not provide benefits for anyone except you, or you 
and your spouse, or one or more partners and their spouses.
    4. The plan does not hold any employer securities.
    If you do not meet all the conditions listed above, you must file 
either the complete Form 5500-SF or the Form 5500-EZ. If you do not 
meet the fourth condition, you are not eligible to file the Form 5500-
SF and must file the complete Form 5500-EZ.
    One-participant plans complete only the following questions on the 
Form 5500-SF: Part I items A, B and C, Part II lines 1a-5a, Part III 
lines 7a-c, 8a, Part IV line 9a, Part V line 10g, Part VI lines 11-12e.

    Note: A Form 5500-SF may be filed for one-participant plans that 
are either defined contribution plans (which include profit-sharing 
and money purchase pension plans, but not an ESOP or stock bonus 
plan) or defined benefit plans.


    Note: Actuaries of one-participant plans that are defined 
benefit plans subject to the minimum funding standards for this plan 
year must complete Schedule SB and forward the completed Schedule SB 
to the person responsible for filing the Form 5500-SF. The completed 
Schedule SB is subject to the

[[Page 64764]]

records retention provisions of these instructions. See the 
instruction for Schedule SB.


    Note: If you are filing a paper form, you must file the Form 
5500-EZ with the IRS (address to be added). You may order the paper 
Form 5500-EZ by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).


    Note: If you are filing an amendment for a one-participant plan 
that filed a Form 5500-SF electronically, you must submit the 
amendment using the Form 5500-SF electronically as well. Similarly, 
if you are filing an amendment for a one-participant plan that 
previously filed on a paper Form 5500-EZ, you must submit the 
amendment using the paper Form 5500-EZ with the IRS.

Specific Line by Line Instructions

Part I--Annual Report Identification Information

    Box A--Single-Employer Plan. Check this box if the Form 5500-SF is 
filed for a single-employer plan. A single-employer plan for purposes 
of the Form 5500-SF is an employee benefit plan maintained by one 
employer or one employee organization.
    Box A--Multiple-Employer Plan. Check this box if the Form 5500-SF 
is being filed for a multiple-employer plan. A multiple-employer plan 
is a plan that is maintained by more than one employer and is not a 
multiemployer plan. Multiple-employer plans can be collectively 
bargained and collectively funded, but if covered by PBGC termination 
insurance, must have properly elected before September 27, 1981, not to 
be treated as a multiemployer plan under Code section 414(f)(5) or 
ERISA sections 3(37)(E) and 4001(a)(3), and have not revoked that 
election, or made an election to be treated as a multiemployer plan 
under Code section 414(f)(6) or ERISA section 3(37)(G). Participating 
employers do not file individually for multiple-employer plans. Do not 
check this box if the employers maintaining the plan are members of the 
same controlled group.
    CAUTION: Multiemployer plans cannot use the Form 5500-SF to satisfy 
their annual reporting obligations. They must file the Form 5500. For 
these purposes, a plan is a multiemployer plan if: (a) More than one 
employer is required to contribute; (b) the plan is maintained pursuant 
to one or more collective bargaining agreements between one or more 
employee organizations and more than one employer; and (c) an election 
under Code section 414(f)(5) and ERISA section 3(37)(E) has not been 
made. A plan that made a proper election under ERISA section 3(37)(G) 
and Code section 414(f)(6) on or before Aug. 17, 2007, is also a 
multiemployer plan.
    Box A--One-Participant Plan. Check this box if the Form 5500-SF is 
being filed for a plan that is: (1) A pension benefit plan that covers 
only an individual or an individual and his or her spouse who wholly 
own a trade or business, whether incorporated or unincorporated; or (2) 
a pension benefit plan for a partnership that covers only the partners, 
or the partners and the partners' spouses. See Specific Instructions 
for One-Participant Plans.
    Box B--First Annual Return/Report. Check this box if an annual 
return/report has not been previously filed for this plan. For the 
purpose of completing box B, the Form 5500-EZ is not considered an 
annual return/report.
    Box B--Amended Return/Report. Check this box if you have already 
filed for the 2009 plan year and are now filing an amended return to 
correct errors and/or omissions on the previously filed return/report.

    Note: File an amended return/report to correct errors and/or 
omissions in a previously filed annual return/report for the 2009 
plan year. The amended Form 5500-SF and any amended schedules must 
conform to the requirements in these instructions. If you need to 
file an amended return/report to correct errors and or omissions in 
a previously filed annual return/report for the 2009 plan year AND 
you are eligible to file the Form 5500-SF, you may use the Form 
5500-SF even if the original filing was a Form 5500. If you 
determine that you were not eligible to file the Form 5500-SF, your 
amended return/report must be the Form 5500.

    Box B--Final Return/Report. Check this box if this is the final 
report for the plan. Only check this box if all assets under the plan 
(including insurance/annuity contracts) have been distributed to the 
participants and beneficiaries or legally transferred to the control of 
another plan, and when all liabilities for which benefits may be paid 
under a welfare benefit plan have been satisfied. Do not mark final 
return/report if you are reporting participants and/or assets at the 
end of the plan year. If a trustee is appointed for a terminated 
defined benefit plan pursuant to ERISA section 4042, the last plan year 
for which a return/report must be filed is the year in which the 
trustee is appointed.

Examples

Mergers/Consolidations
    A final return/report should be filed for the plan year (12 months 
or less) that ends when all plan assets were legally transferred to the 
control of another plan.
Pension and Welfare Plans That Terminated Without Distributing All 
Assets
    If the plan was terminated but all plan assets were not 
distributed, a return/report must be filed for each year the plan has 
assets. The return/report must be filed by the plan administrator, if 
designated, or by the person or persons who actually control the plan's 
assets/property.
Welfare Plans Still Liable To Pay Benefits
    A welfare plan cannot file a final return/report if the plan is 
still liable to pay benefits for claims that were incurred prior to the 
termination date, but not yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    Box B--Short Plan Year. Check this box if this form is filed for a 
period of less than 12 months. Show the dates in the space provided.
    Box C. Check the appropriate entry here if:
    <bullet> You filed for an extension of time to file this form with 
the IRS using a completed Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time 
To File Certain Employee Plan Returns (maintain a copy of the Form 5558 
with the filer's records).
    <bullet> You are filing using the automatic extension of time to 
file the Form 5500 Return/Report until the due date of the Federal 
income tax return of the employer (maintain a copy of the employer's 
extension of time to file the income tax return with the filer's 
records).
    <bullet> You are filing using a special extension of time to file 
the Form 5500 Return/Report that has been announced by the IRS, DOL, 
and PBGC. If you checked that you are using a special extension of 
time, enter a description of the extension of time in the space 
provided.

Part II--Basic Plan Information

    Line 1a. Enter the formal name of the plan or enough information to 
identify the plan. Abbreviate if necessary. If an annual return/report 
has previously been filed on behalf of the plan, regardless of the type 
of Form that was filed (Form 5500, Form 5500-EZ, Form 5500-SF) use the 
same abbreviation as was used on the prior filings. Once you use an 
abbreviation, continue to use it for that plan on all future annual 
return/report filings with the IRS, DOL, and PBGC. Do not use the same 
name or abbreviation for any other plan, even if the first plan is 
terminated.
    Line 1b. Enter the three-digit plan or entity number (PN) that the 
employer or

[[Page 64765]]

plan administrator assigned to the plan. This three-digit number, in 
conjunction with the employer identification number (EIN) entered on 
line 2b, is used by the IRS, DOL, and PBGC as a unique 12-digit number 
to identify the plan.
    Start at 001 for plans providing pension benefits. Start at 501 for 
welfare plans. Do not use 888 or 999.
    Once you use a plan number, continue to use it for that plan on all 
future filings with the IRS, DOL, and PBGC. Do not use it for any other 
plan, even if the first plan is terminated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
For each Form  5500-SF with same EIN (line
                 2b), when                            Assign PN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Codes are entered in line 9a..............  <bullet> 001 to the first
                                             plan.
                                            <bullet> Consecutively
                                             number others as 002, 003 .
                                             . .
Codes are entered in line 9b, and not in    <bullet> 501 to the first
 line 9a.                                    plan.
<bullet> Consecutively number others at
 502, 503 . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Line 1c. Enter the date the plan first became effective.
    Line 2a. Enter the plan sponsor's (employer, if for a single-
employer plan) name, postal address (only use a P.O. Box number if the 
Post Office does not deliver mail to the employer's street address), 
foreign routing code where applicable, and D/B/A (doing business as) or 
trade name of the employer if different from the employer's name.

    Note: In the case of a multiple-employer plan, if an association 
or similar entity is not the sponsor, enter the name of a 
participating employer as sponsor. A plan of a controlled group of 
corporations should enter the name of one of the sponsoring members. 
In either case, the same name must be used in all subsequent filings 
of the Form 5500 Return/Report for the multiple-employer plan or 
controlled group (see instructions to line 4 concerning change in 
sponsorship).

    Line 2b. Enter the employer's nine-digit employer identification 
number (EIN). Do not use a Social Security Number. The Form 5500-SF is 
open to public inspection, and the contents are public information and 
are subject to publication on the Internet. Because of privacy 
concerns, the inclusion of a Social Security Number on this line may 
result in the rejection of the filing.
    Employers who do not have an EIN must apply for one on Form SS-4, 
Application for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. 
You can obtain Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or 
at the IRS Web Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue 
EINs.
    A multiple-employer plan or plan of a controlled group of 
corporations should use the EIN of the sponsor identified in line 2a. 
The EIN must be used in all subsequent filings of the Form 5500-SF (or 
any subsequent Form 5500 in a year where the plan is not eligible to 
file the Form 5500-SF) for these plans. (See instructions to line 4 
concerning change in EIN).

    Note: EINs for funds (trusts or custodial accounts) associated 
with plans are generally not required to be furnished on the Form 
5500-SF. The IRS, however, will issue EINs for such funds for other 
reporting purposes. EINs may be obtained by filing Form SS-4 as 
explained above. Plan sponsors should use the trust EIN when opening 
a bank account or conducting other transactions for a trust.

    Line 2c. Enter the telephone number for the plan sponsor.
    Line 2d. Enter the six-digit business code that best describes the 
nature of the plan sponsor's business from the list of business codes. 
If more than one employer or employee organization is involved, enter 
the business code for the main business activity of the employers and/
or employee organizations.
    Line 3a. Enter the plan administrator's name, postal address (only 
use a P.O. Box number if the Post Office does not deliver mail to the 
employer's street address), and foreign routing code where applicable. 
Enter ``Same'' if the plan administrator identified on line 3 is the 
same as the plan sponsor identified on line 2.
    Plan administrator for this purpose means:
    <bullet> The person or group of persons specified as the 
administrator by the instrument under which the plan is operated;
    <bullet> The plan sponsor/employer if an administrator is not so 
designated; or
    <bullet> Any other person prescribed by regulations if an 
administrator is not designated and a plan sponsor cannot be 
identified.
    Line 3b. Enter the plan administrator's nine-digit EIN. A plan 
administrator must have an EIN for Form 5500-SF reporting. If the plan 
administrator does not have an EIN, it must apply for one as explained 
in the instructions for line 2b. One EIN should be entered for a group 
of individuals who are, collectively, the plan administrator.

    Note: Employees of the plan sponsor who perform administrative 
functions for the plan are generally not the plan administrator 
unless specifically designated in the plan document. If an employee 
of the plan sponsor is designated as the plan administrator, that 
employee must obtain an EIN.

    Line 3c. Enter the telephone number for the plan administrator.
    Line 4. If the plan sponsor's name and/or EIN have changed since 
the last annual return/report was filed for this plan, enter the plan 
sponsor's name, EIN, and the plan number as it appeared on the last 
annual return/report filed.
    CAUTION: Failure to indicate on line 4 that a plan was previously 
identified by a different EIN or PN could result in correspondence from 
the DOL and the IRS.
    Line 5. Enter in element (a) the total number of participants at 
the beginning of the plan year. Enter in element (b) the total number 
of participants at the end of the plan year. Enter in element (c) the 
total number of participants with account balances as of the end of the 
plan year. Welfare plans and defined benefit plans do not complete 
element (c).
    The description of ``participant'' in the instructions below is 
only for purposes of these lines.
    An individual becomes a participant covered under an employee 
welfare benefit plan on the earliest of: the date designated by the 
plan as the date on which the individual begins participation in the 
plan; the date on which the individual becomes eligible under the plan 
for a benefit subject only to occurrence of the contingency for which 
the benefit is provided; or the date on which the individual makes a 
contribution to the plan, whether voluntary or mandatory. See 29 CFR 
2510.3-3(d)(1). This includes former employees who are receiving group 
health continuation coverage benefits pursuant to Part 6 of ERISA and 
who are covered by the employee welfare benefit plan. Covered 
dependents are not counted as participants. A child who is an 
``alternate recipient'' entitled to health benefits under a qualified 
medical child support order (QMCSO) should not be counted as a 
participant for line 5. An individual is not a participant covered 
under an employee welfare plan on the earliest date on which the 
individual is ineligible to receive any benefit under the plan even if 
the contingency for which such benefit is provided should occur, and is 
not designated by the plan as a participant. See 29 CFR 2510.3-3(d)(2).
    TIP: Before counting the number of participants, especially in a 
welfare plan, it is important to determine whether the plan sponsor has 
established one or more plans for Form 5500/Form 5500-SF reporting 
purposes. As a matter of plan design, plan sponsors can offer benefits 
through various structures and combinations. For example a plan sponsor 
could create (i) one plan providing major medical benefits, dental 
benefits, and vision

[[Page 64766]]

benefits, (ii) two plans with one providing major medical benefits and 
the other providing self-insured dental and vision benefits, or (iii) 
three separate plans. You must review the governing documents and 
actual operations to determine whether welfare benefits are being 
provided under a single plan or separate plans.
    The fact that you have separate insurance policies for each 
different welfare benefit does not necessarily mean that you have 
separate plans. Some plan sponsors use a ``wrap'' document to 
incorporate various benefits and insurance policies into one 
comprehensive plan. In addition, whether a benefit arrangement is 
deemed to be a single plan may be different for purposes other than 
Form 5500-SF reporting. For example, special rules may apply for 
purposes of HIPAA, COBRA, and Internal Revenue Code compliance. If you 
need help determining whether you have a single welfare benefit plan 
for Form 5500-SF reporting purposes, you should consult a qualified 
benefits consultant or legal counsel.
    For pension benefit plans, ``alternate payees'' entitled to 
benefits under a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) are not to 
be counted as participants for this line.
    For pension benefit plans, ``participant'' for this line means any 
individual who is included in one of the categories below:
    1. Active participants, i.e., any individuals who are currently in 
employment covered by a plan and who are earning or retaining credited 
service under a plan. This includes any individuals who are eligible to 
elect to have the employer make payments into a Code section 401(k) 
qualified cash or deferred arrangement. Active participants also 
include any nonvested individuals who are earning or retaining credited 
service under a plan. This does not include (a) nonvested former 
employees who have incurred the break in service period specified in 
the plan or (b) former employees who have received a ``cash-out'' 
distribution or deemed distribution of their entire nonforfeitable 
accrued benefit.
    2. Retired or separated participants receiving benefits, i.e., 
individuals who are retired or separated from employment covered by the 
plan and who are receiving benefits under the plan. This does not 
include any individual to whom an insurance company has made an 
irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which the individual 
is entitled under the plan.
    3. Other retired or separated participants entitled to future 
benefits, i.e., any individuals who are retired or separated from 
employment covered by the plan and who are entitled to begin receiving 
benefits under the plan in the future. This does not include any 
individual to whom an insurance company has made an irrevocable 
commitment to pay all the benefits to which the individual is entitled 
under the plan.
    4. Deceased individuals who had one or more beneficiaries who are 
receiving or are entitled to receive benefits under the plan. This does 
not include any individual to whom an insurance company has made an 
irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which the 
beneficiaries of that individual are entitled under the plan.

    Note: One-participant plans skip to Part III.

    Line 6. Except for one-participant plans filing the Form 5500-SF in 
accordance with the instructions, to be eligible to file the Form 5500-
SF, a pension or welfare plan must: (1) Cover fewer than 100 
participants or be a pension plan eligible to file as a small plan 
under the 80 to 120 rule in 29 CFR 2520.103-1(d); (2) be eligible for 
the small plan audit waiver under 29 CFR 2520.104-46 (but not by virtue 
of enhanced bonding); (3) hold no employer securities; (4) have 100% of 
its assets in investments that have a readily determinable fair market 
value for purposes of this annual reporting requirement as described in 
29 CFR 2520.103-1(c)(2)(ii)(C); and (5) must not be a multiemployer 
plan.
    Line 6a. To be eligible to file the Form 5500-SF, all of the plan's 
assets must be ``eligible plan assets.'' Answer line 6a ``Yes'' or 
``No.'' Do not leave this question blank. If the answer to line 6a is 
``No'' you CANNOT file the Form 5500-SF and must file the Form 5500. 
See discussion under Who May File Form 5500-SF.
    For purposes of this line, ``eligible plan assets'' are assets that 
have a readily determinable fair market value for purposes of this 
annual reporting requirement as described in 29 CFR 2520.103-
1(c)(2)(ii)(C), are not employer securities, and are held or issued by 
one of the following regulated financial institutions: a bank or 
similar financial institution as defined in 29 CFR 2550.408b-4(c) (for 
example, banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, 
domestic building and loan associations, and credit unions); an 
insurance company qualified to do business under the laws of a state; 
organizations registered as broker-dealers under the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934; investment companies registered under the 
Investment Company Act of 1940; or any other organization authorized to 
act as a trustee for individual retirement accounts under Code section 
408. Examples of assets that would qualify as eligible plan assets for 
this annual reporting purpose are: mutual fund shares; investment 
contracts with insurance companies or banks that provide the plan with 
valuation information at least annually; publicly traded stock held by 
a registered broker dealer; and cash and cash equivalents held by a 
bank. Participant loans meeting the requirements of ERISA section 
408(b)(1) are also ``eligible plan assets'' for this purpose whether or 
not they have been deemed distributed.
    Line 6b. In addition to all of the plan's assets being eligible 
plan assets as defined in line 6a, to be able to file the Form 5500-SF 
the plan also must be exempt from the requirement to be audited 
annually by an IQPA.
    Welfare plans that cover fewer than 100 participants at the 
beginning of the plan year are exempt from the annual audit 
requirement. A pension plan is exempt from the annual audit requirement 
if it covered fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan 
year or is eligible to file as a small plan under the 80 to 120 rule 
(described above) and meets the following three requirements for the 
audit waiver under 29 CFR 2520.104-46: (1) As of the end of the 
preceding plan year at least 95% of a small pension plan's assets were 
``qualifying plan assets;'' (2) the plan includes the required audit 
waiver disclosure in the Summary Annual Report (SAR), or, in the case 
of plans subject to section 101(f) of the Act, the annual funding 
notice (described in Sec.  2520.101-5), furnished to participants and 
beneficiaries (see 29 CFR 2520.104-46 and 2520.104b-10(d)(3) for a 
model audit waiver disclosure); and (3) in response to a request from 
any participant or beneficiary, the plan administrator must furnish 
without charge copies of statements from the regulated financial 
institutions holding or issuing the plan's ``qualifying plan assets.''
    ``Qualifying plan assets'' for the purpose of determining whether 
the plan is exempt from the requirement to be audited annually by an 
IQPA include: shares issued by an investment company registered under 
the Investment Company Act of 1940 (e.g., mutual fund shares); 
investment and annuity contracts issued by any insurance company 
qualified to do business under the laws of a state; participant loans 
meeting the

[[Page 64767]]

requirements of ERISA section 408(b)(1), whether or not they have been 
deemed distributed, and any eligible assets, e.g., publicly traded 
stocks and bonds, held by banks or similar financial institutions, 
including trust companies, savings and loan associations, domestic 
building and loan associations, and credit unions; insurance companies 
qualified to do business under the laws of a state; organizations 
registered as broker-dealers under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; 
investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 
1940; or any other organization authorized to act as a trustee for 
individual retirement accounts under Code section 408. In the case of 
an individual account plan, ``qualifying plan assets'' also include any 
assets in the individual account of a participant or beneficiary over 
which the participant or beneficiary had the opportunity to exercise 
control and with respect to which the participant or beneficiary has 
been furnished, at least annually, a statement from one of the above 
regulated financial institutions describing the plan assets held or 
issued by the institution and the amount of such assets.
    CAUTION: In order to be able to file the Form 5500-SF, a small plan 
must meet the audit waiver conditions by virtue of having 95% or more 
of its assets as qualifying plan assets in accordance with 29 CFR 
2520.104-46(b)(1)(i)(A)(1). If the small plan satisfies the conditions 
of the audit waiver by virtue of having enhanced fidelity bond under 29 
CFR 2520.104-46(b)(1)(i)(A)(2), the plan does not satisfy the 
conditions for filing the Form 5500-SF and must file the Form 5500, 
along with the appropriate schedules and attachments. Also, many 
``qualifying plan assets'' for audit waiver purposes will also be 
``eligible plan assets'' as described in the instructions for line 6a, 
but the definitions are not the same. For example, real estate held by 
a bank as trustee for a plan could be a qualifying plan asset for 
purposes of the small pension plan audit waiver conditions but it would 
not be a ``eligible plan asset'' for purposes of the plan being 
eligible to file the Form 5500-SF because real estate would not have a 
readily determinable fair market value as described in described in 29 
CFR 2520.103-1(c)(2)(ii)(C).

Part III--Financial Information

    Note: The cash, modified cash, or accrual basis may be used for 
recognition of transactions in Parts I and II, as long as you use 
one method consistently. Round off all amounts reported on the Form 
5500-SF to the nearest dollar. Any other amounts are subject to 
rejection. Check all subtotals and totals carefully.

    Current value means fair market value where available. Otherwise, 
it means the fair value as determined in good faith under the terms of 
the plan by a trustee or a named fiduciary, assuming an orderly 
liquidation at the time of the determination. See ERISA section 3(26).
    Line 7--Plan Assets and Liabilities.
    Amounts reported on line 7a, 7b, and 7c for the beginning of the 
plan year must be the same as reported for the end of the plan year for 
the corresponding lines on the return/report for the preceding plan 
year. That means that if the Form 5500 was filed for plan year 2008, 
the amounts reported on the Form 5500-SF line 7a, column (a), 7b, 
column (a), and 7c, column (a) should correspond to the amounts entered 
in line 1a, column (b), 1b, column (b), and 1c, column (b) of the 2008 
Schedule I (Form 5500) or the amounts entered in line 1f, column (b), 
1k, column (b), and 1l, column (b) of the 2008 Schedule H (Form 5500), 
whichever schedule was filed.
    Line 7a. Enter the total amount of plan assets at the beginning of 
the plan year in column (a). Do not include contributions designated 
for the 2009 plan year in column (a).
    Enter the total amount of plan assets at the end of the plan year 
in column (b). Do not include in column (b) a participant loan that has 
been deemed distributed during the plan year under the provisions of 
Code section 72(p) and Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1, if both 
the following circumstances apply: (1) Under the plan, the participant 
loan is treated as a direct investment solely of the participant's 
individual account; and (2) as of the end of the plan year, the 
participant is not continuing repayment under the loan.
    If the deemed distributed participant loan is included in column 
(a) and both of these circumstances apply, include the value of the 
loan as a deemed distribution on line 8e. However, if either of these 
two circumstances does not apply, the current value of the participant 
loan (including interest accruing thereon after the deemed 
distribution) should be included in column (b) without regard to the 
occurrence of a deemed distribution.
    After a participant loan that has been deemed distributed is 
included in the amount reported on line 8e, it is no longer to be 
reported as an asset on line 7a unless, in a later year, the 
participant resumes repayment under the loan. However, such a loan 
(including interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) 
that has not been repaid is still considered outstanding for purposes 
of applying Code section 72(p)(2)(A) to determine the maximum amount of 
subsequent loans. Also, the deemed distribution is not treated as an 
actual distribution for other purposes, such as the qualification 
requirements of Code section 401, including, for example, the 
determination of top-heavy status under Code section 416 and the 
vesting requirements of Treasury Regulation section 1.411(a)-7(d)(5). 
See Q&As 12 and 19 of Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1.
    The entry on line 7a, column (b) (plan assets at end of year) must 
include the current value of any participant loan included as a deemed 
distribution in the amount reported for any earlier year if, during the 
plan year, the participant resumes repayment under the loan. In 
addition, the amount to be entered on line 8e must be reduced by the 
amount of the participant loan reported as a deemed distribution for 
the earlier year.
    Line 7b. Enter the total liabilities at the beginning and end of 
the plan year. Liabilities to be entered here do not include the value 
of future pension payments to participants. The amount to be entered in 
line 7b for accrual basis filers includes, among other things:
    1. Benefit claims that have been processed and approved for payment 
by the plan but have not been paid (including all incurred but not 
reported welfare benefit claims);
    2. Accounts payable obligations owed by the plan that were incurred 
in the normal operations of the plan but have not been paid; and
    3. Other liabilities such as acquisition indebtedness and any other 
amount owed by the plan.
    Line 7c. Enter the net assets as of the beginning and end of the 
plan year. (Subtract line 7b from 7a). Line 7c, column (b) must equal 
the sum of line 7c, column (a), plus lines 8i (net income (loss)) and 
8j (transfers to (from) the plan).
    Line 8--Income, Expenses, and Transfers for this Plan Year
    Line 8a. Include the total cash contributions received and/or (for 
accrual basis plans) due to be received.
    Line 8a(1). Plans using the accrual basis of accounting must not 
include contributions designated for years before the 2009 plan year on 
line 8a(1).
    Line 8a(2). For welfare plans, report all employee contributions, 
including all elective contributions under a cafeteria plan (Code 
section 125). For pension plans, participant contributions, for 
purposes of this item, also include elective contributions under a 
qualified cash or deferred arrangement (Code section 401(k)).

[[Page 64768]]

    Line 8a(3). Enter the current value, at date contributed, of all 
other contributions, including rollovers from other plans.
    Line 8b. Enter all other plan income for the plan year. Do not 
include transfers from other plans that are reported on line 8j. 
Examples of other income received and/or receivable include:
    1. Interest on investments (including money market accounts, sweep 
accounts, etc.)
    2. Dividends. (Accrual basis plans should include dividends 
declared for all stock held by the plan even if the dividends have not 
been received as of the end of the plan year.)
    3. Net gain or loss from the sale of assets.
    4. Other income such as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) in 
plan assets.
    Line 8c. Enter the total of all cash contributions (line 8a(1) 
through 8a(3)) and other plan income (line 8b) during the plan year. If 
entering a negative number, enter a minus sign ``-'' to the left of the 
number.
    Line 8d. Include (1) payments made (and for accrual basis filers 
payments due) to or on behalf of participants or beneficiaries in cash, 
securities, or other property (including rollovers of an individual's 
accrued benefit or account balance). Include all eligible rollover 
distributions as defined in Code section 401(a)(31)(D) paid at the 
participant's election to an eligible retirement plan (including an IRA 
within the meaning of section 401(a)(31)(E)); (2) payments to insurance 
companies and similar organizations such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield, 
and health maintenance organizations for the provision of plan benefits 
(e.g., paid-up annuities, accident insurance, health insurance, vision 
care, dental coverage, etc.); and (3) payments made to other 
organizations or individuals providing benefits. Generally, these 
payments discussed in (3) are made to individual providers of welfare 
benefits such as legal services, day care services, and training and 
apprenticeship services. If securities or other property are 
distributed to plan participants or beneficiaries, include the current 
value of the date of distribution.
    Line 8e. Include on this line all distributions paid during the 
plan year of excess deferrals under Code section 402(g)(2)(A)(ii), 
excess contributions under Code section 401(k)(8), and excess aggregate 
contributions under Code section 401(m)(6). Include allocable income 
distributed. Also include on this line any elective deferrals and 
employee contributions distributed or returned to employees during the 
plan year in accordance with Treasury Regulation section 1.415-
6(b)(6)(iv), as well as any attributable gains that were also 
distributed.
    For line 8e, also include in the total amount a participant loan 
included in line 7a, column (a) that has been deemed distributed during 
the plan year under the provisions of Code section 72(p) and Treasury 
Regulation section 1.72(p)-1 only if both of the following 
circumstances apply:
    1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed 
investment solely of the participant's individual account; and
    2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not 
continuing repayment under the loan.
    If either of these circumstances does not apply, a deemed 
distribution of a participant loan should not be included in the total 
on line 8e. Instead, the current value of the participant loan 
(including interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) 
should be included on lines 7a, column (b) (plan assets--end of year), 
and 10j (participant loans--end of year), without regard to the 
occurrence of a deemed distribution.

    Note: The amount to be reported on line 8e must be reduced if, 
during the plan year, a participant resumes repayment under a 
participant loan reported as a deemed distribution on line 2g of 
Schedule H or Schedule I of a prior Form 5500 or line 8e of a prior 
Form 5500-SF for any earlier year. The amount of the required 
reduction is the amount of the participant loan that was reported as 
a deemed distribution on such line for any earlier year. If entering 
a negative number, enter a minus sign ``-'' to the left of the 
number. The current value of the participant loan must then be 
included in line 7a, column (b) (plan assets--end of year).

    Although certain participant loans deemed distributed are to be 
reported on line 8e, and are not to be reported on the Form 5500-SF or 
on the Schedule H or Schedule I of the Form 5500 as an asset thereafter 
(unless the participant resumes repayment under the loan in a later 
year), they are still considered outstanding loans and are not treated 
as actual distributions for certain purposes. See Q&As 12 and 19 of 
Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1.
    Line 8f. The amount to be reported for expenses involving 
administrative service providers (salaries, fees, and commissions) 
include the total fees paid (or in the case of accrual basis plans, 
costs incurred during the plan year but not paid as of the end of the 
plan year) by the plan for, among others:
    1. Salaries to employees of the plan;
    2. Fees and expenses for accounting, actuarial, legal, investment 
management, investment advice, and securities brokerage services;
    3. Contract administrator fees; and
    4. Fees and expenses for individual plan trustees, including 
reimbursement for travel, seminars, and meeting expenses.
    Line 8g. Other expenses (paid and/or payable) include other 
administrative and miscellaneous expenses paid by or charged to the 
plan, including among others office supplies and equipment, telephone, 
and postage.
    Line 8h. Enter the total of all benefits paid or due reported on 
lines 8d and 8e and all other plan expenses reported on lines 8f and 8g 
during the year.
    Line 8i. Subtract line 8h from line 8c.
    Line 8j. Enter the net value of all assets transferred to and from 
the plan during the plan year including those resulting from mergers 
and spin-offs. A transfer of assets or liabilities occurs when there is 
a reduction of assets or liabilities with respect to one plan and the 
receipt of these assets or the assumption of these liabilities by 
another plan. Transfers out at the end of the year should be reported 
as occurring during the plan year.

    Note: A distribution of all or part of an individual 
participant's account balance that is reportable on Form 1099-R, 
Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing 
Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., should not be included on 
line 8j but must be included in benefit payments reported on Line 
8d. Do not submit IRS Form 1099-R with the Form 5500-SF.

Part IV--Plan Characteristics

    Line 9. Enter in lines 9a and 9b, as appropriate, in the boxes 
provided all applicable plan characteristic codes that describe the 
characteristics of the plan being reported.

[[Page 64769]]



    List of Plan Characteristic Codes for Form 550-SF Lines 9a and 9b
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Code
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Defined Benefit Pension Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1A...........................  Benefits are primarily pay related.
1B...........................  Benefits are primarily flat dollar
                                (includes dollars per year of service).
1C...........................  Cash balance or similar plan `` Plan has
                                a ``cash balance'' formula. For this
                                purpose, a ``cash balance'' formula is a
                                benefit formula in a defined benefit
                                plan by whatever name (e.g., personal
                                account plan, pension equity plan, life
                                cycle plan, cash account plan, etc.)
                                that rather than, or in addition to,
                                expressing the accrued benefit as a life
                                annuity commencing at normal retirement
                                age, defines benefits for each employee
                                in terms more common to a defined
                                contribution plan such as a single sum
                                distribution amount (e.g., 10 percent of
                                final average pay times years of
                                service, or the amount of the employee's
                                hypothetical account balance).
1D...........................  Floor offset plan `` Plan benefits are
                                subject to offset for retirement
                                benefits provided by an employer-
                                sponsored defined contribution plan.
1E...........................  Code section 401(h) arrangement `` Plan
                                contains separate accounts under Code
                                section 401(h) to provide employee
                                health benefits.
1F...........................  Code section 414(k) arrangement ``
                                Benefits are based partly on the balance
                                of the separate account of the
                                participant (also include appropriate
                                defined contribution pension feature
                                codes).
1G...........................  Covered by PBGC `` Plan is covered under
                                the PBGC insurance program (see ERISA
                                section 4021).
1H...........................  Plan covered by PBGC that was terminated
                                and closed out for PBGC purposes--Before
                                the end of the plan year (or a prior
                                plan year), (1) the plan terminated in a
                                standard (or distress) termination and
                                completed the distribution of plan
                                assets in satisfaction of all benefit
                                liabilities (or all ERISA Title IV
                                benefits for distress termination); or
                                (2) a trustee was appointed for a
                                terminated plan pursuant to ERISA
                                section 4042.
1I...........................  Frozen Plan--As of the last day of the
                                plan year, the plan provides that no
                                participant will get any new benefit
                                accrual (whether because of service or
                                compensation).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Defined Contribution Pension Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2A...........................  Age/Service Weighted or New Comparability
                                or Similar Plan--Age/Service Weighted
                                Plan: Allocations are based on age,
                                service, or age and service. New
                                Comparability or Similar Plan:
                                Allocations are based on participant
                                classifications and a classification(s)
                                consists entirely or predominantly of
                                highly compensated employees; or the
                                plan provides an additional allocation
                                rate on compensation above a specified
                                threshold, and the threshold or
                                additional rate exceeds the maximum
                                threshold or rate allowed under the
                                permitted disparity rules of Code
                                section 401(l).
2B...........................  Target benefit plan.
2C...........................  Money purchase (other than target
                                benefit).
2D...........................  Offset plan `` Plan benefits are subject
                                to offset for retirement benefits
                                provided in another plan or arrangement
                                of the employer.
2E...........................  Profit-sharing.
2F...........................  ERISA section 404(c) plan--This plan, or
                                any part of it, is intended to meet the
                                conditions of 29 CFR 2550.404c-1.
2G...........................  Total participant-directed account plan--
                                Participants have the opportunity to
                                direct the investment of all the assets
                                allocated to their individual accounts,
                                regardless of whether 29 CFR 2550.404c-1
                                is intended to be met.
2H...........................  Partial participant directed account
                                plan--Participants have the opportunity
                                to direct the investment of a portion of
                                the assets allocated to their individual
                                accounts, regardless of whether 29 CFR
                                2550.404c-1 is intended to be met.
2I...........................  Stock bonus.
2J...........................  Code section 401(k) feature--A cash or
                                deferred arrangement described in Code
                                section 401(k) that is part of a
                                qualified defined contribution plan that
                                provides for an election by employees to
                                defer part of their compensation or
                                receive these amounts in cash.
2K...........................  Code section 401(m) arrangement--Employee
                                contributions are allocated to separate
                                accounts under the plan or employer
                                contributions are based, in whole or in
                                part, on employee deferrals or
                                contributions to the plan. Not
                                applicable if plan is 401(k) plan with
                                only QNECs and/or QMACs. Also not
                                applicable if Code section 403(b)(1),
                                403(b)(7), or 408 arrangements/accounts
                                annuities.
2L...........................  Code section 403(b)(1) arrangement.
2M...........................  Code section 403(b)(7) accounts.
2N...........................  Code section 408 accounts and annuities.
2R...........................  Participant-directed brokerage accounts
                                provided as an investment option under
                                the plan.
2S...........................  Plan provides for automatic enrollment in
                                plan that has employee contributions
                                deducted from payroll.
2T...........................  Total or partial participant-directed
                                account plan--plan uses default
                                investment account for participants who
                                fail to direct assets in their account.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Other Pension Benefit Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3B...........................  Plan covering Self-Employed Individuals.
3C...........................  Plan not intended to be qualified--A plan
                                not intended to be qualified under Code
                                sections 401, 403, or 408.
3D...........................  Master plan--A pension plan that is made
                                available by a sponsor for adoption by
                                employers; that is the subject of a
                                favorable opinion letter; and for which
                                a single funding medium (for example, a
                                trust or custodial account) is
                                established for the joint use of all
                                adopting employers.
3E...........................  Prototype plan--A pension plan that is
                                made available by a sponsor for adoption
                                by employers; that is the subject of a
                                favorable opinion or notification
                                letter; and under which a separate
                                funding medium (for example, a separate
                                trust or custodial account) is
                                established for each participating
                                employer.
3F...........................  Plan sponsor(s) received services of
                                leased employees, as defined in Code
                                section 414(n), during the plan year.
3H...........................  Plan sponsor(s) is (are) a member(s) of a
                                controlled group (Code sections 414(b),
                                (c), or (m)).
3J...........................  U.S.-based plan that covers residents of
                                Puerto Rico and is qualified under both
                                Code section 401 and section 8565 of
                                Puerto Rico Code.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 64770]]

 
                        Welfare Benefit Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4A...........................  Health (other than vision or dental).
4B...........................  Life Insurance.
4C...........................  Supplemental unemployment.
4D...........................  Dental.
4E...........................  Vision.
4F...........................  Temporary disability (accident and
                                sickness).
4G...........................  Prepaid legal.
4H...........................  Long-term disability.
4I...........................  Severance pay.
4J...........................  Apprenticeship and training.
4K...........................  Scholarship (funded).
4L...........................  Death benefits (include travel accident
                                but not life insurance).
4P...........................  Taft-Hartley Financial Assistance for
                                Employee Housing Expenses.
4Q...........................  Other.
4R...........................  Unfunded, fully insured, or combination
                                unfunded/fully insured welfare plan that
                                will not file an annual report for next
                                plan year pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.104-
                                20.
4S...........................  Unfunded, fully insured, or combination
                                unfunded/fully insured welfare plan that
                                stopped filing annual reports in an
                                earlier plan year pursuant to 29 CFR
                                2520.104-20.
4T...........................  10 or more employer plan under Code
                                section 419A(f)(6).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part V--Compliance Questions

    Line 10. Answer all lines either ``Yes'' or ``No.'' Do not leave 
any answer blank. For items 10a, b, c, d, e, f, and g, if the answer is 
``Yes,'' an amount must be entered.

    Note: One-participant plans should only complete question 10g.

    Line 10a. Amounts paid by a participant or beneficiary to an 
employer and/or withheld by an employer for contribution to the plan 
are participant contributions that become plan assets as of the 
earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated 
from the employer's general assets. See 29 CFR 2510.3-102. Plans that 
check ``Yes'' must enter the aggregate amount of all late contributions 
for the year. The total amount of the delinquent contributions should 
be included on line 10a for the year in which the contributions were 
delinquent and should be carried over and reported again on line 10a 
for each subsequent year (or on line 4a of Schedule H or I of the Form 
5500 if not eligible to file the Form 5500-SF in the subsequent year) 
until the year after the violation has been fully corrected by payment 
of the late contributions and reimbursement of the plan for lost 
earnings or profits. If no participant contributions were received or 
withheld by the employer during the plan year, answer ``No.''
    An employer holding participant contributions commingled with its 
general assets after the earliest date on which such contributions can 
reasonably be segregated from the employer's general assets will have 
engaged in a prohibited use of plan assets (see ERISA section 406). If 
such a nonexempt prohibited transaction occurred with respect to a 
disqualified person (see Code section 4975(e)(2)), file IRS Form 5330, 
Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, with the IRS 
to pay any applicable excise tax on the transaction.
    Participant loan repayments paid to and/or withheld by an employer 
for purposes of transmittal to the plan that were not transmitted to 
the plan in a timely fashion must be reported either on line 4a in 
accordance with the reporting requirements that apply to delinquent 
participant contributions or on line 4d. See Advisory Opinion 2002-02A, 
available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    Applicants that satisfy both the DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction 
Program (VFCP) and the conditions of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 
(PTE) 2002-51 are eligible for immediate relief from payment of certain 
prohibited transaction excise taxes for certain corrected transactions, 
and are also relieved from the requirement to file the IRS Form 5330 
with the IRS. For more information on how to apply under the VFCP, the 
specific transactions covered (which transactions include delinquent 
participant contributions to pension and welfare plans), and acceptable 
methods for correcting violations, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006), and 
71 FR 20135 (Apr. 19, 2006). All delinquent participant contributions 
must be reported on line 10a at least for the year in which they were 
delinquent even if violations have been fully corrected by the close of 
the plan year. Information about the VFCP is also available on the 
Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    Line 10b. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount. Check 
``Yes'' if any nonexempt transaction with a party-in-interest occurred. 
Do not check ``Yes'' with respect to transactions that are: (1) 
Statutorily exempt under Part 4 of Title I of ERISA; (2) 
administratively exempt under ERISA section 408(a); (3) exempt under 
Code sections 4975(c) or 4975(d); (4) the holding of participant 
contributions in the employer's general assets for a welfare plan that 
meets the conditions of ERISA Technical Release 92-01; or (5) 
delinquent participant contributions reported on line 10a. You may 
indicate that an application for an administrative exemption is 
pending. If you are unsure whether a transaction is exempt or not, you 
should consult either with a qualified public accountant, legal 
counsel, or both. If the plan is a qualified pension plan and a 
nonexempt prohibited transaction occurred with respect to a 
disqualified person, an IRS Form 5330 is required to be filed with the 
IRS to pay the excise tax on the transaction.
    Non-exempt transactions with a party-in-interest include any direct 
or indirect:
    A. Sale or exchange, or lease, of any property between the plan and 
a party-in-interest.
    B. Lending of money or other extension of credit between the plan 
and a party-in-interest.
    C. Furnishing of goods, services, or facilities between the plan 
and a party-in-interest.
    D. Transfer to, or use by or for the benefit of, a party-in-
interest, of any income or assets of the plan.

[[Page 64771]]

    E. Acquisition, on behalf of the plan, of any employer security or 
employer real property in violation of ERISA section 407(a).
    F. Dealing with the assets of the plan for a fiduciary's own 
interest or own account.
    G. Acting in a fiduciary's individual or any other capacity in any 
transaction involving the plan on behalf of a party (or represent a 
party) whose interests are adverse to the interests of the plan or the 
interests of its participants or beneficiaries.
    H. Receipt of any consideration for his or her own personal account 
by a party-in-interest who is a fiduciary from any party dealing with 
the plan in connection with a transaction involving the income or 
assets of the plan.
    Party-in-Interest. For purposes of this form, party-in-interest is 
deemed to include a disqualified person. See Code section 4975(e)(2). 
The term ``party-in-interest'' means, as to an employee benefit plan:
    A. Any fiduciary (including, but not limited to, any administrator, 
officer, trustee or custodian), counsel, or employee of the plan;
    B. A person providing services to the plan;
    C. An employer, any of whose employees are covered by the plan;
    D. An employee organization, any of whose members are covered by 
the plan;
    E. An owner, direct or indirect, of 50% or more of: (1) The 
combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote or the 
total value of shares of all classes of stock of a corporation; (2) the 
capital interest or the profits interest of a partnership; or (3) the 
beneficial interest of a trust or unincorporated enterprise which is an 
employer or an employee organization described in C or D;
    F. A relative of any individual described in A, B, C, or E;
    G. A corporation, partnership, or trust or estate of which (or in 
which) 50% or more of: (1) The combined voting power of all classes of 
stock entitled to vote or the total value of shares of all classes of 
stock of such corporation, (2) the capital interest or profits interest 
of such partnership, or (3) the beneficial interest of such trust or 
estate, is owned directly or indirectly, or held by persons described 
in A, B, C, D, or E;
    H. An employee, officer, director (or an individual having powers 
or responsibilities similar to those of officers or directors), or a 
10% or more shareholder directly or indirectly, of a person described 
in B, C, D, E, or G, or of the employee benefit plan; or
    I. A 10% or more (directly or indirectly in capital or profits) 
partner or joint venturer of a person described in B, C, D, E, or G.
    TIP: Applicants that satisfy the VFCP requirements and the 
conditions of PTE 2002-51 (see the instructions for line 10a) are 
eligible for immediate relief from payment of certain prohibited 
transaction excise taxes for certain corrected transactions and from 
the requirement to file the Form 5330 with the IRS. For more 
information, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006), and 71 FR 20135 (Apr. 19, 
2006). When the conditions of PTE 2002-51 have been satisfied, the 
corrected transactions should be treated as exempt under Code section 
4975(c) for the purposes of answering line 10b.
    Line 10c. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the aggregate amount 
of fidelity bond coverage for all claims. Check ``Yes'' only if the 
plan itself (as opposed to the plan sponsor or administrator) is a 
named insured under a fidelity bond that is from an approved surety 
covering plan officials and that protects the plan from losses due to 
fraud or dishonesty as described in 29 CFR Part 2580. Generally, every 
plan official of an employee benefit plan who ``handles'' funds or 
other property of such plan must be bonded. Generally, a person shall 
be deemed to be ``handling'' funds or other property of a plan, so as 
to require bonding, whenever his or her other duties or activities with 
respect to given funds are such that there is a risk that such funds 
could be lost in the event of fraud or dishonesty on the part of such 
person, acting either alone or in collusion with others. Section 412 of 
ERISA and 29 CFR Part 2580 describe the bonding requirements, including 
the definition of ``handling'' (29 CFR 2580.412-6), the permissible 
forms of bonds (29 CFR 2580.412-10), the amount of the bond (29 CFR 
Part 2580, subpart C), and certain exemptions such as the exemption for 
certain banks and insurance companies and the exemption allowing plan 
officials to purchase bonds from surety companies authorized by the 
Secretary of the Treasury as acceptable reinsurers on Federal bonds (29 
CFR 2580.412-23). Information concerning the list of approved sureties 
and reinsurers is available on the Internet at http://www.fms.treas.gov/c570.

    Note: Plans are permitted under certain conditions to purchase 
fiduciary liability insurance with plan assets. These fiduciary 
liability insurance policies are not written specifically to protect 
the plan from losses due to dishonest acts and are not fidelity 
bonds reported in line 10c.

    Line 10d. Check ``Yes'' if the plan suffered or discovered any loss 
as a result of any dishonest or fraudulent act(s) even if the loss was 
reimbursed by the plan's fidelity bond or from any other source. If 
``Yes'' is checked enter the full amount of the loss. If the full 
amount of the loss has not yet been determined, provide an estimate as 
determined in good faith by a plan fiduciary. You must keep, in 
accordance with ERISA section 107, records showing how the estimate was 
determined.
    CAUTION: Willful failure to report is a criminal offense. See ERISA 
section 501.
    Line 10e. If any benefits under the plan are provided by an 
insurance company, insurance service, or other similar organization 
(such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or a health maintenance organization) 
or if the plan has investments with insurance companies such as 
guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), report the total of all 
insurance fees and commissions paid to agents, brokers and/or other 
persons directly or indirectly attributable to the contract(s) placed 
with or retained by the plan.
    For purposes of line 10e, commissions and fees include sales or 
base commissions and all other monetary and non-monetary forms of 
compensation where the broker's, agent's, or other person's eligibility 
for the payment or the amount of the payment is based, in whole or in 
part, on the value (e.g., policy amounts, premiums) of contracts or 
policies (or classes thereof) placed with or retained by an ERISA plan, 
including, for example, persistency and profitability bonuses. The 
amount (or pro rata share of the total) of such commissions or fees 
attributable to the contract or policy placed with or retained by the 
plan must be reported. Insurers must provide plan administrators with a 
proportionate allocation of commissions and fees attributable to each 
contract. Any reasonable method of allocating commissions and fees to 
policies or contracts is acceptable, provided the method is disclosed 
to the plan administrator. A reasonable allocation method could 
allocate fees and commissions based on a calendar year calculation even 
if the plan year or policy year was not a calendar year. For additional 
information on these reporting requirements, see ERISA Advisory Opinion 
2005-02A, available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    Where (1) benefits under a plan have been purchased from and 
guaranteed by a licensed insurance company, insurance service, or other 
similar organization, (2) the payments by the insurer to affiliates or 
third parties for performing administrative activities

[[Page 64772]]

were part of the insurer satisfying its contractual obligation to 
provide benefits under the plan, and (3) there is no direct or indirect 
charge to the plan for the administrative services other than the 
insurance premium, the payments by the insurer to the affiliates or 
third parties do not need to be reported as ``fees and other 
commissions.''
    Reporting is not required for compensation paid by the insurer to 
third parties for record keeping and claims processing services 
provided to the insurer as part of the insurer's administration of the 
insurance policy. Reporting also is not required for compensation paid 
by the insurer to a ``general agent'' or ``manager'' for that general 
agent's or manager's management of an agency or performance of 
administrative functions for the insurer. For this purpose, (1) a 
``general agent'' or ``manager'' does not include brokers representing 
insureds, and (2) payments would not be treated as paid for managing an 
agency or performance of administrative functions where the recipient's 
eligibility for the payment or the amount of the payment is dependent 
or based on the value (e.g., policy amounts, premiums) of contracts or 
policies (or classes thereof) placed with or retained by ERISA plan(s).
    Reporting is not required for occasional gifts or meals of 
insubstantial value which are tax deductible for federal income tax 
purposes by the person providing the gift or meal and would not be 
taxable income to the recipient. For this exemption to be available, 
the gift or gratuity must be both occasional and insubstantial. For 
this exemption to apply, the gift must be valued at less than $50, the 
aggregate value of gifts from one source in a calendar year must be 
less than $100, but gifts with a value of less than $10 do not need to 
be counted toward the $100 annual limit. If the $100 aggregate value 
limit is exceeded, then the aggregate value of all the gifts will be 
reportable. Gifts from multiple employees of one service provider 
should be treated as originating from a single source when calculating 
whether the $100 threshold applies. On the other hand, in applying the 
threshold to an occasional gift received from one source by multiple 
employees of a single service provider, the amount received by each 
employee should be separately determined in applying the $50 and $100 
thresholds. For example, if six employees of a broker attend an 
business conference put on by an insurer designed to educate and 
explain the insurer's products for employee benefit plans, and the 
insurer provides, at no cost to the attendees, refreshments valued at 
$20 per individual, the gratuities would not be reportable on this line 
even though the total cost of the refreshments for all the employees 
would be $120. These thresholds are for purposes of line 10a reporting. 
Filers are cautioned that the payment or receipt of gifts and 
gratuities of any amount by plan fiduciaries may violate ERISA and give 
rise to civil liabilities and criminal penalties.
    Important Reminder. The insurance company, insurance service, or 
other similar organization is required under ERISA section 103(a)(2) to 
provide the plan administrator with the information needed to complete 
this return/report. Your insurance company must provide you with the 
information you need to answer this question. If your insurance 
company, insurance service, or other similar organization does not 
automatically send you this information, you should make a written 
request for the information. If you have difficulty getting the 
information from your insurance company, contact the nearest office of 
the DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration.
    Line 10f. You must check ``Yes'' if any benefits due under the plan 
were not timely paid or not paid in full. Include in this amount the 
total of any outstanding amounts that were not paid when due in 
previous years that have continued to remain unpaid.
    Line 10g. You must check ``Yes'' if the plan had any participant 
loans outstanding at any time during the plan year and enter the amount 
outstanding as of the end of the plan year. If no participant loans are 
outstanding as of the end of the plan year, enter ``0''.
    Line 10h. Check ``Yes'' if there was a ``blackout period.'' A 
blackout period is a temporary suspension of more than three 
consecutive business days during which participants or beneficiaries of 
a 401(k) or other individual account pension plan were unable to, or 
were limited or restricted in their ability to, direct or diversify 
assets credited to their accounts, obtain loans from the plan, or 
obtain distributions from the plan. A ``blackout period'' generally 
does not include a temporary suspension of the right of participants 
and beneficiaries to direct or diversify assets credited to their 
accounts, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain distributions from the 
plan if the temporary suspension is: (1) Part of the regularly 
scheduled operations of the plan that has been disclosed to 
participants and beneficiaries; (2) due to a qualified domestic 
relations order (QDRO) or because of a pending determination as to 
whether a domestic relations order is a QDRO; (3) due to an action or a 
failure to take action by an individual participant or because of an 
action or claim by someone other than the plan regarding a 
participant's individual account; or (4) by application of federal 
securities laws. For more information, see the DOL's regulation at 29 
CFR 2520.101-3 (available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa).
    Line 10i. If there was a blackout period, did you provide the 
required notice not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days in advance 
of restricting the rights of participants and beneficiaries to change 
their plan investments, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain 
distributions from the plan? If so, check ``Yes.'' See 29 CFR 2520.101-
3 for specific notice requirements and for exceptions from the notice 
requirement. Also, answer ``Yes'' if one of the exceptions to the 
notice requirement under 29 CFR 2520.101-3 applies.

Part VI--Pension Funding Compliance

    Complete Part VI only if the plan is subject to the minimum funding 
requirements of Code section 412 or ERISA section 302.
    All qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans are 
subject to the minimum funding requirements of Code section 412 unless 
they are described in the exceptions listed under section 412(e)(2). 
These exceptions include profit-sharing or stock bonus plans, insurance 
contract plans described in section 412(e)(3), and certain plans to 
which no employer contributions are made.
    Nonqualified employee pension benefit plans are subject to the 
minimum funding requirements of ERISA section 302 unless specifically 
exempted under ERISA sections 4(a) or 301(a).
    The employer or plan administrator of a single-employer or 
multiple-employer defined benefit plan that is subject to the minimum 
funding requirements must file the Schedule SB as an attachment to the 
Form 5500-SF. Schedule MB is filed for multiemployer defined benefit 
plans and certain money purchase defined contribution plans (whether 
they are single or multiemployer plans). However, Schedule MB is not 
required to be filed for a money purchase defined contribution plan 
that is subject to the minimum funding requirements unless the plan is 
currently amortizing a waiver of the minimum funding requirements.
    Line 11. If ``Yes'' is checked, you must attach Schedule SB (Form 
5500). If this is a defined contribution pension plan,

[[Page 64773]]

leave the box blank . One-participant plans, however, do not attach 
Schedule SB to the Form 5500-SF. Instead one-participant plans keep the 
Schedule SB in accordance with the applicable records retention 
requirements.
    Line 12. The ``Yes'' box should be checked if the plan is a defined 
contribution plan subject to the minimum funding requirements of Code 
section 412 and ERISA section 302. Those money purchase plans 
(including target benefit plans) that are amortizing a waiver of the 
minimum funding standard for a prior year should fill out line 12a and 
then skip to line 13. Those defined contribution plans answering 
``Yes'' to the line 12 question that do not fill out line 12a should 
fill out lines 12b-12e.
    Line 12a. If a money purchase defined contribution plan (including 
a target benefit plan) has received a waiver of the minimum funding 
standard, and the waiver is currently being amortized, complete lines 
3, 9, and 10 of Schedule MB. See instructions for Schedule MB. Attach 
Schedule MB to the Form 5500-SF.
    Line 12b. The minimum required contribution for a money purchase 
defined contribution plan for a plan year is the amount required to be 
contributed for the year under the formula set forth in the plan 
document. If there is an accumulated funding deficiency for a prior 
year that has not been waived, that amount should also be included as 
part of the contribution required for the current year.
    Line 12c. Include all contributions for the plan year made not 
later than 8\1/2\ months after the end of the plan year. Show only 
contributions actually made to the plan by the date the form is filed. 
For example, do not include receivable contributions for this purpose.
    Line 12d. If the minimum required contribution exceeds the 
contributions for the plan year made not later than 8\1/2\ months after 
the end of the plan year, the excess is an accumulated funding 
deficiency for the plan year. File IRS Form 5330, Return of Excise 
Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, with the IRS to pay the excise 
tax on the deficiency. There is a penalty for not filing IRS Form 5330 
on time.
    Line 12e. Will the minimum required contribution remaining in 12d 
be made no later than 8\1/2\ months after the end of the plan year? If 
``Yes,'' and contributions are actually made by this date, then there 
will be no reportable deficiency and Form 5330 will not need to be 
filed.

Part VII--Plan Terminations and Transfers of Assets

    Line 13a. Check ``Yes'' if a resolution to terminate the plan was 
adopted during this or any prior plan year, unless the termination was 
revoked and no assets reverted to the employer. If ``Yes'' is checked, 
enter the amount of plan assets that reverted to the employer during 
the plan year in connection with the implementation of such 
termination. Enter ``-0-'' if no reversion occurred during the current 
plan year.
    CAUTION: A Form 5500 must be filed for each year the plan has 
assets, and, for a welfare benefit plan, if the plan is still liable to 
pay benefits for claims incurred before the termination date, but not 
yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    IRS Form 5310-A, Notice of Plan Merger or Consolidation, Spinoff, 
or Transfer of Plan Assets or Liabilities; Notice of Qualified Separate 
Lines of Business, must be filed at least 30 days before any plan 
merger or consolidation or any transfer of plan assets or liabilities 
to another plan. There is a penalty for not filing Form 5310-A on time. 
In addition, a transfer of benefit liabilities involving a plan covered 
by PBGC insurance may be reportable to the PBGC. See PBGC Form 10, 
Post-Event Notice of Reportable Events, and Form 10-Advance, Advance 
Notice of Reportable Events.
    Line 13b. Check ``Yes'' if all of the plan assets (including 
insurance/annuity contracts) were distributed to the participants and 
beneficiaries, legally transferred to the control of another plan, or 
brought under the control of the PBGC.
    Check ``No'' for a welfare benefit plan that is still liable to pay 
benefits for claims that were incurred before the termination date, but 
not yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    Line 13c. Enter information concerning assets and/or liabilities 
transferred from this plan to another plan(s) (including spin-offs) 
during the plan year. A transfer of assets or liabilities occurs when 
there is a reduction of assets or liabilities with respect to one plan 
and the receipt of these assets or the assumption of these liabilities 
by another plan. Enter the name, EIN, and PN of the transferee plan(s) 
involved on lines 13c(1), (2), and (3). If you need additional space, 
include an attachment with the information required for lines 13c(1), 
(2), and (3) for each additional plan and label the attachment ``Form 
5500-SF, line 13c--Additional Plans.''
    Do not use a social security number in lieu of an EIN or include an 
attachment that contains visible social security numbers. The Form 
5500-SF is open to public inspection, and the contents are public 
information and are subject to publication on the Internet. Because of 
privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security number on this 
Form 5500-SF may result in the rejection of the filing.

    Note: A distribution of all or part of an individual 
participant's account balance that is reportable on Form 1099-R 
should not be included on line 13c. Do not submit Form 1099-R with 
the Form 5500.

    CAUTION: IRS Form 5310-A, Notice of Plan Merger or Consolidation, 
Spinoff, or Transfer of Plan Assets or Liabilities; Notice of Qualified 
Separate Lines of Business, must be filed at least 30 days before any 
plan merger or consolidation or any transfer of plan assets or 
liabilities to another plan. There is a penalty for not filing Form 
5310-A on time. In addition, a transfer of benefit liabilities 
involving a plan covered by PBGC insurance may be reportable to the 
PBGC. See PBGC Form 10, Post-Event Notice of Reportable Event, and Form 
10--Advance, Advance Notice of Reportable Event.

ERISA Compliance Quick Checklist

    Compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) 
begins with knowing the rules. Plan administrators and other plan 
officials can use this checklist as a quick diagnostic tool for 
assessing a plan's compliance with certain important ERISA rules; it is 
not a complete description of all ERISA's rules and it is not a 
substitute for a comprehensive compliance review. Use of this checklist 
is voluntary, and it is not to be filed with your Form 5500-SF.
    If you answer ``No'' to any of the questions below, you should 
review your plan's operations because you may not be in full compliance 
with ERISA's requirements.
    1. Have you provided plan participants with a summary plan 
description, summaries of any material modifications of the plan, and 
annual summary financial reports?
    2. Do you maintain copies of plan documents at the principal office 
of the plan administrator for examination by participants and 
beneficiaries?
    3. Do you respond to written participant inquiries for copies of 
plan documents and information within 30 days?
    4. Does your plan include written procedures for making benefit 
claims and appealing denied claims, and are you complying with those 
procedures?

[[Page 64774]]

    5. Is your plan covered by a fidelity bond against losses due to 
fraud or dishonesty?
    6. Are the plan's investments diversified so as to minimize the 
risk of large losses?
    7. If the plan permits participants to select the investments in 
their plan accounts, has the plan provided them with enough information 
to make informed decisions?
    8. Has a plan official determined that the investments are prudent 
and solely in the interest of the plan's participants and 
beneficiaries, and evaluated the risks associated with plan investments 
before making the investments?
    9. Did the employer or other plan sponsor send participant 
contributions to the plan on a timely basis?
    10. Did the plan pay participant benefits on time and in the 
correct amounts?
    11. Did the plan give participants and beneficiaries 30 days 
advance notice before imposing a ``blackout period'' of at least three 
consecutive business days during which participants or beneficiaries of 
a 401(k) or other individual account pension plan were unable to change 
their plan investments, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain 
distributions from the plan?
    If you answer ``Yes'' to any of the questions below, you should 
review your plan's operations because you may not be in full compliance 
with ERISA's requirements.
    1. Has the plan engaged in any financial transactions with persons 
related to the plan or any plan official? (For example, has the plan 
made a loan to or participated in an investment with the employer?)
    2. Has the plan official used the assets of the plan for his/her 
own interest?
    3. Have plan assets been used to pay expenses that were not 
authorized in the plan document, were not necessary to the proper 
administration of the plan, or were more than reasonable in amount?
    If you need help answering these questions or want additional 
guidance about ERISA requirements, a plan official should contact the 
U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration 
office in your region or consult with the plan's legal counsel or 
professional employee benefit advisor.

Forms 5500, 5500-SF, and 5500-EZ Codes for Principal Business Activity

    Note: The list of business codes published with the Form 5500 
instructions will be included in the Short Form instructions and 
will be updated to reflect the North American Industry 
Classification System Update for 2007. See 70 FR 12390 (Mar. 11, 
2005)


                           OMB Control Numbers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Agency                             OMB Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee Benefits Security Administration.............         1210-0110
                                                               1210-0089
Internal Revenue Service..............................         1545-1610
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation..................         1212-0057
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

    We ask for the information on this form to carry out the law as 
specified in ERISA and in Code sections 6058(a), and 6059(a). You are 
required to give us the information. We need it to determine whether 
the plan is operating according to the law.
    You are not required to provide the information requested on a form 
that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays 
a valid OMB control number. Books and records relating to a form or its 
instructions must be retained as long as their contents may become 
material in the administration of the Internal Revenue Code or are 
required to be maintained pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA. The Form 
5500-SF returns/reports are open to public inspection and are subject 
to publication on the Internet.
    The time needed to complete and file the form 5500-SF and the 
Schedules SB/MB reflects the combined requirements of the Internal 
Revenue Service, Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation. These times will vary depending on individual 
circumstances. The estimated average times are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pension plans        Welfare plans
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 5500-SF...................  2 hr., 32 min......  2 hr., 32 min.
Schedule SB....................  6 hr., 49 min......  N/A.
Schedule MB....................  3 hr., 20 min......  N/A.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time 
estimates or suggestions for making these forms simpler, we would be 
happy to hear from you. You can write to the Internal Revenue Service, 
Tax Products Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 
Constitution Ave., NW., IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224. DO NOT send any 
of these forms or schedules to this address. The forms and schedules 
must be filed electronically. See How to File--Electronic Filing 
Requirement.

Appendix C

    [Insert photo pages of Form 5500 and Schedules A, SB, MB, C, D, G, 
H, I, and R, numbered on back of pages as 197-1 through 197-36]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P

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BILLING CODE 4510-29-C

Appendix D

2009 Instructions for Form 5500 and Schedules

Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan

    ERISA refers to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974, and Code references are to the Internal Revenue Code, unless 
otherwise noted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

EFAST Processing System

    Under the computerized ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST), you 
must electronically file your 2009 Form 5500. You may file your 2009 
Form 5500 on-line, using EFAST's web-based filing system or you may 
file through an EFAST-approved vendor. For more information, see the 
instructions for Electronic Filing Requirement.

About the Form 5500

    The Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, 
including all required schedules and attachments (Form 5500 Return/
Report) is used to report information concerning employee benefit plans 
and Direct Filing Entities (DFEs). Any administrator or sponsor of an 
employee benefit plan subject to ERISA must file information about each 
benefit plan every year (Code section 6058 and ERISA sections 104 and 
4065). Some plans participate in certain trusts, accounts, and other 
investment arrangements that file a Form 5500 Return/Report as DFEs. 
See Who Must File and When to File.
    The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and 
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) have consolidated certain 
returns and report forms to reduce the filing burden for plan 
administrators and employers. Employers and administrators who comply 
with the instructions for the Form 5500 Return/Report generally will 
satisfy the annual reporting requirements for the IRS and DOL.
    Plans covered by the PBGC have special additional requirements, 
including filing Annual Premium Payment (PBGC Form 1) and reporting 
certain transactions directly with that agency. See PBGC's Premium 
Payment Instructions (Form 1 Package).
    Each Form 5500 Return/Report must accurately reflect the 
characteristics and operations of the plan or arrangement being 
reported. The requirements for completing the Form 5500 Return/Report 
will vary according to the type of plan or arrangement. The section 
What to File summarizes what information must be reported for different 
types of plans and arrangements. The Quick Reference Chart for Form 
5500, Schedules and Attachments gives a brief guide to the annual 
return/report requirements for the 2009 Form 5500.
    The Form 5500 Return/Report must be filed electronically. Your 
entries will be initially screened. Your entries must satisfy this 
screening in order to be filed. Once filed, your form may be subject to 
further detailed review and your filing may be rejected based on this 
further review.
    ERISA and the Code provide for the assessment or imposition of 
penalties for not submitting the required information when due. See 
Penalties.
    Annual reports filed under Title I of ERISA must be made available 
by plan administrators to plan participants and by the DOL to the 
public pursuant to ERISA sections 104 and 106.

How To Get Assistance

    If you need help completing this form or have related questions, 
call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided] (toll free). The 
EFAST Help

[[Page 64811]]

Line is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern 
Time.
    You can access the EFAST Web site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 
http://www.efast.dol.gov to:
    <bullet> View forms and related instructions.
    <bullet> Get information regarding EFAST, including approved 
software vendors.
    <bullet> See answers to frequently asked questions about the Form 
5500-SF, the Form 5500 and its Schedules, and EFAST.
    <bullet> Access the main EBSA and DOL Web sites for news, 
regulations, and publications.
    You can access the IRS Web site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 
http://www.irs.gov to:
    <bullet> View forms, instructions, and publications.
    <bullet> See answers to frequently asked tax questions.
    <bullet> Search publications online by topic or keyword.
    <bullet> Send comments or request help by e-mail.
    <bullet> Sign up to receive local and national tax news by e-mail.
    You can order related forms and IRS publications by calling 1-800-
TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). You can order EBSA publications by calling 
1-866-444-3272. In addition, most IRS forms and publications are 
available at your local IRS office.

Table of Contents

Section 1: Who Must File
    Pension Benefit Plan
Welfare Benefit Plan
Direct Filing Entity (DFE)
Section 2: When To File
    Extension of Time To File
Section 3: Electronic Filing Requirement
    Amended Return/Report
    Final Return/Report
    Signature and Date
    Change in Plan Year
    Penalties
    Administrative Penalties
    Other Penalties
Section 4: What To File
    Form 5500 Schedules
    Pension Benefit Schedules
    Pension and Welfare Benefit Schedules
    Pension Benefit Plan Filing Requirements
    Limited Pension Plan Reporting
    Welfare Benefit Plan Filing Requirements
    Direct Filing Entity (DFE) Filing Requirements
    Master Trust Investment Account (MTIA)
    Common/Collective Trust (CCT) and Pooled Separate Account (PSA)
    103-12 Investment Entity (103-12 IE)
    Group Insurance Arrangement (GIA)
Section 5: Line-by-Line Instructions for the 2009 Form 5500 and 
Schedules
    Part I--Form 5500 Annual Return/Report Identification 
Information
    Part II--Basic Plan Information
    Schedule A Insurance Information
    Schedule MB Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain Money 
Purchase Plan Actuarial Information
    Schedule SB Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial 
Information
    Schedule C Service Provider Information
    Schedule D DFE/Participating Plan Information
    Schedule G Financial Transaction Schedules
    Schedule H Financial Information
    Schedule I Financial Information--Small Plan
    Schedule R Retirement Plan Information
    ERISA Compliance Quick Checklist
    Quick Reference Chart of Form 5500 Schedules and Attachments
    Paperwork Reduction Act Notice
    Codes for Principal Business Activity
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 1: Who Must File

    A return/report must be filed every year for every pension benefit 
plan, welfare benefit plan, and for every entity that files as a DFE as 
specified below (Code section 6058 and ERISA sections 104 and 4065).
    TIP: Plans that have fewer than 100 participants at the beginning 
of the plan year, are exempt from the requirement that the plan's books 
and records be audited by an independent qualified public accountant 
(IQPA) (but not by reason of enhanced bonding), have 100% of their 
assets invested in certain secure investments with a readily 
determinable fair market value, hold no employer securities, and are 
not multiemployer plans, generally are eligible to file the Form 5500-
SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employer Benefit Plan 
(Form 5500-SF), in lieu of the Form 5500 Return/Report. For more 
information on who may file the Form 5500-SF, see http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Pension Benefit Plan

    All pension benefit plans covered by ERISA must file an annual 
return/report except as provided in this section. This return/report 
must be filed whether or not the plan is ``tax qualified,'' benefits no 
longer accrue, contributions were not made this plan year, or 
contributions are no longer made. Pension benefit plans required to 
file include both defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.
    The following are among the pension benefit plans for which a 
return/report must be filed:
    1. Profit-sharing, stock bonus, money purchase, 401(k) plans, etc.
    2. Annuity arrangements under Code section 403(b)(1).
    3. Custodial accounts established under Code section 403(b)(7) for 
regulated investment company stock.
    4. Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) established by an employer 
under Code section 408(c).
    5. Church pension plans electing coverage under Code section 
410(d).
    6. Pension benefit plans that cover residents of Puerto Rico, the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Wake Island, or American Samoa. This 
includes a plan that elects to have the provisions of section 
1022(i)(2) of ERISA apply.
    7. Plans that satisfy the Actual Deferral Percentage requirements 
of Code section 401(k)(3)(A)(ii) by adopting the ``SIMPLE'' provisions 
of section 401(k)(11).
    See What to File for more information about what must be completed 
for pension plans.
    Do Not File a Form 5500 for a Pension Benefit Plan That Is Any of 
the Following:
    1. An unfunded excess benefit plan. See ERISA section 4(b)(5).
    2. An annuity or custodial account arrangement under Code section 
403(b)(1) or (7) not established or maintained by an employer as 
described in DOL Regulation 29 CFR 2510.3-2(f).
    3. A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers 
(SIMPLE) that involves SIMPLE IRAs under Code section 408(p).
    4. A simplified employee pension plan (SEP) or a salary reduction 
SEP described in Code section 408(k) that conforms to the alternative 
method of compliance in 29 CFR 2520.104-48 or 2520.104-49.
    5. A church plan not electing coverage under Code section 410(d).
    6. A pension plan that is maintained outside the United States 
primarily for the benefit of persons substantially all of whom are 
nonresident aliens.
    7. An unfunded pension plan for a select group of management or 
highly compensated employees that meets the requirements of 29 CFR 
2520.104-23, including timely filing of a registration statement with 
the DOL.
    8. An unfunded dues financed pension benefit plan that meets the 
alternative method of compliance provided by 29 CFR 2520.104-27.
    9. An individual retirement account or annuity not considered a 
pension plan under 29 CFR 2510.3-2(d).
    10. A governmental plan.
    11. One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan 
(generally referred to as a One-Participant Plan). However, One-
Participant Plans must file either the Form 5500-EZ with the IRS or, if 
eligible, may file the Form 5500-SF

[[Page 64812]]

electronically with EFAST. For this purpose, a One-Participant Plan is: 
(1) A pension benefit plan that covers only an individual or an 
individual and his or her spouse who wholly own a trade or business, 
whether incorporated or unincorporated; or (2) a pension benefit plan 
for a partnership that covers only the partners or the partners and the 
partners' spouses. See the instructions to the Form 5500-EZ, Annual 
Return of One-Participant (Owners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan, 
and the Form 5500-SF for eligibility conditions and filing 
requirements. For more information go to http://www.irs.gov/ep or call 
1-877-829-5500.

Welfare Benefit Plan

    All welfare benefit plans covered by ERISA are required to file a 
Form 5500 except as provided in this section. Welfare benefit plans 
provide benefits such as medical, dental, life insurance, 
apprenticeship and training, scholarship funds, severance pay, 
disability, etc. See What to File for more information.
    Reminder: The administrator of an employee welfare benefit plan 
that provides benefits wholly or partially through a Multiple-employer 
Welfare Arrangement (MEWA), as defined in ERISA section 3(40), must 
file a Form 5500, unless otherwise exempt.
    Do Not File a Form 5500 for a Welfare Benefit Plan That Is Any of 
the Following:
    1. A welfare benefit plan that covered fewer than 100 participants 
as of the beginning of the plan year and is unfunded, fully insured, or 
a combination of insured and unfunded.

    Note: To determine whether the plan covers fewer than 100 
participants for purposes of these filing exemptions for insured and 
unfunded welfare plans, see instructions for lines 6 and 7 on 
counting participants in a welfare plan. See also 29 CFR 2510.3-
3(d).

    a. An unfunded welfare benefit plan has its benefits paid as needed 
directly from the general assets of the employer or employee 
organization that sponsors the plan.

    Note: Plans that are NOT unfunded include those plans that 
received employee (or former employee) contributions during the plan 
year and/or used a trust or separately maintained fund (including a 
Code section 501(c)(9) trust) to hold plan assets or act as a 
conduit for the transfer of plan assets during the year. A welfare 
plan with employee contributions that is associated with a cafeteria 
plan under Code section 125 may be treated for annual reporting 
purposes as an unfunded welfare plan if it meets the requirements of 
DOL Technical Release 92-01, 57 FR 23272 (June 2, 1992) and 58 FR 
45359 (Aug. 27, 1993). The mere receipt of COBRA contributions or 
other after-tax participant contributions would not by itself affect 
the availability of the relief provided for cafeteria plans that 
otherwise meet the requirements of DOL Technical Release 92-01. See 
61 FR 41220, 41222-23 (Aug. 7, 1996).

    b. A fully insured welfare benefit plan has its benefits provided 
exclusively through insurance contracts or policies, the premiums of 
which must be paid directly to the insurance carrier by the employer or 
employee organization from its general assets or partly from its 
general assets and partly from contributions by its employees or 
members (which the employer or employee organization forwards within 
three (3) months of receipt). The insurance contracts or policies 
discussed above must be issued by an insurance company or similar 
organization (such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield or a health maintenance 
organization) that is qualified to do business in any state.
    c. A combination unfunded/insured welfare plan has its benefits 
provided partially as an unfunded plan and partially as a fully insured 
plan. An example of such a plan is a welfare benefit plan that provides 
medical benefits as in a above and life insurance benefits as in b 
above. See 29 CFR 2520.104-20.

    Note: A ``voluntary employees' beneficiary association,'' as 
used in Code section 501(c)(9) (``VEBA''), should not be confused 
with the employer or employee organization that sponsors the plan. 
See ERISA section 3(4).

    2. A welfare benefit plan maintained outside the United States 
primarily for persons substantially all of whom are nonresident aliens.
    3. A governmental plan.
    4. An unfunded or insured welfare plan for a select group of 
management or highly compensated employees, which meets the 
requirements of 29 CFR 2520.104-24.
    5. An employee benefit plan maintained only to comply with workers' 
compensation, unemployment compensation, or disability insurance laws.
    6. A welfare benefit plan that participates in a group insurance 
arrangement that files a Form 5500 Return/Report on behalf of the 
welfare benefit plan as specified in 29 CFR 2520.103-2. See 29 CFR 
2520.104-43.
    7. An apprenticeship or training plan meeting all of the conditions 
specified in 29 CFR 2520.104-22.
    8. An unfunded dues financed welfare benefit plan exempted by 29 
CFR 2520.104-26.
    9. A church plan under ERISA section 3(33).
    10. A welfare benefit plan solely for (1) an individual or an 
individual and his or her spouse, who wholly owns a trade or business, 
whether incorporated or unincorporated, or (2) partners or the partners 
and the partners' spouses in a partnership. See 29 CFR 2510.3-3(b).

Direct Filing Entity (DFE)

    Some plans participate in certain trust, accounts, and other 
investment arrangements that file the Form 5500 Return/Report as a DFE 
in accordance with the Direct Filing Entity (DFE) Filing Requirements. 
A Form 5500 Return/Report must be filed for a master trust investment 
account (MTIA). A Form 5500 is not required, but may be filed for a 
common/collective trust (CCT), pooled separate account (PSA), 103-12 
investment entity (103-12 IE), or group insurance arrangement (GIA). 
Plans that participate in CCTs, PSAs, 103-12 IEs, or GIAs that file as 
DFEs, however, generally are eligible for certain annual reporting 
relief. For reporting purposes, a CCT, PSA, 103-12 IE, or GIA is not 
considered a DFE unless a Form 5500 Return/Report is filed for it in 
accordance with the Direct Filing Entity (DFE) Filing Requirements.

    Note: Special requirements also apply to Schedules D and H 
attached to the Form 5500 filed by plans participating in MTIAs, 
CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs. See the instructions for these 
schedules.

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Section 2: When to File

    Plans and GIAs. File 2009 returns/reports for plan and GIA years 
that began in 2009. All required forms, schedules, statements, and 
attachments must be filed by the last day of the 7th calendar month 
after the end of the plan or GIA year (not to exceed 12 months in 
length) that began in 2009. If the plan or GIA year differs from the 
2009 calendar year, fill in the fiscal year beginning and ending dates 
in the space provided.
    DFEs other than GIAs. File 2009 Returns/Reports no later than 9\1/
2\ months after the end of the DFE year that ended in 2009. A Form 5500 
Return/Report filed for a DFE must report information for the DFE year 
(not to exceed 12 months in length). If the DFE year differs from the 
2009 calendar year, fill in the fiscal year beginning and ending dates 
in the space provided.
    Short Years. For a plan year of less than 12 months (short plan 
year), file the form and applicable schedules by the last day of the 
7th month after the short plan year ends. Fill in the short plan year 
beginning and ending dates in the space provided and check the 
appropriate box in Part I, Line B of the

[[Page 64813]]

Form 5500. For purposes of this return/report, the short plan year ends 
on the date of the change in accounting period or upon the complete 
distribution of assets of the plan. Also see the instructions for Final 
Return/Report to determine if ``the final return/report'' in Line B 
should be checked. Generally, only defined benefit pension plans need 
to get approval for a change in plan year.

    Notes: (1) If the filing due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, 
or Federal holiday, the return/report may be filed on the next day 
that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday. (2) If the 2010 
Form 5500 is not available before the plan or DFE filing due date, 
you may use the 2009 Form 5500 and enter the 2009 fiscal year 
beginning and ending dates in the space provided.

Extension of Time To File

Using Form 5558

    A plan or GIA may obtain a one-time extension of time to file a 
Form 5500 Return/Report (up to 2\1/2\ months) by filing IRS Form 5558, 
Application for Extension of Time To File Certain Employee Plan 
Returns, on or before the normal due date (not including any 
extensions) of the return/report. You MUST file the Form 5558 with the 
IRS. Approved copies of the Form 5558 will not be returned to the 
filers. A copy of the completed extension request must, however, be 
retained with the filer's records.
    File Form 5558 with the Department of the Treasury, Internal 
Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0027.

Using Extension of Time To File Federal Income Tax Return

    An automatic extension of time to file the Form 5500 Return/Report 
until the due date of the Federal income tax return of the employer 
will be granted if all of the following conditions are met: (1) The 
plan year and the employer's tax year are the same; (2) the employer 
has been granted an extension of time to file its Federal income tax 
return to a date later than the normal due date for filing the Form 
5500 Return/Report; and (3) a copy of the application for extension of 
time to file the Federal income tax return is maintained with the 
filer's records. An extension of time granted by using this automatic 
extension procedure CANNOT be extended further by filing a Form 5558, 
nor can it be extended beyond a total of 9\1/2\ months beyond the close 
of the plan year.

    Note: An extension of time to file the Form 5500 Return/Report 
described in this section does not operate as an extension of time 
to file a Form 5500 Return/Report for a DFE (other than a GIA) or 
the PBGC Form 1.

Other Extensions of Time

    The IRS, DOL, and PBGC may announce special extensions of time 
under certain circumstances, such as extensions for Presidentially-
declared disasters or for service in, or in support of, the Armed 
Forces of the United States in a combat zone. See http://www.irs.gov 
and http://www.efast.dol.gov for announcements regarding such special 
extensions. If you are relying on one of these announced special 
extensions, check the appropriate box on Form 5500, Part I, line D and 
enter a description of the announced authority for the extension.

Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance (DFVC) Program

    The DFVC Program facilitates voluntary compliance by plan 
administrators who are delinquent in filing annual reports under Title 
I of ERISA by permitting administrators to pay reduced civil penalties 
for voluntarily complying with their DOL annual reporting obligations. 
If the Form 5500 Return/Report is being filed under the DFVC Program, 
check the appropriate item in Form 5500, Part I, line D to indicate 
that the Form 5500 Return/Report is being filed under the DFVC Program.
    See http://www.efast.dol.gov for information concerning the 
submission of penalty payments to the DFVC Program processing center. 
Do not submit penalty payments to EFAST. [Current instructions for 
penalty payment submissions will be provided]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 3: Electronic Filing Requirement

    Under the computerized ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST), you 
must file your 2009 Form 5500 Return/Report electronically. You may 
file on-line, using EFAST's web-based filing system, or you may file 
through an EFAST-approved vendor. Detailed information on electronic 
filing is available at (insert web address). For telephone assistance, 
call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided]. The EFAST Help 
Line is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., 
Eastern Time.
    CAUTION: Annual reports filed under Title I of ERISA must be made 
available by plan administrators to plan participants and by DOL to the 
public pursuant to ERISA sections 104 and 106. Even though the Form 
5500 Return/Report must be filed electronically, the administrator must 
keep a copy of the Form 5500, including schedules and attachments, with 
all required manual signatures on file as part of the plan's records 
and must make a paper copy available on request to participants, 
beneficiaries, and the DOL as required by section 104 of ERISA and 29 
CFR 2520.103-1.
    Answer all questions with respect to the plan year unless otherwise 
explicitly stated in the instructions or on the form itself. Therefore, 
responses usually apply to the 2009 plan year.
    Your entries will be initially screened. Your entries must satisfy 
this screening in order to be filed. Once filed, your form may be 
subject to further detailed review, and your filing may be rejected 
based upon this further review. To reduce the possibility of 
correspondence and penalties:
    <bullet> Complete all lines on the Form 5500 unless otherwise 
specified. Also complete or electronically attach, as required, 
applicable schedules and attachments.
    <bullet> Do not enter ``N/A'' or ``Not Applicable'' on the Form 
5500 Return/Report unless specifically permitted. ``Yes'' or ``No'' 
questions on the forms and schedules cannot be left blank, but must be 
answered either ``Yes'' or ``No,'' and not both.
    The Form 5500, Schedules, and attachments are open to public 
inspection, and the contents are public information subject to 
publication on the Internet. Do not enter social security numbers in 
response to questions asking for an employer identification number 
(EIN). Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security 
number on the Form 5500 or on a schedule or attachment may result in 
the rejection of the filing. EINs may be obtained by applying for one 
on Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. You can 
obtain Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the 
IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.

Amended Return/Report

    File an amended return/report to correct errors and/or omissions in 
a previously filed and accepted annual return/report for the 2009 plan 
year. The amended Form 5500 and any amended schedules and/or 
attachments must conform to the requirements in these Instructions. See 
the DOL Web site at http://www.efast.dol.gov for information on filing 
amended returns/reports for prior years.

Final Return/Report

    If all assets under the plan (including insurance/annuity 
contracts) have been distributed to the participants and beneficiaries 
or legally transferred to the control of another plan, and when all

[[Page 64814]]

liabilities for which benefits may be paid under a welfare benefit plan 
have been satisfied, check the final return/report box in Part I, line 
B at the top of the Form 5500. If a trustee is appointed for a 
terminated defined benefit plan pursuant to ERISA section 4042, the 
last plan year for which a return/report must be filed is the year in 
which the trustee is appointed.
    Examples:
Mergers/Consolidations
    A final return/report should be filed for the plan year (12 months 
or less) that ends when all plan assets were legally transferred to the 
control of another plan.

Pension and Welfare Plans That Terminated Without Distributing All 
Assets

    If the plan was terminated, but all plan assets were not 
distributed, a return/report must be filed for each year the plan has 
assets. The return/report must be filed by the plan administrator, if 
designated, or by the person or persons who actually control the plan's 
assets/property.
Welfare Plans Still Liable To Pay Benefits
    A welfare plan cannot file a final return/report if the plan is 
still liable to pay benefits for claims that were incurred prior to the 
termination date, but not yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).

Signature and Date

    The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and any applicable schedules 
must be signed and dated. The administrator is required under ERISA to 
maintain a copy of the annual report with all required signatures, as 
part of the plan's records, even though the return/report is filed 
electronically. See 29 CFR 2520.103-1.
    Electronic signatures on annual returns/reports filed under EFAST2 
are affected by the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. 
Information on those requirements will be made available for electronic 
filing under EFAST2.

Change in Plan Year

    Generally, only defined benefit pension plans need to get approval 
for a change in plan year. (See Code section 412(c)(5).) However, under 
Rev. Proc. 87-27, 1987-1 C.B. 769, these pension benefit plans may be 
eligible for automatic approval of a change in plan year. If a change 
in plan year for a pension or a welfare plan creates a short plan year, 
the appropriate Box in Part I, line B of the Form 5500 must be checked 
and a Form 5500, with all required schedules and attachments, must be 
filed by the last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the 
short plan year.

Penalties

    Plan administrators and plan sponsors must provide complete and 
accurate information and must otherwise comply fully with the filing 
requirements. ERISA and the Code provide for the DOL and IRS, 
respectively, to assess or impose penalties for not giving complete 
information and for not filing statements and returns/reports. Certain 
penalties are administrative (i.e., they may be imposed or assessed by 
one of the governmental agencies delegated to administer the collection 
of the annual return/report data). Others require a legal conviction.

Administrative Penalties

    Listed below are various penalties under ERISA and the Code that 
may be assessed or imposed for not meeting the annual return/report 
filing requirements. Generally whether the penalty is assessed under 
ERISA or the Code, or both, depends upon the agency for which the 
information is required to be filed. One or more of the following 
administrative penalties may be assessed or imposed in the event of 
incomplete filings or filings received after the due date unless it is 
determined that your explanation for failure to file properly is for 
reasonable cause:
    1. A penalty of up to $1,100 a day for each day a plan 
administrator fails or refuses to file a complete report. See ERISA 
section 502(c)(2) and 29 CFR 2560.502c-2.
    2. A penalty of $25 a day (up to $15,000) for not filing returns 
for certain plans of deferred compensation, trusts and annuities, and 
bond purchase plans by the due date(s). See Code section 6652(e).
    3. A penalty of $1,000 for not filing an actuarial statement. See 
Code section 6692.

Other Penalties

    1. Any individual who willfully violates any provision of Part 1 of 
Title I of ERISA shall be fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned 
not more than 10 years, or both. See section 501 of ERISA.
    2. A penalty up to $10,000, five (5) years imprisonment, or both, 
may be imposed for making any false statement or representation of 
fact, knowing it to be false, or for knowingly concealing or not 
disclosing any fact required by ERISA. See section 1027, Title 18, U.S. 
Code, as amended by section 111 of ERISA.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 4: What To File

    The Form 5500 Return/Report reporting requirements vary depending 
on whether the Form 5500 is being filed for a ``large plan,'' a ``small 
plan,'' and/or a DFE, and on the particular type of plan or DFE 
involved (e.g., welfare plan, pension plan, common/collective trust 
(CCT), pooled separate account (PSA), master trust investment account 
(MTIA), 103-12 IE, or group insurance arrangement (GIA)).
    The Instructions below provide detailed information about each of 
the Form 5500 Return/Report schedules and which plans and DFEs are 
required to file them. First, the schedules are grouped by type: (1) 
Pension Schedules and (2) General Schedules. Each schedule is listed 
separately with a description of the subject matter covered by the 
schedule and the plans and DFEs that are required to file the schedule.
    Filing requirements are also listed by type of filer: (1) Pension 
Benefit Plan Filing Requirements; (2) Welfare Benefit Plan Filing 
Requirements; and (3) DFE Filing Requirements. For each filer type 
there is a separate list of the schedules that must be filed with the 
Form 5500 (including where applicable, separate lists for large plan 
filers, small plan filers, and different types of DFEs).
    The filing requirements are summarized in a ``Quick Reference Chart 
for Form 5500, Schedules, and Attachments.''
    Generally, a return/report filed for a pension benefit plan or 
welfare benefit plan that covered fewer than 100 participants as of the 
beginning of the plan year should be completed following the 
requirements below for a ``small plan,'' and a return/report filed for 
a plan that covered 100 or more participants as of the beginning the 
plan year should be completed following the requirements below for a 
``large plan.''
    Use the number of participants required to be entered in line 5 of 
the Form 5500 to determine whether a plan is a ``small plan'' or a 
``large plan.''
    Exceptions:
    (1) 80-120 Participant Rule: If the number of participants reported 
on line 5 is between 80 and 120, and a Form 5500 Return/Report was 
filed for the prior plan year, you may elect to complete the return/
report in the same category (``large plan'' or ``small plan'') as was 
filed for the prior return/report. Thus, if a Form 5500 Return/Report 
was filed for the 2008 plan year as a small

[[Page 64815]]

plan, including the Schedule I if applicable, and the number entered on 
line 5 of the 2009 Form 5500 is 120 or less, you may elect to complete 
the 2009 Form 5500 and schedules in accordance with the instructions 
for a small plan, including, for eligible filers, filing the Form 5500-
SF, instead of the Form 5500 Return/Report.
    (2) Short Plan Year Rule: If the plan had a short plan year of 7 
months or less for either the prior plan year or the plan year being 
reported on the 2009 Form 5500, an election can be made to defer filing 
the accountant's report in accordance with 29 CFR 2520.104-50. If such 
an election was made for the prior plan year, the 2009 Form 5500 
Return/Report must be completed following the requirements for a large 
plan, including the attachment of the Schedule H and the accountant's 
reports, regardless of the number of participants entered in Part II, 
line 5.

Form 5500 Schedules

Pension Schedules

    Schedule R (Retirement Plan Information)--is required for a pension 
benefit plan that is a defined benefit plan or is otherwise subject to 
Code section 412 or ERISA section 302. Schedule R may also be required 
for certain other pension benefit plans unless otherwise specified 
under Limited Pension Plan Reporting. For additional information, see 
the Schedule R instructions.
    Schedule SB (Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial 
Information)-- is required for most single-employer defined benefit 
plans, including multiple-employer defined benefit pension plans. For 
additional information, see the instructions for the Schedule SB.
    Schedule MB (Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan and Certain Money 
Purchase Plan Actuarial Information)--is required for most 
multiemployer defined benefit pension plans and for defined 
contribution pension plans that currently amortize a waiver of the 
minimum funding requirements specified in the instructions for the 
Schedule MB. For additional information, see the instructions for the 
Schedule MB.

General Schedules

    Schedule H (Financial Information)--is required for pension benefit 
plans and welfare plans filing as ``large plans'' and for all DFE 
filings. Employee benefit plans, 103-12 IEs, and GIAs filing the 
Schedule H are generally required to engage an independent qualified 
pubic accountant (IQPA) and attach a report of the IQPA pursuant to 
ERISA section 103(a)(3)(A). These plans and DFEs are also generally 
required to attach to the Form 5500 Return/Report a ``Schedule of 
Assets (Held at End of Year)'' and, if applicable, a ``Schedule of 
Assets (Acquired and Disposed of Within Year),'' a ``Schedule of 
Reportable Transactions,'' and a ``Schedule of Delinquent Participant 
Contributions.'' For additional information, see the Schedule H 
instructions.
    Exceptions: Insured, unfunded, or combination unfunded/insured 
welfare plans, as described in 29 CFR 2520.104-44(b)(1), and certain 
pension plans and arrangements described in 29 CFR 2520.104-44(b)(2) 
and in Limited Pension Plan Reporting, are exempt from completing the 
Schedule H.
    Schedule I (Financial Information--Small Plan) is required for all 
pension benefit plans and welfare benefit plans filing the Form 5500 
Return/Report, rather than the Form 5500-SF, as ``small plans,'' except 
for certain pension benefit plans and arrangements described in 29 CFR 
2520.104-44(b)(2) and in Limited Pension Plan Reporting. For additional 
information, see the Schedule I instructions.
    Schedule A (Insurance Information)--is required if any benefits 
under an employee benefit plan are provided by an insurance company, 
insurance service or other similar organization (such as Blue Cross, 
Blue Shield, or a health maintenance organization). This includes 
investment contracts with insurance companies, such as guaranteed 
investment contracts and pooled separate accounts. For additional 
information, see the Schedule A instructions.

    Note: Do not file Schedule A for Administrative Services Only 
(ASO) contracts. Do not file Schedule A if a Schedule A is filed for 
the contract as part of the Form 5500 Return/Report filed directly 
by an MTIA or 103-12 IE.

    Schedule C (Service Provider Information)--is required for a large 
plan, MTIA, 103-12 IE, or GIA if (1) any service provider who rendered 
services to the plan or DFE during the plan or DFE year received $5,000 
or more in compensation, directly or indirectly from the plan or DFE, 
or (2) an accountant and/or enrolled actuary has been terminated. For 
additional information, see the Schedule C instructions.
    Schedule D (DFE/Participating Plan Information)--Part I is required 
for a plan or DFE that invested or participated in any MTIAs, 103-12 
IEs, CCTs, and/or PSAs. Part II is required when the Form 5500 Return/
Report is filed for a DFE. For additional information, see the Schedule 
D instructions.
    Schedule G (Financial Transaction Schedules)--is required for a 
large plan, MTIA, 103-12 IE, or GIA when Schedule H (Financial 
Information) lines 4b, 4c, and/or 4d are checked ``Yes.'' Part I of the 
Schedule G reports loans or fixed income obligations in default or 
classified as uncollectible. Part II of the Schedule G reports leases 
in default or classified as uncollectible. Part III of the Schedule G 
reports non-exempt transactions. For additional information, see the 
Schedule G instructions.
    CAUTION: An unfunded, fully insured, or combination unfunded/ 
insured welfare plan with 100 or more participants exempt under 29 CFR 
2520.104-44 from completing Schedule H must still complete Schedule G, 
Part III, to report nonexempt transactions.

Pension Benefit Plan Filing Requirements

    Pension benefit plan filers must complete the Form 5500, including 
the signature block, and unless otherwise specified, attach the 
following schedules and information:

Small Pension Plan

    The following schedules (including any additional information 
required by the instructions to the schedules) must be attached to a 
Form 5500 filed for a small pension plan that is neither exempt from 
filing nor is filing the Form 5500-SF.
    1. Schedule A (as many as needed), to report insurance, annuity, 
and investment contracts held by the plan.
    2. Schedule SB or MB, to report actuarial information, if 
applicable.
    3. Schedule D, Part I, to list any CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 
IEs in which the plan invested at any time during the plan year.
    4. Schedule I, to report small plan financial information, unless 
exempt.
    5. Schedule R, to report retirement plan information, if 
applicable.
    CAUTION: If Schedule I, line 4k, is checked ``No,'' you must 
attached the report of the independent qualified public accountant 
(IQPA) or a statement that the plan is eligible and elects to defer 
attaching the IQPA's opinion pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.104-50 in 
connection with a short plan year of seven months or less.

Large Pension Plan

    The following schedules (including any additional information 
required by the instructions to the schedules) must

[[Page 64816]]

be attached to a Form 5500 filed for a large pension plan.
    1. Schedule A (as many as needed), to report insurance, annuity, 
and investment contracts held by the plan.
    2. Schedule SB or MB, to report actuarial information, if 
applicable.
    3. Schedule C, if applicable, to report information on service 
providers and, if applicable, any terminated accountants or enrolled 
actuaries.
    4. Schedule D, Part I, to list any CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 
IEs in which the plan invested at any time during the plan year.
    5. Schedule G, to report loans or fixed income obligations in 
default or determined to be uncollectible as of the end of the plan 
year, leases in default or classified as uncollectible, and nonexempt 
transaction, i.e., file Schedule G if Schedule H (Form 5500) lines 4b, 
4c, and/or 4d are checked ``Yes.''
    6. Schedule H, to report large plan financial information, unless 
exempt.
    7. Schedule R, to report retirement plan information, if 
applicable.
    CAUTION: You must attach the report of the independent qualified 
public accountant (IQPA) identified on Schedule H, Line 3c, unless line 
3d(2) is checked.

Limited Pension Plan Reporting

    The pension benefit plans or arrangements described below are 
eligible for limited annual reporting:
    1. IRA Plans: A pension plan using individual retirement accounts 
or annuities (as described in Code section 408) as the sole funding 
vehicle for providing pension benefits need complete only Form 5500, 
Part I and Part II, lines 1 through 5, and 8 (enter pension feature 
code 2N).
    2. Fully Insured Pension Plan: A pension benefit plan providing 
benefits exclusively through an insurance contract or contracts that 
are fully guaranteed and that meet all of the conditions of 29 CFR 
2520.104-44(b)(2) during the entire plan year must complete all the 
requirements listed under this Pension Benefit Plan Filing Requirements 
section, except that such a plan is exempt from attaching Schedule H, 
Schedule I, and an independent qualified public accountant's (IQPA's) 
opinion, and from the requirement to engage an IQPA.
    A pension benefit plan that has insurance contracts of the type 
described in 29 CFR 2520.104-44 as well as other assets must complete 
all requirements for a pension benefit plan, except that the value of 
the plan's allocated contracts (see below) should not be reported in 
Part I of Schedule H or I. All other assets should be reported on 
Schedule H or Schedule I, and any other required schedules. If Schedule 
H is filed, an IQPA's report must be attached in accordance with the 
Schedule H instructions.

    Note: For purposes of the annual return/report and the 
alternative method of compliance set forth in 29 CFR 2520.104-44, a 
contract is considered to be ``allocated'' only if the insurance 
company or organization that issued the contract unconditionally 
guarantees, upon receipt of the required premium or consideration, 
to provide a retirement benefit of a specified amount. This amount 
must be provided to each participant without adjustment for 
fluctuations in the market value of the underlying assets of the 
company or organization, and each participant must have a legal 
right to such benefits, which is legally enforceable directly 
against the insurance company or organization. For example, deposit 
administration, immediate participation guarantee, and guaranteed 
investment contracts are NOT allocated contracts for Form 5500 
Return/Report purposes.

Welfare Benefit Plan Filing Requirements

    Welfare benefit plan filers must complete the Form 5500, including 
the signature block and, unless otherwise specified, attach the 
following schedules and information:

Small Welfare Plan

    The following schedules (including any additional information 
required by the instructions to the schedules) must be attached to a 
Form 5500 filed for a small welfare plan not exempt from filing that 
also is not eligible to file Form 5500-SF:
    1. Schedule A (as many as needed), to report insurance contracts 
held by the plan.
    2. Schedule D, Part I, to list any CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 
IEs in which the plan participated at any time during the plan year.
    3. Schedule I, to report small plan financial information.

Large Welfare Plan

    The following schedules (including any additional information 
required by the instructions to the schedules) must be attached to a 
Form 5500 filed for a large welfare plan.
    1. Schedule A (as many as needed), to report insurance and 
investment contracts held by the plan.
    2. Schedule C, if applicable, to report information on service 
providers and any terminated accountants or actuaries.
    3. Schedule D, Part I, to list any CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 
IEs in which the plan invested at any time during the plan year.
    4. Schedule G, to report loans or fixed income obligations in 
default or determined to be uncollectible as of the end of the plan 
year, leases in default or classified as uncollectible, and nonexempt 
transactions, i.e., file Schedule G if Schedule H (Form 5500) lines 4b, 
4c, and/or 4d are checked ``Yes'' or if a large welfare plan that is 
not required to file a Schedule H has nonexempt transactions.
    5. Schedule H, to report financial information, unless exempt.
    CAUTION: Attach the report of the independent qualified public 
accountant (IQPA) identified on Schedule H, line 3c, unless line 3d(2) 
is checked.
    TIP: Neither Schedule H nor an IQPA's opinion should be attached to 
a Form 5500 filed for an unfunded, fully insured or combination 
unfunded/insured welfare plan that covered 100 or more participants as 
of the beginning of the plan year which meets the requirements of 29 
CFR 2520.104-44. However, Schedule G, Part III, must be attached to the 
Form 5500 to report any nonexempt transactions. A welfare benefit plan 
that uses a ``voluntary employees' beneficiary association'' (VEBA) 
under Code section 501(c)(9) is generally not exempt from the 
requirement of engaging an IQPA.

Direct Filing Entity (DFE) Filing Requirements

    Some plans participate in certain trusts, accounts, and other 
investment arrangements that file the Form 5500 Return/Report as a DFE. 
A Form 5500 Return/Report must be filed for a master trust investment 
account (MTIA). A Form 5500 Return/Report is not required but may be 
filed for a common/collective trust (CCT), pooled separate account 
(PSA), 103-12 investment entity (103-12 IE), or group insurance 
arrangement (GIA). However, plans that participate in CCTs, PSAs, 103-
12 IEs, or GIAs that file as DFEs generally are eligible for certain 
annual reporting relief. For reporting purposes, a CCT, PSA, 103-12 IE, 
or GIA is considered a DFE only when a Form 5500 and all required 
schedules attachments are filed for it in accordance with the following 
instructions.
    Only one Form 5500 Return/Report should be filed for each DFE for 
all plans participating in the DFE; however, the Form 5500 Return/
Report filed for the DFE, including all required schedules and 
attachments, must report information for the DFE year (not to exceed 12 
months in length) that ends with or within the participating plan's 
year. Any Form 5500 Return/Report filed for a DFE is an integral part 
of the

[[Page 64817]]

annual report of each participating plan, and the plan administrator 
may be subject to penalties for failing to file a complete annual 
report unless both the DFE's Form 5500 Return/Report and the plan's 
Form 5500 Return/Report are properly filed. The information required 
for a Form 5500 Return/Report filed for a DFE varies according to the 
type of DFE. The following paragraphs provide specific guidance for the 
reporting requirements for each type of DFE.

Master Trust Investment Account (MTIA)

    The administrator filing a Form 5500 Return/Report for an employee 
benefit plan is required to file or have a designee also file a Form 
5500 Return/Report for each MTIA in which the plan participated at any 
time during the plan year. For reporting purposes, a ``master trust'' 
is a trust for which a regulated financial institution (as defined 
below) serves as trustee or custodian (regardless of whether such 
institution exercises discretionary authority or control with respect 
to the management of assets held in the trust), and in which assets of 
more than one plan sponsored by a single-employer or by a group of 
employers under common control are held.
    ``Common control'' is determined on the basis of all relevant facts 
and circumstances (whether or not such employers are incorporated). A 
``regulated financial institution'' means a bank, trust company, or 
similar financial institution that is regulated, supervised, and 
subject to periodic examination by a state or Federal agency. A 
securities brokerage firm is not a ``similar financial institution'' as 
used here. See DOL Advisory Opinion 93-21A (available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa).
    The assets of a master trust are considered for reporting purposes 
to be held in one or more ``investment accounts.'' A ``master trust 
investment account'' may consist of a pool of assets or a single asset. 
Each pool of assets held in a master trust must be treated as a 
separate MTIA if each plan that has an interest in the pool has the 
same fractional interest in each asset in the pool as its fractional 
interest in the pool, and if each such plan may not dispose of its 
interest in any asset in the pool without disposing of its interest in 
the pool. A master trust may also contain assets that are not held in 
such a pool. Each such asset must be treated as a separate MTIA.

    Notes: (1) If a MTIA consists solely of one plan's asset(s) 
during the reporting period, the plan may report the asset(s) either 
as an investment account on a MTIA's Form 5500, or as a plan 
asset(s) that is not part of the master trust (and therefore subject 
to all instructions concerning assets not held in a master trust) on 
the plan's Form 5500. (2) If a master trust holds assets 
attributable to participant or beneficiary directed transactions 
under an individual account plan and the assets are interests in 
registered investment companies, interests in contracts issued by an 
insurance company licensed to do business in any state, interests in 
common/collective trusts maintained by a bank, trust company or 
similar institution, or have a current value that is readily 
determinable on an established market, those assets may be treated 
as a single MTIA. The Form 5500 Return/Report submitted for the MTIA 
must comply with the instructions for a Large Pension Plan, unless 
otherwise specified in the forms and instructions.

    The MTIA must file:
    1. Form 5500, except lines C, D, 1c, 2d, and 6 through 9. Be 
certain to enter ``M'' in Part 1, A.
    2. Schedule A (as many as needed) to report insurance, annuity and 
investment contracts held by the MTIA.
    3. Schedule C, if applicable, to report service provider 
information. Part II is not required for a MTIA.
    4. Schedule D, to list CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs in which the MTIA 
invested at any time during the MTIA year and to list all plans that 
participated in the MTIA during its year.
    5. Schedule G, to report loans or fixed income obligations in 
default or determined to be uncollectible as of the end of the MTIA 
year, all leases in default or classified as uncollectible, and 
nonexempt transactions.
    6. Schedule H, except lines 1b(1), 1b(2), 1c(8), 1g, 1h, 1i, 2a, 
2b(1)(E), 2e, 2f, 2g, 4a, 4e, 4f, 4g, 4h, 4k, 4l, 4m, 4n, and 5, to 
report financial information. An independent qualified public 
accountant's (IQPA's) opinion is not required for a MTIA.
    7. Additional information required by the instructions to the above 
schedules, including, for example, the schedules of assets held for 
investment and the schedule of reportable transactions. For purposes of 
the schedule of reportable transactions, the 5% figure shall be 
determined by comparing the current value of the transaction at the 
transaction date with the current value of the investment account 
assets at the beginning of the applicable fiscal year of the MTIA. All 
attachments must be properly labeled.

Common/Collective Trust (CCT) and Pooled Separate Account (PSA)

    A Form 5500 Return/Report is not required to be filed for a CCT or 
PSA. However, the administrator of a large plan or DFE that 
participates in a CCT or PSA that files as specified below is entitled 
to reporting relief that is not available to plans or DFEs 
participating in a CCT or PSA for which a Form 5500 Return/Report is 
not filed.
    For reporting purposes, ``common/collective trust'' and ``pooled 
separate account'' are, respectively: (1) A trust maintained by a bank, 
trust company, or similar institution or (2) an account maintained by 
an insurance carrier, which are regulated, supervised, and subject to 
periodic examination by a state or Federal agency in the case of a CCT, 
or by a state agency in the case of a PSA, for the collective 
investment and reinvestment of assets contributed thereto from employee 
benefit plans maintained by more than one employer or controlled group 
of corporations as that term is used in Code section 1563. See 29 CFR 
2520.103-3, 103-4, 103-5, and 103-9.

    Note: For reporting purposes, a separate account that is not 
considered to be holding plan assets pursuant to 29 CFR 2510.3-
101(h)(1)(iii) does not constitute a pooled separate account. The 
Form 5500 Return/Report submitted for a CCT or PSA must comply with 
the instructions for a Large Pension Plan, unless otherwise 
specified in the forms and instructions.

    The CCT or PSA must file:
    1. Form 5500, except lines C, D, 1c, 2d, and 6 through 9. Enter 
``C'' or ``P, as appropriate, in Part I, line A.
    2. Schedule D, to list all CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 IEs in 
which the CCT or PSA invested at any time during the CCT or PSA year 
and to list in Part II all plans that participated in the CCT or PSA 
during its year.
    3. Schedule H, except lines 1b(1), 1b(2), 1c(8), 1d, 1e, 1g, 1h, 
1i, 2a, 2b(1)(E), 2e, 2f, and 2g, to report financial information. Part 
IV and an independent qualified public accountant's (IQPA's) opinion 
are not required for a CCT or PSA.
    CAUTION: Different requirements apply to the Schedules D and H 
attached to the Form 5500 filed by plans and DFEs participating in CCTs 
and PSAs, depending upon whether a DFE Form 5500 Return/Report has been 
filed for the CCT or PSA. See the instructions for these schedules.

103-12 Investment Entity (103-12 IE)

    DOL Regulation 2520.103-12 provides an alternative method of 
reporting for plans that invest in an entity (other than a MTIA, CCT, 
or PSA), whose underlying assets include ``plan assets'' within the 
meaning of 29 CFR 2510.3-101 of two or more plans that are not members 
of a ``related group'' of employee benefit plans. Such an entity for 
which a Form 5500 Return/Report is filed constitutes a ``103-12

[[Page 64818]]

IE.'' A Form 5500 Return/Report is not required to be filed for such 
entities; however, filing a Form 5500 Return/Report as a 103-12 IE 
provides certain reporting relief, including the limitation of the 
examination and report of the independent qualified public accountant 
(IQPA) provided by 29 CFR 2520.103-12(d), to participating plans and 
DFEs. For this reporting purpose, a ``related group'' of employee 
benefit plans consists of each group of two or more employee benefit 
plans (1) each of which receives 10% or more of its aggregate 
contributions from the same employer or from a member of the same 
controlled group of corporations (as determined under Code section 
1563(a), without regard to Code section 1563(a)(4) thereof); or (2) 
each of which is either maintained by, or maintained pursuant to a 
collective-bargaining agreement negotiated by, the same employee 
organization or affiliated employee organizations. For purposes of this 
paragraph, an ``affiliate'' of an employee organization means any 
person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with such 
organization. See 29 CFR 2520.103-12.
    The Form 5500 Return/Report submitted for a 103-12 IE must comply 
with the instructions for a Large Pension Plan, unless otherwise 
specified in the forms and instructions.
    The 103-12 IE must file:
    1. Form 5500, except lines C, D, 1c, 2d, and 6 through 9. Enter 
``E'' in Part I, line A.
    2. Schedule A (as many as needed), to report insurance, annuity and 
investment contracts held by the 103-12 IE.
    3. Schedule C, if applicable, to report service provider 
information and any terminated accountants.
    4. Schedule D, to list all CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs in which the 
103-12 IE invested at any time during the 103-12 IE's year, and to list 
all plans that participated in the 103-12 IE during its year.
    5. Schedule G, to report loans or fixed income obligations in 
default or determined to be uncollectible as of the end of the 103-12 
IE year, leases in default or classified as uncollectible, and 
nonexempt transactions.
    6. Schedule H, except lines 1b(1), 1b(2), 1c(8), 1d, 1e, 1g, 1h, 
1i, 2a, 2b(1)(E), 2e, 2f, 2g, 4a, 4e, 4f, 4g, 4h, 4j, 4k, 4l, 4m, 4n, 
and 5, to report financial information.
    7. Additional information required by the instructions to the above 
schedules, including, for example, the report of the independent 
qualified public account (IQPA) identified on Schedule H, line 3c, and 
the schedule(s) of assets held for investment. All attachments must be 
properly labeled.

Group Insurance Arrangement (GIA)

    Each welfare benefit plan that is part of a group insurance 
arrangement is exempted from the requirement to file a Form 5500 
Return/Report if a consolidated Form 5500 Return/Report for all the 
plans in the arrangement was filed in accordance with 29 CFR 2520.104-
43. For reporting purposes, a ``group insurance arrangement'' provides 
benefits to the employees of two or more unaffiliated employers (not in 
connection with a multiemployer plan or a collectively-bargained 
multiple-employer plan), fully insures one or more welfare plans of 
each participating employer, uses a trust or other entity as the holder 
of the insurance contracts, and uses a trust as the conduit for payment 
of premiums to the insurance company.
    The GIA must file:
    1. Form 5500, except lines C and 2d. Enter ``G'' in Part I, line A.
    2. Schedule A (as many as needed), to report insurance, annuity and 
investment contracts held by the GIA.
    3. Schedule C, if applicable, to report service provider 
information and any terminated accountants.
    4. Schedule D, to list all CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs in which the 
GIA invested at any time during the GIA year, and to list all plans 
that participated in the GIA during its year.
    5. Schedule G, to report loans or fixed income obligations in 
default or determined to be uncollectible as of the end of the GIA 
year, leases in default or classified as uncollectible, and nonexempt 
transactions.
    6. Schedule H, except lines 4a, 4e, 4f, 4g, 4h, 4k, 4m, 4n, and 5, 
to report financial information.
    7. Additional information required by the instructions to the above 
schedules, including, for example, the report of the independent 
qualified accountant (IQPA) identified on Schedule H, line 3c, the 
schedules of assets held for investment and the schedule of reportable 
transactions. All attachments must be properly labeled.

Section 5: Line-by-Line Instructions

Instructions of Part I and Part II of 2009 Form 5500

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part I--Annual Return/Report Identification Information

    File the 2009 Form 5500 Return/Report for a plan year that began in 
2009 or a DFE year that ended in 2009. If the plan or DFE year is not 
the 2009 calendar year, enter the dates in Part I. The 2009 Form 5500 
Return/Report must be filed electronically. Because of this, filings 
for 2009 plan years, including short plan years, cannot use prior year 
paper forms.
    One Form 5500 is generally filed for each plan or entity described 
in the instructions to boxes in line A. Do not check more than one box.
    A separate Form 5500 must be filed by each employer participating 
in a plan or program of benefits in which the funds attributable to 
each employer are available to pay benefits only for that employer's 
employees, even if the plan is maintained by a controlled group.
    A ``controlled group'' is generally considered one employer for 
Form 5500 reporting purposes. A ``controlled group'' is a controlled 
group of corporations under Code section 414(b), a group of trades or 
businesses under common control under Code section 414(c), or an 
affiliated service group under Code section 414(m).
    Box A (Multiemployer Plan). Check this box if the Form 5500 is 
filed for a multiemployer plan. A plan is a multiemployer plan if: (a) 
More than one employer is required to contribute, (b) the plan is 
maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements 
between one or more employee organizations and more than one employer, 
and (c) an election under Code section 414(f)(5) and ERISA section 
3(37)(E) has not been made. A plan that has made a proper election 
under ERISA section 3(37)(G) and Code section 414(f)(6) on or before 
Aug. 17, 2007, is also a multiemployer plan. Participating employers do 
not file individually for these plans. See 29 CFR 2510.3-37.
    Box A (Single-Employer Plan). Check this box if the Form 5500 is 
filed for a single-employer plan. A single-employer plan for this Form 
5500 reporting purpose is an employee benefit plan maintained by one 
employer or one employee organization.
    Box A (Multiple-Employer Plan). Check this box if the Form 5500 is 
being filed for a multiple-employer plan. A multiple-employer plan is a 
plan that is maintained by more than one employer and is not one of the 
plans already described. Multiple-employer plans can be collectively 
bargained and collectively funded, but, if covered by PBGC termination 
insurance, must have properly elected before September 27, 1981, not to 
be treated as a multiemployer plan under Code section 414(f)(5) or 
ERISA sections 3(37)(E) and 4001(a)(3). Participating employers do not 
file individually for these plans. Do not check this box if the 
employers

[[Page 64819]]

maintaining the plan are members of the same controlled group.
    Box A (Direct Filing Entity). Check this box and enter the correct 
letter from the following chart in the space provided to indicate the 
type of entity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Enter the
                      Type of entity                           letter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Master trust investment account...........................            M
Common/collective trust...................................            C
Pooled separate account...................................            P
103-12 investment entity..................................            E
Group insurance arrangement...............................            G
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Note: A separate annual report with an ``M'' entered on Form 
5500, box A, must be filed for each MTIA.

    Box B (First Return/Report). Check this box if an annual return/
report has not been previously filed for this plan or DFE. For the 
purpose of completing box B, the Form 5500-EZ is not considered an 
annual return/report.
    Box B (Amended Return/Report). Check this box if this Form 5500 
Return/Report is being submitted as an amended return/report to correct 
errors and/or omissions on a previously filed Form 5500 Return/Report 
for the 2009 plan year.
    Box B (Final Return/Report). Check this box if this Form 5500 
Return/Report is the last annual return/report required to be submitted 
for this plan. (See Final Return/Report.)

    Note: Do not check box B (Final Return/Report) if ``4R'' is 
entered on line 8b for a welfare plan that is not required to file a 
Form 5500 Return/Report for the next plan year because the welfare 
plan has become eligible for an annual reporting exemption. For 
example, certain unfunded and insured welfare plans may be required 
to file the 2008 Form 5500 and be exempt from filing a Form 5500 
Return/Report for the plan year 2009 if the number of participants 
covered as of the beginning of the 2009 plan year drops below 100. 
See Who Must File. Should the number of participants covered by such 
a plan increase to 100 or more in a future year, the plan must 
resume filing the Form 5500 Return/Report and enter ``4S'' on line 
8b on that year's Form 5500. See 29 CFR 2520.104-20.

    Box B (Short Plan Year Return/Report). Check this box if this Form 
5500 Return/Report is being filed for a plan year of less than 12 
months. Show the dates in the space provided.
    Box C. Check box C when the contributions to the plan and/or the 
benefits paid by the plan are subject to the collective bargaining 
process (even if the plan is not established and administered by a 
joint board of trustees and even if only some of the employees covered 
by the plan are members of a collective bargaining unit that negotiates 
contributions and/or benefits). The contributions and/or benefits do 
not have to be identical for all employees under the plan.
    Box D. Check the appropriate entry here if:
    <bullet> You filed for an extension of time to file this form with 
the IRS using a completed Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time 
To File Certain Employee Plan Returns (maintain a copy of the Form 5558 
with the filer's records).
    <bullet> You are filing using the automatic extension of time to 
file the Form 5500 Return/Report until the due date of the Federal 
income tax return of the employer (maintain a copy of the employer's 
extension of time to file the income tax return with the filer's 
records).
    <bullet> You are filing using a special extension of time to file 
the Form 5500 Return/Report that has been announced by the IRS, DOL, 
and PBGC. If you checked that you are using a special extension of 
time, enter a description of the extension of time in the space 
provided.
    <bullet> You are filing under DOL's Delinquent Filer Voluntary 
Compliance (DVFC) Program.

Part II--Basic Plan Information

    Line 1a. Enter the formal name of the plan or DFE, or enough 
information to identify the plan or DFE. Abbreviate if necessary. If an 
annual return/report has previously been filed on behalf of the plan, 
regardless of the type of Form that was filed (Form 5500, Form 5500-EZ, 
Form 5500-SF) use the same abbreviation as was used on the prior 
filings. Once you use an abbreviation, continue to use it for that plan 
on all future annual return/report filings with the IRS, DOL, and PBGC. 
Do not use the same name or abbreviation for any other plan, even if 
the first plan is terminated.
    Line 1b. Enter the three-digit plan or entity number (PN) the 
employer or plan administrator assigned to the plan or DFE. This three-
digit number, in conjunction with the employer identification number 
(EIN) entered on line 2b, is used by the IRS, DOL, and PBGC as a unique 
12-digit number to identify the plan or DFE.
    Start at 001 for plans providing pension benefits or DFEs as 
illustrated in the table below. Start at 501 for welfare plans and 
GIAs. Do not use 888 or 999. Once you use a plan or DFE number, 
continue to use it for that plan or DFE on all future filings with the 
IRS, DOL, and PBGC. Do not use it for any other plan or DFE, even if 
the first plan or DFE is terminated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  For each Form 5500 with the same EIN
            (line 2b), when                         Assign PN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part II, box 8a is checked, or Part I,   001 to the first plan or DFE.
 A is checked and an M, C, P, or E is     Consecutively number others as
 entered.                                 002, 003, . . .
Part II, Box 8b is checked and 8a is     501 to the first plan or GIA.
 not checked, or Part I, A is checked     Consecutively number others as
 and a G is entered.                      502, 503, . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Line 1c. Enter the date the plan first became effective.
    Line 2a.
    1. Enter the name of the plan sponsor or, in the case of a Form 
5500 filed for a DFE, the name of the insurance company, financial 
institution, or other sponsor of the DFE (e.g., in the case of a GIA, 
the trust or other entity that holds the insurance contract, or in the 
case of an MTIA, one of the sponsoring employers). If the plan covers 
only the employees of one employer, enter the employer's name.
    The term ``plan sponsor'' means:
    <bullet> The employer, for an employee benefit plan that a single-
employer established or maintains;
    <bullet> The employee organization in the case of a plan of an 
employee organization; or
    <bullet> The association, committee, joint board of trustees, or 
other similar group of representatives of the parties who establish or 
maintain the plan, if the plan is established or maintained jointly by 
one or more employers and one or more employee organizations, or by two 
or more employers.

    Note: In the case of a multiple-employer plan, if an association 
or similar entity is not the sponsor, enter the name of a 
participating employer as sponsor. A plan of a controlled group of 
corporations should enter the name of one of the sponsoring members. 
In either case, the same name must be used in all subsequent filings 
of the Form 5500 Return/Report for the multiple-employer plan or 
controlled group (see instructions to line 4 concerning change in 
sponsorship).

    2. Enter any ``in care of `` (C/O) name.

[[Page 64820]]

    3. Enter the street address. A post office box number may be 
entered if the Post Office does not deliver mail to the sponsor's 
street address.
    4. Enter the name of the city.
    5. Enter the two-character abbreviation of the U.S. state or 
possession and zip code.
    6. Enter the foreign routing code, if applicable. Leave U.S. state 
and zip code blank if entering a foreign routing code and country name.
    7. Enter the foreign country, if applicable.
    8. Enter the D/B/A (doing business as) or trade name of the sponsor 
if different from the plan sponsor's name.
    9. Enter any second address. Use only a street address, not a P.O. 
Box, here.
    Line 2b. Enter the nine-digit employer identification number (EIN) 
assigned to the plan sponsor/employer, for example, 00-1234567. In the 
case of a DFE, enter the EIN assigned to the CCT, PSA, MTIA, 103-12 IE, 
or GIA. Do not use a social security number in lieu of an EIN. The Form 
5500 is open to public inspection, and the contents are public 
information and are subject to publication on the Internet. Because of 
privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security number on this 
line may result in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on Form SS-4, Application 
for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. You can obtain 
Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web 
Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.
    A multiple-employer plan or plan of a controlled group of 
corporations should use the EIN of the sponsor identified in line 2a. 
This EIN must be used in all subsequent filings of the Form 5500 
Return/Report for these plans (see instructions to line 4 concerning 
change in EIN).
    If the plan sponsor is a group of individuals, get a single EIN for 
the group. When you apply for a number, enter on line 1 of Form SS-4 
the name of the group, such as ``Joint Board of Trustees of the Local 
187 Machinists'' Retirement Plan.'' EINs may be obtained by filing Form 
SS-4 as explained above.

    Note: EINs for funds (trusts or custodial accounts) associated 
with plans (other than DFEs) are generally not required to be 
furnished on the Form 5500; the IRS will issue EINs for such funds 
for other reporting purposes. EINs may be obtained by filing Form 
SS-4 as explained above. Plan sponsors should use the trust EIN 
described above when opening a bank account or conducting other 
transactions for a trust that require an EIN.

    Line 2c. Enter the telephone number for the plan sponsor.
    Line 2d. Enter the six-digit business code that best describes the 
nature of the plan sponsor's business from the list of business codes 
in Form 5500 Codes for Principal Business Activity, contained in these 
Instructions. If more than one employer or employee organization is 
involved, enter the business code for the main business activity of the 
employers and/or employee organizations.
    Line 3a. Please limit your response to the information required 
below:
    1. Enter the name of the plan administrator unless the 
administrator is the sponsor identified in line 2 or the Form 5500 is 
submitted for a DFE (Part I, box A should be checked and enter the 
appropriate DFE code). If this is the case, enter the word ``same'' on 
line 3a and leave the remainder of line 3a, and all of lines 3b and 3c 
blank.
    Plan administrator means:
    <bullet> The person or group of persons specified as the 
administrator by the instrument under which the plan is operated;
    <bullet> The plan sponsor/employer if an administrator is not so 
designated; or
    <bullet> Any other person prescribed by regulations if an 
administrator is not designated and a plan sponsor cannot be 
identified.
    2. Enter any ``in care of'' (C/O) name.
    3. Enter the street address. A post office box number may be 
entered if the Post Office does not deliver mail to the administrator's 
street address.
    4. Enter the name of the city.
    5. Enter the two-character abbreviation of the U.S. state or 
possession and zip code.
    6. Enter the foreign routing code and foreign country, if 
applicable. Leave U.S. state and zip code blank if entering foreign 
routing code and country information.
    Line 3b. Enter the plan administrator's nine-digit EIN. A plan 
administrator must have an EIN for Form 5500 reporting purposes. If the 
plan administrator does not have an EIN, apply for one as explained in 
the instructions for line 2b. One EIN should be entered for a group of 
individuals who are, collectively, the plan administrator.

    Note: Employees of the plan sponsor who perform administrative 
functions for the plan are generally not the plan administrator 
unless specifically designated in the plan document. If an employee 
of the plan sponsor is designated as the plan administrator, that 
employee must get an EIN.

    Line 4. If the plan sponsor's or DFE's name and/or EIN have changed 
since the last return/report was filed for this plan or DFE, enter the 
plan sponsor's or DFE's name, EIN, and the plan number as it appeared 
on the last return/report filed.
    CAUTION: The failure to indicate on Line 4 that a plan was 
previously identified by a different Employer Identification Number 
(EIN) or Plan Number (PN) could result in correspondence from the DOL 
and the IRS.
    Lines 5 and 6. All filers must complete both lines 5 and 6 unless 
the Form 5500 is filed for an IRA Plan eligible for Limited Pension 
Plan Reporting or for a DFE.
    The description of ``participant'' in the instructions below is 
only for purposes of these lines.
    For welfare plans, the number of participants should be determined 
by reference to 29 CFR 2510.3-3(d)(1), which provides that an 
individual becomes a participant covered under an employee welfare 
benefit plan on the earlier of: the date designated by the plan as the 
date on which the individual begins participation in the plan; the date 
on which the individual becomes eligible under the plan for a benefit 
subject only to occurrence of the contingency for which the benefit is 
provided; or the date on which the individual makes a contribution to 
the plan, whether voluntary or mandatory. ``Participants'' includes 
former employees who are receiving group health continuation coverage 
benefits pursuant to Part 6 of ERISA and who are covered by the 
employee welfare benefit plan. Covered dependents are not counted as 
participants or beneficiaries.
    A child who is an ``alternate recipient'' entitled to health 
benefits under a qualified medical child support order should not be 
counted as a participant for lines 5 and 6. An individual is not a 
participant covered under an employee welfare plan on the earliest date 
on which the individual (A) is ineligible to receive any benefit under 
the plan even if the contingency for which such benefit is provided 
should occur, and (B) is not designated by the plan as a participant. 
See 29 CFR 2510.3-3(d)(2).
    TIP: Before counting the number of participants in welfare plans, 
it is important for Form 5500 Return/Report purposes to determine 
whether the plan sponsor has established one or more plans. As a matter 
of plan design, plan sponsors can offer benefits through various 
structures and combinations. For example, a plan sponsor could create 
(i) one plan providing major medical benefits, dental benefits, and 
vision benefits, (ii) two plans with one providing major medical 
benefits and the other providing self-insured dental

[[Page 64821]]

and vision benefits, or (iii) three separate plans. You must review the 
governing documents and actual operations to determine whether welfare 
benefits are being provided under a single plan or separate plans.
    The fact that you have separate insurance policies for each 
different welfare benefit does not necessarily mean that you have 
separate plans. Some plan sponsors use a ``wrap'' document to 
incorporate various benefits and insurance policies into one 
comprehensive plan. In addition, whether a benefit arrangement is 
deemed to be a single plan may be different for purposes other than the 
Form 5500 Return/Report. For example, special rules may apply for 
purposes of HIPAA, COBRA, and Internal Revenue Code compliance. If you 
need help determining whether you have a single welfare benefit plan 
for purposes of the Form 5500 Return/Report, you should consult a 
qualified benefits consultant or legal counsel.
    For pension benefit plans, ``alternate payees'' entitled to 
benefits under a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) are not to 
be counted as participants for these lines.
    For pension benefit plans, ``participant'' means any individual who 
is included in one of the categories below:
    1. Active participants include any individuals who are currently in 
employment covered by a plan and who are earning or retaining credited 
service under a plan. This category includes any individuals who are 
eligible to elect to have the employer make payments to a Code section 
401(k) qualified cash or deferred arrangement. Active participants also 
include any nonvested individuals who are earning or retaining credited 
service under a plan. This category does not include (a) nonvested 
former employees who have incurred the break in service period 
specified in the plan or (b) former employees who have received a 
``cash-out'' distribution or deemed distribution of their entire 
nonforfeitable accrued benefit.
    2. Retired or separated participants receiving benefits are any 
individuals who are retired or separated from employment covered by the 
plan and who are receiving benefits under the plan. This category does 
not include any individual to whom an insurance company has made an 
irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which the individual 
is entitled under the plan.
    3. Other retired or separated participants entitled to future 
benefits are any individuals who are retired or separated from 
employment covered by the plan and who are entitled to begin receiving 
benefits under the plan in the future. This category does not include 
any individual to whom an insurance company has made an irrevocable 
commitment to pay all the benefits to which the individual is entitled 
under the plan.
    4. Deceased individuals who had one or more beneficiaries who are 
receiving or are entitled to receive benefits under the plan. This 
category does not include an individual if an insurance company has 
made an irrevocable commitment to pay all the benefits to which the 
beneficiaries of that individual are entitled under the plan.
    Line 6g. Enter the number of participants included on line 6f 
(total participants at the end of the plan year) who have account 
balances. For example, for a Code section 401(k) plan the number 
entered on line 6g should be the number of participants counted on line 
6f who have made a contribution to the plan for this plan year or any 
prior plan year. Defined benefit plans should leave line 6g blank.
    Line 6h. Include any individual who terminated employment during 
this plan year, whether or not he or she (a) incurred a break in 
service, (b) received an irrevocable commitment from an insurance 
company to pay all the benefits to which he or she is entitled under 
the plan, and/or (c) received a cash distribution or deemed cash 
distribution of his or her nonforfeitable accrued benefit. 
Multiemployer plans and multiple-employer plans that are collectively 
bargained do not have to complete line 6h.
    Line 7. For multiemployer plans, enter the total number of 
employers obligated to contribute to the plan. For purposes of line 7 
of the Form 5500, an employer obligated to contribute means each 
employer for the 2009 plan year, who is a party to the collective 
bargaining agreement(s) pursuant to which the plan is maintained or who 
otherwise may be subject to withdrawal liability pursuant to section 
4203 of the Act. Any two or more contributing entities (e.g., places of 
business with separate collective bargaining agreements) that have the 
same nine-digit employer identification number (EIN) must be aggregated 
and counted as a single-employer for this purpose.
    Line 8--Benefits Provided Under the Plan. In Line 8a or 8b, as 
appropriate, enter all applicable plan characteristic codes from the 
List of Plan Characteristic Codes in these Instructions that describe 
the characteristics of the plan being reported.
    CAUTION: Applicable to plan sponsors of Puerto Rico plans. Enter 
condition code 3C only in instances where there was no election made 
under section 1022(i)(2) of ERISA and, therefore, the plan does not 
intend to qualify under section 401(a) of the Code. If an election was 
made under section 1022(i)(2) of ERISA, do not enter condition code 3C.
    Line 9--Funding and Benefit Arrangements. Check all boxes that 
apply to indicate the funding and benefit arrangements used during the 
plan year. The ``funding arrangement'' is the method for the receipt, 
holding, investment, and transmittal of plan assets prior to the time 
the plan actually provides benefits. The ``benefit arrangement'' is the 
method by which the plan provides benefits to participants.
    For the purposes of line 9:
    ``Insurance'' means the plan has an account, contract, or policy 
with an insurance company, insurance service, or other similar 
organization (such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or a health maintenance 
organization) during the plan or DFE year. (This includes investments 
with insurance companies such as guaranteed investment contracts 
(GICs).) An annuity account arrangement under Code section 403(b)(1) 
that is required to complete the Form 5500 Return/Report should mark 
``insurance'' for both the plan funding arrangement and plan benefit 
arrangement. Do not check ``insurance'' if the sole function of the 
insurance company was to provide administrative services.
    ``Code section 412(e)(3) insurance contracts'' are contracts that 
provide retirement benefits under a plan that are guaranteed by an 
insurance carrier. In general, such contracts must provide for level 
premium payments over the individual's period of participation in the 
plan (to retirement age), premiums must be timely paid as currently 
required under the contract, no rights under the contract may be 
subject to a security interest, and no policy loans may be outstanding. 
If a plan is funded exclusively by the purchase of such contracts, the 
otherwise applicable minimum funding requirements of section 412 of the 
Code and section 302 of ERISA do not apply for the year and neither the 
Schedule MB nor SB is required to be filed.
    ``Trust'' includes any fund or account that receives, holds, 
transmits, or invests plan assets other than an account or policy of an 
insurance company. A custodial account arrangement under Code section 
403(b)(7) that is required to complete

[[Page 64822]]

the Form 5500 Return/Report should mark ``trust'' for both the plan 
funding arrangement and plan benefit arrangement.
    ``General assets of the sponsor'' means either the plan had no 
assets or some assets were commingled with the general assets of the 
plan sponsor prior to the time the plan actually provided the benefits 
promised.
    Example. If the plan holds all its assets invested in registered 
investment companies and other non-insurance company investments until 
it purchases annuities to pay out the benefits promised under the plan, 
box 9a(3) should be checked as the funding arrangement and box 9b(1) 
should be checked as the benefit arrangement.

    Note: An employee benefit plan that checks boxes 9a(1), 9a(2), 
9b(1), and/or 9b(2) must attach Schedule A (Form 5500), Insurance 
Information, to provide information concerning each contract year 
ending with or within the plan year. See the instructions to the 
Schedule A and enter the number of Schedules A on line 10b(3), if 
applicable.

    Line 10. Check the boxes on line 10 to indicate the schedules being 
filed and, where applicable, count the schedules and enter the number 
of attached schedules in the space provided.

2009 Instructions for Schedule A (Form 5500) Insurance Information

General Instructions

Who Must File

    Schedule A (Form 5500), Insurance Information (Schedule A), must be 
attached to the Form 5500 filed for every defined benefit pension plan, 
defined contribution pension plan, and welfare benefit plan required to 
file a Form 5500 if any benefits under the plan are provided by an 
insurance company, insurance service, or other similar organization 
(such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or a health maintenance 
organization). This includes investment contracts with insurance 
companies such as guaranteed investment contracts (GICs). In addition, 
Schedules A must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for GIAs, MTIAs, and 
103-12 IEs for each insurance or annuity contract held in the MTIA, or 
103-12 IE or by the GIA.
    TIP: If Form 5500 line 9a(1), 9a(2), 9b(1), or 9b(2) is checked, 
indicating that either the plan funding arrangement or plan benefit 
arrangement includes an account, policy, or contract with an insurance 
company (or similar organization), at least one Schedule A would be 
required to be attached to the Form 5500 filed for the pension or 
welfare plan to provide information concerning the contract year ending 
with or within the plan year.
    Do not file Schedule A for a contract that is an Administrative 
Services Only (ASO) contract, a fidelity bond or policy, or a fiduciary 
liability insurance policy. Also, if a Schedule A for a contract or 
policy is filed as part of a Form 5500 Return/Report for a MTIA or 103-
12 IE that holds the contract, do not include a Schedule A for the 
contract or policy on the Form 5500s filed for the plans participating 
in the MTIA or 103-12 IE.
    Check the Schedule A box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10b(3)), 
and enter the number attached in the space provided if one or more 
Schedules A are attached to the Form 5500.

Specific Instructions

    Information entered on Schedule A should pertain to the insurance 
contract or policy year ending with or within the plan year (for 
reporting purposes, a year cannot exceed 12 months).
    Example: If an insurance contract year begins on July 1 and ends on 
June 30, and the plan year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31, 
the information on the Schedule A attached to the 2009 Form 5500 should 
be for the insurance contract year ending on June 30, 2009.
    Exception: If the insurance company maintains records on the basis 
of a plan year rather than a policy or contract year, the information 
entered on Schedule A may pertain to the plan year instead of the 
policy or contract year.
    Include only the contracts issued to or held by the plan, GIA, 
MTIA, or 103-12 IE for which the Form 5500 Return/Report is being 
filed.
    Lines A, B, C, and D. This information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule A is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a social security number in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule 
A and its attachments are open to public inspection, and the contents 
are public information and are subject to publication on the Internet. 
Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security number 
on this Schedule A or any of its attachments may result in the 
rejection of the filing. EINs may be obtained by applying for one on 
Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number, as soon as 
possible. You can obtain Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-
829-3676) or at the IRS Web Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does 
not issue EINs.

Part I--Information Concerning Insurance Contract Coverage, Fees, and 
Commissions

    Line 1(c). Enter the code number assigned by the National 
Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to the insurance company. 
If none has been assigned, enter zeros (-0-) in the spaces provided.
    Line 1(d). If individual policies with the same carrier are grouped 
as a unit for purposes of this report, and the group does not have one 
identification number, you may use the contract or identification 
number of one of the individual contracts, provided this number is used 
consistently to report these contracts as a group and the plan 
administrator maintains the records necessary to disclose all the 
individual contract numbers in the group upon request. Use separate 
Schedules A to report individual contracts that cannot be grouped as a 
unit.
    Line 1(e). Since plan coverage may fluctuate during the year, the 
administrator should estimate the number of persons that were covered 
by the contract at the end of the policy or contract year. Where 
contracts covering individual employees are grouped, compute entries as 
of the end of the plan year.
    Lines 1(f) and (g). Enter the beginning and ending dates of the 
policy year for the contract identified in 1(d). Enter ``N/A'' in 1(f) 
if separate contracts covering individual employees are grouped.
    Line 2. Report on line 2 the totals of all insurance fees and 
commissions directly or indirectly attributable to the contract or 
policy placed with or retained by the plan.
    Totals. Enter on line 2 the total of all such commissions and fees 
paid to agents, brokers, and other persons listed on line 3. Complete a 
separate line 3 item (elements (a) through (e)) for each person listed.
    For purposes of lines 2 and 3, commissions and fees include sales 
and base commissions and all other monetary and non-monetary forms of 
compensation where the broker's, agent's, or other person's eligibility 
for the payment or the amount of the payment is based, in whole or in 
part, on the value (e.g., policy amounts, premiums) of contracts or 
policies (or classes thereof) placed with or retained by an ERISA plan, 
including, for example, persistency and profitability bonuses. The 
amount (or pro rata share of the total) of such commissions or fees 
attributable to the contract or policy placed with or retained by the 
plan must be reported in line 2 and in line 3, elements (b) and/or (c) 
as appropriate.

[[Page 64823]]

Insurers must provide plan administrators with a proportionate 
allocation of commissions and fees attributable to each contract. Any 
reasonable method of allocating commissions and fees to policies or 
contracts is acceptable, provided the method is disclosed to the plan 
administrator. A reasonable allocation method could allocate fees and 
commissions to a Schedule A based on a calendar year calculation even 
if the plan year or policy year was not a calendar year. For additional 
information on these Schedule A reporting requirements, ``see'' ERISA 
Advisory Opinion 2005-02A, available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    Where benefits under a plan are purchased from and guaranteed by an 
insurance company, insurance service, or other similar organization, 
and the contract or policy is reported on a Schedule A, payments of 
reasonable monetary compensation by the insurer out of its general 
assets to affiliates or third parties for performing administrative 
activities necessary for the insurer to fulfill its contractual 
obligation to provide benefits, where there is no direct or indirect 
charge to the plan for the administrative services other than the 
insurance premium, then the payments for administrative services by the 
insurer to the affiliates or third parties do not need to be reported 
on lines 2 and 3 of Schedule A. This would include compensation for 
services such as recordkeeping and claims processing services provided 
by a third party pursuant to a contract with the insurer to provide 
those services but would not include compensation provided by the 
insurer incidental to the sale or renewal of a policy, such as finder's 
fees, insurance brokerage commissions and fees, or similar fees.
    Schedule A reporting also is not required for compensation paid by 
the insurer to a ``general agent'' or ``manager'' for that general 
agent's or manager's management of an agency or performance of 
administrative functions for the insurer. For this purpose, (1) a 
``general agent'' or ``manager'' does not include brokers representing 
insureds, and (2) payments would not be treated as paid for managing an 
agency or performance of administrative functions where the recipient's 
eligibility for the payment or the amount of the payment is dependent 
or based on the value (e.g., policy amounts, premiums) of contracts or 
policies (or classes thereof) placed with or retained by ERISA plan(s).
    Schedule A reporting is not required for occasional gifts or meals 
of insubstantial value which are tax deductible for federal income tax 
purposes by the person providing the gift or meal and would not be 
taxable income to the recipient. For this exemption to be available, 
the gift or gratuity must be both occasional and insubstantial. For 
this exemption to apply, the gift must be valued at less than $50, the 
aggregate value of gifts from one source in a calendar year must be 
less than $100, but gifts with a value of less than $10 do not need to 
be counted toward the $100 annual limit. If the $100 aggregate value 
limit is exceeded, then the aggregate value of all the gifts will be 
reportable. Gifts from multiple employees of one service provider 
should be treated as originating from a single source when calculating 
whether the $100 threshold applies. On the other hand, in applying the 
threshold to an occasional gift received from one source by multiple 
employees of a single service provider, the amount received by each 
employee should be separately determined in applying the $50 and $100 
thresholds. For example, if six employees of a broker attend a business 
conference put on by an insurer designed to educate and explain the 
insurer's products for employee benefit plans, and the insurer 
provides, at no cost to the attendees, refreshments valued at $20 per 
individual, the gratuities would not be reportable on lines 2 and 3 of 
the Schedule A even though the total cost of the refreshments for all 
the employees would be $120. These thresholds are for purposes of 
Schedule A reporting. Filers are cautioned that the payment or receipt 
of gifts and gratuities of any amount by plan fiduciaries may violate 
ERISA and give rise to civil liabilities and criminal penalties.
    Line 3. Identify agents, brokers, and other persons individually in 
descending order of the amount paid. Complete as many entries as 
necessary to report all required information. Complete elements (a) 
through (e) for each person as specified below.
    Element (a). Enter the name and address of the agents, brokers, or 
other persons to whom commissions or fees were paid.
    Element (b). Report all sales and base commissions here. For 
purposes of this element, sales and/or base commissions are monetary 
amounts paid by an insurer that are charged directly to the contract or 
policy and that are paid to a licensed agent or broker for the sale or 
placement of the contract or policy. All other payments should be 
reported in element (c) as fees.
    Element (c). Fees to be reported here represent payments by an 
insurer attributable directly or indirectly to a contract or policy to 
agents, brokers, and other persons for items other than sales and/or 
base commissions (e.g., service fees, consulting fees, finders' fees, 
profitability and persistency bonuses, awards, prizes, and non-monetary 
forms of compensation). Fees paid to persons other than agents and 
brokers should be reported here, not in Parts II and III on Schedule A 
as acquisition costs, administrative charges, etc.
    Element (d). Enter the purpose(s) for which fees were paid.
    Element (e). Enter the most appropriate organization code for the 
broker, agent, or other person entered in element (a).

Code Type of Organization

    1--Banking, Savings & Loan Association, Credit Union, or other 
similar financial institution.
    2--Trust Company.
    3--Insurance Agent or Broker.
    4--Agent or Broker other than insurance.
    5--Third party administrator.
    6--Investment Company/Mutual Fund.
    7--Investment Manager/Adviser.
    8--Labor Union.
    9--Foreign entity (e.g., an agent or broker, bank, insurance 
company, etc., not operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of 
the United States).
    0--Other.
    For plans, GIAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 IEs required to file Part I of 
Schedule C, commissions and fees listed on the Schedule A are also to 
be reported on Schedule C, unless the only compensation in relation to 
the plan or DFE consists of insurance fees and commissions listed on 
the Schedule A.

Part II--Investment and Annuity Contract Information

    Line 4. Enter the current value of the plan's interest at year end 
in the contract reported on line 7, e.g., deposit administration (DA), 
immediate participation guarantee (IPG), or guaranteed investment 
contracts (GIC).
    Exception: Contracts reported on line 7 need not be included on 
line 4 if (1) the Schedule A is filed for a defined benefit pension 
plan and the contract was entered into before March 20, 1992, or (2) 
the Schedule A is filed for a defined contribution pension plan and the 
contract is a fully benefit-responsive contract, i.e., it provides a 
liquidity guarantee by a financially responsible third party of 
principal and previously accrued interest for liquidations, transfers, 
loans, or hardship withdrawals initiated by plan participants 
exercising their rights to withdraw, borrow, or transfer funds

[[Page 64824]]

under the terms of a defined contribution plan that does not include 
substantial restrictions to participants' access to plan funds.
    Important Reminder. Plans may treat multiple individual annuity 
contracts, including Code section 403(b)(1) annuity contracts, issued 
by the same insurance company as a single group contract for reporting 
purposes on Schedule A.
    Line 6a. The rate information called for here may be furnished by 
attaching the appropriate schedules of current rates filed with the 
appropriate state insurance department or by providing a statement 
regarding the basis of the rates. Enter ``see attached'' if 
appropriate.
    Lines 7a through 7f. Report contracts with unallocated funds. Do 
not include portions of these contracts maintained in separate 
accounts. Show deposit fund amounts rather than experience credit 
records when both are maintained.

Part III--Welfare Benefit Contract Information

    Line 8i. Report a stop-loss insurance policy that is an asset of 
the plan.

    Note: Employers sponsoring welfare plans may purchase a stop-
loss insurance policy with the employer as the insured to help the 
employer manage its risk associated with its liabilities under the 
plan. These employer contracts with premiums paid exclusively out of 
the employer's general assets without any employee contributions 
generally are not plan assets and are not reportable on Schedule A.

Part IV--Provision of Information

    The insurance company, insurance service, or other similar 
organization is required under ERISA section 103(a)(2) to provide the 
plan administrator with the information needed to complete this return/
report. If you do not receive this information in a timely manner, 
contact the insurance company, insurance service, or other similar 
organization. If information is missing on Schedule A due to a refusal 
to provide information, check ``Yes'' on line 11 and enter a 
description of the information not provided on line 12.
    TIP. As noted above, the insurance company, insurance service, or 
other similar organization is statutorily required to provide all of 
the information necessary to complete the return/report, but need not 
provide the information on a Schedule itself. If you do not receive 
this information in a timely manner, you should contact the insurance 
company, insurance service, or other similar organization and advise 
them that the plan administrator will identify the provider on the 
Schedule A if the required information is not provided.

2009 Instructions for Schedule MB (Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan 
and Certain Money Purchase Plan Actuarial Information)

    [reserved]

2009 Instructions for Schedule SB (Single-employer Defined Benefit Plan 
Actuarial Information)

    [reserved]

2009 Instructions for Schedule C (Form 5500) Service Provider 
Information

Who Must File

    Schedule C (Form 5500), Service Provider Information (Schedule C) 
must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for a large pension or welfare 
benefit plan, an MTIA, a 103-12IE, or a GIA, to report certain 
information concerning service providers. Remember to check the 
Schedule C box on the form 5500 (Part II, line 10b(4)) if a Schedule C 
is attached to the Form 5500.
    Part I of the Schedule C must be completed to report persons who 
rendered services to or who had transactions with the plan or DFE 
during the reporting year if the person received, directly or 
indirectly, $5,000 or more in reportable compensation in connection 
with services rendered to the plan or DFE, or their position with the 
plan except:
    1. Employees of the plan whose only compensation in relation to the 
plan was less than $25,000 for the plan year;
    2. Employees of the plan sponsor or other business entity where the 
plan sponsor or business entity is reported on the Schedule C as a 
service provider, provided the employee did not separately receive 
reportable direct or indirect compensation in relation to the plan;
    3. Persons whose only compensation in relation to the plan consists 
of insurance fees and commissions listed in a Schedule A filed for the 
plan; and
    4. Payments made directly by the plan sponsor that are not 
reimbursed by the plan.
    Only line 1 of Part I of the Schedule C must be completed for 
persons who received only ``eligible indirect compensation'' as defined 
below.
    Part II of the Schedule C must be completed to report service 
providers who fail or refuse to provide information necessary to 
complete Part I of this Schedule.
    Part III of the Schedule C must be completed to report a 
termination in the appointment of an accountant or enrolled actuary 
during the 2009 plan year.
    TIP: Health and welfare plans that meet the conditions of the 
limited exemption at 2520.104-44 or Technical Release 92-01 are not 
required to complete and file a Schedule C.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

    Lines A, B, C, and D. This information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule C is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a social security number in line D in lieu of an EIN. 
The Schedule C and its attachments are open to public inspection, and 
the contents are public information subject to publication on the 
Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social 
security number on this Schedule C or any of its attachments may result 
in the rejection of the filing. EINs may be obtained by applying for 
one on Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. You 
can obtain Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at 
the IRS Web Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.
    Do not list the PBGC or the IRS on Schedule C as service providers.
    Either the cash or accrual basis may be used for the recognition of 
transactions reported on the Schedule C as long as you use one method 
consistently.
    If service provider compensation is reported on a Schedule C filed 
as part of a Form 5500 filed for a MTIA or 103-12IE, do not report the 
same compensation again on the Schedules C filed for the plans that 
participate in the MTIA or 103-12IE.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

Part I--Service Provider Information

    You must enter the information required for each person receiving 
$5,000 or more in total direct or indirect compensation (i.e., money or 
anything else of value) in connection with services rendered to the 
plan or the person's position with the plan during the plan year.
    Example. A plan had service providers, A, B, C, and D, who received 
$12,000, $6,000, $4,500, and $430, respectively, in direct and indirect 
compensation from the plan. Service providers A and B must be 
identified separately by name, EIN, etc. As service providers C and D 
each received less than $5,000, they do not need to be reported on the 
Schedule C.
    For Schedule C purposes, reportable compensation includes money and 
any other thing of value (for example, gifts, awards, trips) received 
by a person,

[[Page 64825]]

directly or indirectly, from the plan (including fees charged as a 
percentage of assets and deducted from investment returns) in 
connection with services rendered to the plan, or the person's position 
with the plan. The term ``person'' includes individuals, trades and 
businesses (whether incorporated or unincorporated). See ERISA section 
3(9). Persons that provide investment management, recordkeeping, claims 
processing, participant communication, brokerage, and other services to 
the plan as part of an investment contract are considered to be 
providing services to the plan for purposes of Schedule C reporting and 
would be required to be identified in Part I if they received $5,000 or 
more in reportable compensation for providing those services. The 
investment of plan assets and payment of premiums for insurance 
contracts, however, are not in and of themselves payments for services 
rendered to the plan for purposes of Schedule C reporting and the 
investment and payment of premiums themselves are not reportable 
compensation for purposes of Part I.
    Direct Compensation: Payments made directly by the plan for 
services rendered to the plan or because of a person's position with 
the plan are reportable as direct compensation. Direct payments by the 
plan would include, for example, direct payments by the plan out of a 
plan account, charges to plan forfeiture accounts and fee recapture 
accounts, charges to a plan's trust account before allocations are made 
to individual participant accounts, and direct charges to plan 
participant individual accounts. Payments made by the plan sponsor, 
which are not reimbursed by the plan, are not subject to Schedule C 
reporting requirements even if the sponsor is paying for services 
rendered to the plan.
    Indirect Compensation: Compensation received from sources other 
than directly from the plan or plan sponsor is reportable on Schedule C 
as indirect compensation from the plan if the compensation was received 
in connection with services rendered to the plan during the plan year 
or the person's position with the plan. For this purpose, compensation 
is considered to have been received in connection with the person's 
position with the plan or for services rendered to the plan if the 
person's eligibility for a payment or the amount of the payment is 
based, in whole or in part, on services that were rendered to the plan 
or on a transaction or series of transactions with the plan. Indirect 
compensation would not include compensation that would have been 
received had the service not been rendered or the transaction had not 
taken place and that cannot be reasonably allocated to the services 
performed or transaction(s) with the plan. Examples of reportable 
indirect compensation include fees and expense reimbursement payments 
received by a person from mutual funds, bank commingled trusts, 
insurance company pooled separate accounts, and other separately 
managed accounts and pooled investment funds in which the plan invests 
that are charged against the fund or account and reflected in the value 
of the plan's investment (such as management fees paid by a mutual fund 
to its investment adviser, sub-transfer agency fees, shareholder 
servicing fees, account maintenance fees, and 12b-1 distribution fees). 
Other examples of reportable indirect compensation are finder's fees, 
float revenue, brokerage commissions (regardless of whether the broker 
is granted discretion), research or other products or services, other 
than execution, received from a broker-dealer or other third party in 
connection with securities transactions (soft dollars), and other 
transaction based fees received in connection with transactions or 
services involving the plan whether or not they are capitalized as 
investment costs.
    Special Rules for non-monetary compensation of insubstantial value, 
guaranteed benefit insurance policies, bundled service arrangements, 
and allocating compensation among multiple plans:
    Excludable Non-Monetary Compensation: You may exclude non-monetary 
compensation of insubstantial value (such as gifts or meals of 
insubstantial value) which is tax deductible for federal income tax 
purposes by the person providing the gift or meal and would not be 
taxable income to the recipient. The gift or gratuity must be valued at 
less than $50, and the aggregate value of gifts from one source in a 
calendar year must be less than $100, but gifts with a value of less 
than $10 do not need to be counted toward the $100 limit. If the $100 
aggregate value limit is exceeded, then the value of all the gifts will 
be reportable. Gifts received by one person from multiple employees of 
one entity must be treated as originating from a single source when 
calculating whether the $100 threshold applies. On the other hand, 
gifts received from one person by multiple employees of one entity can 
be treated as separate compensation when calculating the $50 and $100 
thresholds.
    CAUTION: These thresholds are for purposes of Schedule C reporting 
only. Filers are strongly cautioned that gifts and gratuities of any 
amount paid to or received by plan fiduciaries may violate ERISA and 
give rise to civil liabilities and criminal penalties.
    Fully Insured Group Health And Similarly Fully Insured Benefits: 
Where benefits under a plan are purchased from and guaranteed by an 
insurance company, insurance service, or other similar organization, 
and the contract or policy is reported on a Schedule A, payments of 
reasonable monetary compensation by the insurer out of its general 
assets to persons for performing administrative activities necessary 
for the insurer to fulfill its contractual obligation to provide 
benefits, where there is no direct or indirect charge to the plan for 
the administrative services other than the insurance premium, would not 
be treated as indirect compensation for services provided to the plan 
for Schedule C reporting purposes. This would include compensation for 
services such as recordkeeping and claims processing services provided 
by a third party pursuant to a contract with the insurer to provide 
those services but would not include compensation provided by the 
insurer incidental to the sale or renewal of a policy, such as finder's 
fees, insurance brokerage commissions and fees, or similar fees. 
Insurance investment contracts are not eligible for this exception.
    Bundled Service Arrangements: For Schedule C reporting purposes, a 
bundled service arrangement includes any service arrangements where the 
plan hires one company to provide a range of services either directly 
from the company, through affiliates or subcontractors, or through a 
combination, which are priced to the plan as a single package rather 
than on a service-by-service basis. A bundled service arrangement would 
also include an investment transaction in which the plan receives a 
range of services either directly from the investment provider, through 
affiliates or subcontractors, or through a combination.
    Direct payments by the plan to the bundled service provider should 
be reported as direct compensation to the bundled service provider. 
Such direct payments by the plan do not need to be allocated among 
affiliates or subcontractors and also reported as indirect compensation 
received by the affiliates or subcontractors unless the amount paid to 
the affiliate or subcontractor is set on a per transaction basis, e.g., 
brokerage fees and commissions.
    Fees charged to the plan's investment and reflected in the net 
value of the investment, such as management fees paid by mutual funds 
to their investment advisers, float revenue,

[[Page 64826]]

commissions (including ``soft dollars''), finder's fees, 12b-1 
distribution fees, account maintenance fees, and shareholder servicing 
fees, must be treated as separate compensation by the person receiving 
the fee for purposes of Schedule C reporting. For each person who is a 
fiduciary to the plan or provides one or more of the following services 
to the plan--contract administrator, consulting, investment advisory 
(plan or participants), investment management, securities brokerage, or 
recordkeeping--commissions and other transaction based fees, finder's 
fees, float revenue, soft dollar and other non-monetary compensation, 
would also be required to be treated as separate compensation for 
Schedule C purposes even if those fees were paid from mutual fund 
management fees or other fees charged to the plan's investment and 
reflected in the net value of the investment. Other revenue sharing 
payments among members of a bundled service arrangement do not need to 
be allocated among affiliates or subcontractors and treated as indirect 
compensation received by the affiliates or subcontractors in 
determining whether the affiliate or subcontractor must be separately 
identified on line 2 of the Schedule C.
    Allocating Compensation Among Multiple Plans: Where reportable 
compensation is received in connection with several plans or DFEs, any 
reasonable method of allocating the compensation among the plans or 
DFEs may be used provided that the allocation method is disclosed to 
the plan administrator. In calculating the $5,000 threshold for 
purposes of determining whether a person must be identified in Part I, 
include the amount of compensation received by the person that is 
attributable to the plan or DFE filing the Form 5500, not the aggregate 
amount received in connection with all the plans or DFEs.
    Affiliates: For purposes of Schedule C reporting, an ``affiliate'' 
of a person includes any person, directly or indirectly, through one or 
more intermediaries, controlling, controlled by, or under common 
control with the person applying principles consistent with the 
regulations prescribed under section 414(c) of the Code.
    Line 1. Check ``Yes'' or ``No'' on line 1a to indicate whether you 
are relying on the alternative reporting option for a person or persons 
who received only eligible indirect compensation. If you check ``Yes'' 
on line 1a, provide as many entries in line 1b as necessary to identify 
the person or persons who provided you with the necessary disclosures 
regarding the indirect compensation.
    If any indirect compensation is either not of the type described 
below or if the plan did not receive the written disclosures described 
below, the indirect compensation is not ``eligible indirect 
compensation'' for purposes of Part I.
    (1) Eligible Indirect Compensation: Indirect compensation that is 
fees or expense reimbursement payments charged to investment funds and 
reflected in the value of the investment or return on investment of the 
participating plan or its participants finders' fees ``soft dollar'' 
revenue, float revenue, and/or brokerage commissions or other 
transaction-based fees for transactions or services involving the plan 
that were not paid directly by the plan or plan sponsor (whether or not 
they are capitalized as investment costs).
    (2) Written Disclosures: For the indirect compensation to be 
eligible indirect compensation you must have received written materials 
that disclosed and described (a) the existence of the indirect 
compensation; (b) the services provided for the indirect compensation 
or the purpose for payment of the indirect compensation; (c) the amount 
(or estimate) of the compensation or a description of the formula used 
to calculate or determine the compensation; and (d) the identity of the 
party or parties paying and receiving the compensation. The written 
disclosures for a bundled arrangement must separately disclose and 
describe each element of indirect compensation that would be required 
to be separately reported if you were not relying on this alternative 
reporting option.
    CAUTION: If any person received eligible indirect compensation and 
either direct compensation and/or indirect compensation that does not 
meet the requirements of this line to be eligible indirect 
compensation, you cannot rely on the alternative reporting option for 
that person and must complete line 2 for each such person who received 
$5,000 or more in direct and indirect compensation.
    Line 2. Except for those persons for whom you answered ``Yes'' to 
line 1 above, complete as many entries as needed to list each person 
receiving, directly or indirectly, $5,000 or more in total 
compensation. Start with the most highly compensated and list in 
descending order of compensation. Enter in element (a) the person's 
name and complete elements (a) through (h) as specified below. Use as 
many entries as necessary to list all persons and information required 
to be reported.
    Element (a). Enter the EIN for the person identified in element 
(a). If the name of an individual is entered in element (a) and the 
individual does not have an EIN, enter the EIN of the individual's 
employer. If the person is self-employed and does not have an EIN, you 
may enter the person's address and telephone number. Do not use a 
social security number in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule C and its 
attachments are open to public inspection and are subject to 
publication on the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion 
of a social security number on this Schedule C or any of its 
attachments may result in the rejection of the filing.
    Element (b). Select from the list below all codes that describe the 
services provided and compensation received. Enter as many codes as 
apply.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 Accounting (including auditing)          50 Direct payments from the
                                             plan
11 Actuarial                                51 Investment management
                                             fees paid directly by plan
12 Claims processing                        52 Investment management
                                             fees paid indirectly by
                                             plan (e.g., mutual fund
                                             investment adviser
                                             management fees)
13 Contract Administrator                   53 Insurance brokerage
                                             commissions and fees
14 Plan Administrator                       54 Sales loads (front end
                                             and deferred)
15 Recordkeeping and information            55 Other commissions
 management (computing, tabulating, data
 processing, etc.)
16 Consulting (general)                     56 Non-monetary compensation
17 Consulting (pension)                     57 Redemption fees
18 Custodial (other than securities)        58 Product termination fees
                                             (surrender charges, etc.)
19 Custodial (securities)                   59 Shareholder servicing
                                             fees
20 Trustee (individual)                     60 Sub-transfer agency fees
21 Trustee (bank, trust company or similar  61 Finders fees/placement
 financial institution)                      fees
22 Insurance agents and brokers             62 Float revenue

[[Page 64827]]

 
23 Insurance services                       63 Distribution (12b-1) fees
24 Trustee (discretionary)                  64 Recordkeeping fees
25 Trustee (directed)                       65 Shareholder servicing
                                             fees
26 Investment advisory (participants)       65 Account maintenance fees
27 Investment advisory (plan)               66 Insurance mortality and
                                             expense charge
28 Investment management                    67 Other insurance wrap fees
29 Legal                                    68 ``Soft dollar''
                                             commissions
30 Employee (plan)                          69 Insurance brokerage
                                             commissions and fees
31 Named fiduciary                          70 Consulting fees
32 Real estate brokerage                    71 Securities brokerage
                                             commissions and fees
33 Securities brokerage                     72 Other investment fees and
                                             expenses
34 Valuation (appraisals, etc.)             73 Other insurance fees and
                                             expenses
35 Employee (plan sponsor)
36 Copying and duplicating
37 Participant loan processing
38 Participant communication
39 Investment Company/Mutual Fund
40 Foreign entity (e.g., an agent or
 broker, bank, insurance company, etc. not
 operating within jurisdictional
 boundaries of the United States
49 Other Services                           99 Other Fees
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Element (c). Enter any relationship of the person identified in 
element (a) to the plan sponsor, to the participating employer or 
employee organization, or to any person known to be a party-in-
interest, for example, employee of employer, vice-president of 
employer, union officer, affiliate of plan recordkeeper, etc.
    Element (d). Enter the total amount of compensation received 
directly from the plan for services rendered to the plan during the 
plan year. If a service provider charges the plan a fee or commission, 
but agrees to offset the fee or commission with any revenue received 
from a party other than the plan or plan sponsor, for example, as part 
of a commission recapture or other offset arrangement, only the amount 
paid directly by the plan after any revenue sharing offset should be 
entered in Element (d). Do not leave element (d) blank--if no direct 
compensation was received, enter ``0.''
    Element (e). Check ``Yes'' if the person identified in element (a), 
or any related person, received during the plan year indirect 
compensation in connection with the person's position with the plan or 
services provided to the plan. (See instructions above on definition of 
indirect compensation). If the answer is ``No,'' skip elements (f) 
through (h) for the person identified in element (a).
    Element (f). Check ``Yes'' if any of the indirect compensation was 
eligible indirect compensation for which the plan received the 
necessary disclosures. See instructions for Line 1 for definition of 
eligible indirect compensation. Check ``No'' if none of the indirect 
compensation was eligible indirect compensation.
    Element (g). Enter the total of all indirect compensation that is 
not eligible indirect compensation for which the plan received the 
necessary disclosures. Do not leave blank. If none, enter ``0''.
    Element (h). Check ``Yes'' if the service provider, instead of an 
amount or an estimated amount, gave the plan a formula or other 
description of the method used to determine some or all of the indirect 
compensation received.
    Line 3. For each person identified in Line 2 who is a fiduciary to 
the plan or provides one or more of the following services to the plan 
`` contract administrator, consulting, investment advisory (plan or 
participants), investment management, securities brokerage, or 
recordkeeping `` enter the requested information for each source from 
whom the person received indirect compensation if (1) the amount of the 
compensation was $1,000 or more, or (2) the plan was given a formula or 
other description of the method used to determine the indirect 
compensation rather than an amount or estimated amount of the indirect 
compensation.

Part II--Service Providers Who Fail or Refuse To Provide Information

    Line 4. Provide the requested information for each plan fiduciary 
or service provider who you believe failed or refused to provide any of 
the information necessary to complete Part I of this Schedule.
    Important Reminder. Before identifying a fiduciary or service 
provider as a person who failed or refused to provide information, you 
should contact the fiduciary or service provider to request the 
necessary information and tell them that you will list them on the 
Schedule C as a fiduciary or service provider who failed or refused to 
provide information if they do not provide the necessary information.

Part III--Termination Information on Accountants and Enrolled Actuaries

    Complete Part III if there was a termination in the appointment of 
an accountant or enrolled actuary during the 2009 plan year. This 
information must be provided on the Form 5500 Return/Report for the 
plan year during which the termination occurred. For example, if an 
accountant was terminated in the 2009 plan year after completing work 
on an audit for the 2007 plan year, the termination should be reported 
on the Schedule C filed with the 2009 plan year Form 5500. If the 
accountant is a firm (such as a corporation, partnership, etc.), report 
when the service provider (not an individual within the firm) was 
terminated. An enrolled actuary is by definition an individual and not 
a firm, and you must report when the individual is terminated.
    Provide an explanation of the reasons for the termination of an 
accountant or enrolled actuary. Include a description of any material 
disputes or matters of disagreement concerning the termination, even if 
resolved prior to the termination. If an individual is listed, and the 
individual does not have an EIN, the EIN to be entered should be the 
EIN of the individual's employer. Do not use a social security number 
in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule C and its attachments are open to 
public inspection, and the contents are public information and are 
subject to publication on the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, 
the inclusion of a social security number on this Schedule C or any of 
its attachments may result in the rejection of the filing.
    The plan administrator must also provide the terminated accountant 
or enrolled actuary with a copy of the explanation for the termination 
provided in Part III of the Schedule C,

[[Page 64828]]

along with a completed copy of the notice below.

Notice to Terminated Accountant Or Enrolled Actuary

    I, as plan administrator, verify that the explanation that is 
reproduced below or attached to this notice is the explanation 
concerning your termination reported on the Schedule C (Form 5500) 
attached to the 2009 Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee 
Benefit Plan for the ----------------(enter name of plan). This Form 
5500 is identified in line 2b by the nine-digit EIN-------------(enter 
sponsor's EIN), and in line 1b by the three-digit PN--------(enter plan 
number).
    You have the opportunity to comment to the Department of Labor 
concerning any aspect of this explanation.
    Comments should include the name, EIN, and PN of the plan and be 
submitted to: Office of Enforcement, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, 
N.W., Washington, DC 20210.
    Signed
    Dated

2009 Instructions for Schedule D (Form 5500) DFE/Participating Plan 
Information

General Instructions

Purpose of Schedule

    When the Form 5500 Return/Report is filed for a plan or Direct 
Filing Entity (DFE) that invested or participated in any master trust 
investment accounts (MTIAs), 103-12 Investment Entities (103-12 IEs), 
common/collective trusts (CCTs) and/or pooled separate accounts (PSAs), 
Part I provides information about these entities. When the Form 5500 
Return/Report is filed for a DFE, Part II provides information about 
plans participating in the DFE.

Who Must File

    Employee Benefit Plans: Schedule D (Form 5500), DFE/Participating 
Plan Information (Schedule D), must be attached to a Form 5500 filed 
for an employee benefit plan that participated or invested in one or 
more CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, or 103-12 IEs at anytime during the plan year.
    Direct Filing Entities: Schedule D must be attached to a Form 5500 
filed for a CCT, PSA, MTIA, 103-12 IE or Group Insurance Arrangement 
(GIA), as a Direct Filing Entity (i.e., when ``a DFE'' is checked on 
Part I, Line A of the Form 5500). For more information, see 
instructions for Direct Filing Entity (DFE) Filing Requirements.
    Check the Schedule D box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10b(5)) if 
a Schedule D is attached to the Form 5500. As many repeating entries 
must be completed as necessary to report the required information.

Specific Instructions

    Lines A, B, C, and D. The information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule D is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a social security number in line D in lieu of an EIN. 
The Schedule D and its attachments are open to public inspection, and 
the contents are public information and are subject to publication on 
the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social 
security number on this Schedule D or any of its attachments may result 
in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on Form SS-4, Application 
for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. You can obtain 
Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web 
Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.

Part I--Information on Interests in MTIAs, CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs 
(To Be Completed by Plans and DFEs)

    Complete as many repeating entries as necessary to enter the 
information specified below for all MTIAs, CCTs, PSAs, and 103-12 IEs 
in which the plan or DFE filing the Form 5500 Return/Report 
participated at any time during the plan or DFE year.
    Complete a separate item (elements (a) through (e)) for each MTIA, 
CCT, PSA, or 103-12 IE.
    Element (a). Enter the name of the MTIA, CCT, PSA, or 103-12 IE in 
which the plan or DFE filing the Form 5500 Return/Report participated 
at any time during the plan or DFE year.
    Element (b). Enter the name of the sponsor of the MTIA, CCT, PSA, 
or 103-12 IE named in (a).
    Element (c). Enter the nine-digit employer identification number 
(EIN) and three-digit plan/entity number (PN) for each MTIA, CCT, PSA, 
or 103-12 IE named in (a). This must be the same DFE EIN/PN as reported 
on lines 2b and 1b of the Form 5500 filed for the DFE. If a Form 5500 
was not filed for a CCT or PSA named in element (a), enter the EIN for 
the CCT or PSA and enter 000 for the PN. Do not use a social security 
number in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule D and its attachments are open 
to public inspection, and the contents are public information and are 
subject to publication on the Internet.
    Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security 
number on this Schedule D or any of its attachments may result in the 
rejection of the filing.
    Element (d). Enter an M, C, P, or E, as appropriate, (see table 
below) to identify the type of entity (MTIA, CCT, PSA, or 103-12 IE).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Type of entity                        Enter in (d)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTIA....................................................               M
CCT.....................................................               C
PSA.....................................................               P
103-12 IE...............................................               E
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Element (e). Enter the dollar value of the plan's or DFE's interest 
as of the end of the year. If the plan or DFE for which this Schedule D 
is filed had no interest in the MTIA, CCT, PSA, or 103-12 IE listed at 
the end of the year, enter ``0'.
    Example for Part I: If a plan participates in an MTIA, the MTIA is 
named in element (a); the MTIA's sponsor is named in element (b); the 
MTIA's EIN and PN is entered in element (c) (such as: 12-3456789-001); 
an ``M'' is entered in element (d); and the dollar value of the plan's 
interest in the MTIA as of the end of the plan year is entered in 
element (e).
    If the plan also participates in a CCT for which a Form 5500 was 
not filed, the CCT is named in another element (a); the name of the CCT 
sponsor is entered in element (b); the EIN for the CCT, followed by 000 
is entered in element (c) (such as: 99-8765432-000); a ``C'' is entered 
in element (d); and the dollar value of the plan's interest in the CCT 
is entered in element (e).
    If the plan also participates in a PSA for which a Form 5500 was 
filed, the PSA is named in a third element (a); the name of the PSA 
sponsor is entered in element (b); the PSA's EIN and PN are entered in 
element (c) (such as: 98-7655555-001); a ``P'' is entered in element 
(d); and the dollar value of the plan's interest in the PSA is entered 
in element (e).

Part II--Information on Participating Plans (To Be Completed Only by 
DFEs)

    Complete as many repeating entries as necessary to enter the 
information specified below for all plans that invested or participated 
in the DFE at any time during the DFE year.
    Complete a separate item (elements (a) through (c)) for each plan.
    Element (a). Enter the name of each plan that invested or 
participated in the DFE at any time during the DFE year. GIAs need not 
complete element (a).
    Element (b). Enter the sponsor of each investing or participating 
plan. This section must be completed by DFEs for all participating 
plans even if those

[[Page 64829]]

plans are filing the Form 5500-SF and not the Form 5500 and Schedule D.
    Element (c). Enter the nine-digit EIN and three-digit PN for each 
plan named in element (a). This is the EIN and PN entered on lines 2b 
and 1b of the plan's Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF. GIAs should enter the 
EIN of the sponsor listed in element (b). Do not use a social security 
number in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule D and its attachments are open 
to public inspection, and the contents are public information and are 
subject to publication on the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, 
the inclusion of a social security number on this Schedule D or any of 
its attachments may result in the rejection of the filing.

2009 Instructions for Schedule G (Form 5500) Financial Transaction 
Schedules

General Instructions

Who Must File

    Schedule G (Form 5500), Financial Transaction Schedules (Schedule 
G), must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for a plan, MTIA, 103-12 IE, 
or GIA to report loans or fixed income obligations in default or 
determined to be uncollectible as of the end of the plan year, leases 
in default or classified as uncollectible, and nonexempt transactions. 
See Schedule H lines 4b, 4c, and/or 4d.
    Check the Schedule G box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10b(6)) if 
a Schedule G is attached to the Form 5500. As many entries must be 
completed as necessary to report the required information.
    The Schedule G consists of three parts. Part I of the Schedule G 
reports any loans or fixed income obligations in default or determined 
to be uncollectible as of the end of the plan year. Part II of the 
Schedule G reports any leases in default or classified as 
uncollectible. Part III of the Schedule G reports nonexempt 
transactions.

Specific Instructions

    Lines A, B, C, and D. This information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule G is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a social security number in line D in lieu of an EIN. 
The Schedule G and its attachments are open to public inspection, and 
the contents are public information and are subject to publication on 
the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social 
security number on this Schedule G or any of its attachments may result 
in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on Form SS-4, Application 
for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. You can obtain 
Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web 
Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.

Part I--Loans or Fixed Income Obligations in Default or Classified as 
Uncollectible

    List all loans or fixed income obligations in default or determined 
to be uncollectible as of the end of the plan year or the fiscal year 
of the GIA, MTIA, or 103-12 IE. Include:
    <bullet> Obligations where the required payments have not been made 
by the due date;
    <bullet> Fixed income obligations that have matured, but have not 
been paid, for which it has been determined that payment will not be 
made; and
    <bullet> Loans that were in default even if renegotiated later 
during the year.

    Note: Identify in element (a) each obligor known to be a party-
in-interest to the plan.

    Provide, on a separate attachment, an explanation of what steps 
have been taken or will be taken to collect overdue amounts for each 
loan listed and label the attachment ``Schedule G, Part I--Overdue Loan 
Explanation.''
    The due date, payment amount, and conditions for determining 
default in the case of a note or loan are usually contained in the 
documents establishing the note or loan. A loan is in default when the 
borrower is unable to pay the obligation upon maturity. Obligations 
that require periodic repayment can default at any time. Generally 
loans and fixed income obligations are considered uncollectible when 
payment has not been made and there is little probability that payment 
will be made. A fixed income obligation has a fixed maturity date at a 
specified interest rate.
    Do not report in Part I participant loans under an individual 
account plan with investment experience segregated for each account, 
that are made in accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1, and that are 
secured solely by a portion of the participant's vested accrued 
benefit. Report all other participant loans in default or classified as 
uncollectible on Part I, and list each such loan individually.

Part II--Leases in Default or Classified as Uncollectible

    List any leases in default or classified as uncollectible. A lease 
is an agreement conveying the right to use property, plant, or 
equipment for a stated period. A lease is in default when the required 
payment(s) has not been made. An uncollectible lease is one where the 
required payments have not been made and for which there is little 
probability that payment will be made. Provide, on a separate 
attachment, an explanation of what steps have been taken or will be 
taken to collect overdue amounts for each lease listed and label the 
attachment ``Schedule G, Part II--Overdue Lease Explanation.''

Part III--Nonexempt Transactions

    All nonexempt party-in-interest transactions must be reported, 
regardless of whether disclosed in the accountant's report, unless the 
nonexempt transaction is:
    1. Statutorily exempt under Part 4 of Title I of ERISA;
    2. Administratively exempt under ERISA section 408(a);
    3. Exempt under Code sections 4975(c) or 4975(d);
    4. The holding of participant contributions in the employer's 
general assets for a welfare plan that meets the conditions of ERISA 
Technical Release 92-01;
    5. A transaction of a 103-12 IE with parties other than the plan; 
or
    6. A delinquent participant contribution reported on Schedule H, 
line 4a.
    Nonexempt transactions with a party-in-interest include any direct 
or indirect:
    A. Sale or exchange, or lease, of any property between the plan and 
a party-in-interest.
    B. Lending of money or other extension of credit between the plan 
and a party-in-interest.
    C. Furnishing of goods, services, or facilities between the plan 
and a party-in-interest.
    D. Transfer to, or use by or for the benefit of, a party-in-
interest, of any income or assets of the plan.
    E. Acquisition, on behalf of the plan, of any employer security or 
employer real property in violation of ERISA section 407(a).
    F. Dealing with the assets of the plan for a fiduciary's own 
interest or own account.
    G. Acting in a fiduciary's individual or any other capacity in any 
transaction involving the plan on behalf of a party (or represent a 
party) whose interests are adverse to the interests of the plan or the 
interests of its participants or beneficiaries.
    H. Receipt of any consideration for his or her own personal account 
by a party-in-interest who is a fiduciary from any party dealing with 
the plan in connection with a transaction involving the income or 
assets of the plan.

[[Page 64830]]

    For purposes of this form, party-in-interest is deemed to include a 
disqualified person. See Code section 4975(e)(2). The term ``party-in-
interest'' means, as to an employee benefit plan:
    A. Any fiduciary (including, but not limited to, any administrator, 
officer, trustee or custodian), counsel, or employee of the plan;
    B. A person providing services to the plan;
    C. An employer, any of whose employees are covered by the plan;
    D. An employee organization, any of whose members are covered by 
the plan;
    E. An owner, direct or indirect, of 50% or more of: (1) The 
combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote or the 
total value of shares of all classes of stock of a corporation, (2) the 
capital interest or the profits interest of a partnership, or (3) the 
beneficial interest of a trust or unincorporated enterprise that is an 
employer or an employee organization described in C or D;
    F. A relative of any individual described in A, B, C, or E;
    G. A corporation, partnership, or trust or estate of which (or in 
which) 50% or more of:
    (1) The combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to 
vote or the total value of shares of all classes of stock of such 
corporation, (2) the capital interest or profits interest of such 
partnership, or (3) the beneficial interest of such trust or estate is 
owned directly or indirectly, or held by, persons described in A, B, C, 
D, or E;
    H. An employee, officer, director (or an individual having powers 
or responsibilities similar to those of officers or directors), or a 
10% or more shareholder, directly or indirectly, of a person described 
in B, C, D, E, or G, or of the employee benefit plan; or
    I. A 10% or more (directly or indirectly in capital or profits) 
partner or joint venturer of a person described in B, C, D, E, or G.
    CAUTION: An unfunded, fully insured, or combination unfunded/ 
insured welfare plan with 100 or more participants exempt under 29 CFR 
2520.104-44 from completing Schedule H must still complete Schedule G, 
Part III, to report nonexempt transactions.
    If you are unsure whether a transaction is exempt or not, you 
should consult with either the plan's independent qualified public 
accountant (IQPA) or legal counsel or both.
    You may indicate that an application for an administrative 
exemption is pending.
    If the plan is a qualified pension plan and a nonexempt prohibited 
transaction occurred with respect to a disqualified person, an IRS Form 
5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, is 
required to be filed with the IRS to pay the excise tax on the 
transaction.
    TIP: The DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) 
describes how to apply, the specific transactions covered (which 
transactions include delinquent participant contributions to pension 
and welfare plans), and acceptable methods for correcting violations. 
In addition, applicants that satisfy both the VFCP requirements and the 
conditions of Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2002-51 are 
eligible for immediate relief from payment of certain prohibited 
transaction excise taxes for certain corrected transactions, and are 
also relieved from the obligation to file the Form 5330 with the IRS. 
For more information, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006) and 71 FR 20135 
(Apr. 19, 2006). If the conditions of PTE 2002-51 are satisfied, 
corrected transactions should be treated as exempt under Code section 
4975(c) for the purposes of answering Schedule G, Part III. Information 
about the VFCP is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.

2009 Instructions for Schedule H (Form 5500) Financial Information

General Instructions

Who Must File

    Schedule H (Form 5500) must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for a 
pension benefit plan or a welfare benefit plan that covered 100 or more 
participants as of the beginning of the plan year and a Form 5500 filed 
for an MTIA, CCT, PSA, 103-12 IE, or GIA. See the instructions to the 
Form 5500 for Direct Filing Entity (DFE) Filing Requirements.

Exceptions:

    (1) Insured, unfunded, or a combination of unfunded/insured welfare 
plans and fully insured pension benefit plans that meet the 
requirements of 29 CFR 2520.104-44 are exempt from completing the 
Schedule H.
    (2) If a Schedule I was filed for the plan for the 2008 plan year 
and the plan covered fewer than 121 participants as of the beginning of 
the 2009 plan year, the Schedule I may be completed instead of a 
Schedule H. See What To File. If eligible, such a plan may file the 
Form 5500-SF instead of the Form 5500 and its schedules, including the 
Schedule I. See Instructions for Form 5500-SF.
    (3) Plans that file a Form 5500-SF for the 2009 plan year are not 
required to file a Schedule H for that year.
    Check the Schedule H box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10b(1)) if 
a Schedule H is attached to the Form 5500. Do not attach both a 
Schedule H and a Schedule I to the same Form 5500.

Specific Instructions

    Lines A, B, C, and D. This information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule H is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a social security number in line D in lieu of an EIN. 
The Schedule H and its attachments are open to public inspection, and 
the contents are public information and are subject to publication on 
the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social 
security number on this Schedule H or any of its attachments may result 
in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on Form SS-4, Application 
for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. You can obtain 
Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web 
Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.

    Note: The cash, modified cash, or accrual basis may be used for 
recognition of transactions in Parts I and II, as long as you use 
one method consistently. Round off all amounts reported on the 
Schedule H to the nearest dollar. Any other amounts are subject to 
rejection. Check all subtotals and totals carefully.

    If the assets of two or more plans are maintained in a fund or 
account that is not a DFE, a registered investment company, or the 
general account of an insurance company under an unallocated contract 
(see the instructions for lines 1c(9) through 1c(14)), complete Parts I 
and II of the Schedule H by entering the plan's allocable part of each 
line item.
    Exception: When completing Part II of the Schedule H for a plan or 
DFE that participates in a CCT or PSA for which a Form 5500 has not 
been filed, do not allocate the income of the CCT or PSA and expenses 
that were subtracted from the gross income of the CCT or PSA in 
determining their net investment gain (loss). Instead, enter the CCT or 
PSA net gain (loss) on line 2b(6) or (7) in accordance with the 
instructions for these lines.
    If assets of one plan are maintained in two or more trust funds, 
report the combined financial information in Parts I and II.
    Current value means fair market value where available. Otherwise, 
it means the

[[Page 64831]]

fair value as determined in good faith under the terms of the plan by a 
trustee or a named fiduciary, assuming an orderly liquidation at the 
time of the determination. See ERISA section 3(26).


    Note: For the 2009 plan year, plans that provide participant-
directed brokerage accounts as an investment alternative (and have 
entered pension feature code ``2R'' on line 8a of the Form 5500) may 
report investments in assets made through participant-directed 
brokerage accounts either:

    1. As individual investments on the applicable asset and 
liability categories in Part I and the income and expense categories 
in Part II, or
    2. By including on line 1c(15) the total aggregate value of the 
assets and on line 2c the total aggregate investment income (loss) 
before expenses, provided the assets are not loans, partnership or 
joint-venture interests, real property, employer securities, or 
investments that could result in a loss in excess of the account 
balance of the participant or beneficiary who directed the 
transaction. Expenses charged to the accounts must be reported on 
the applicable expense line items. Participant-directed brokerage 
account assets reported in the aggregate on line 1c(15) should be 
treated as one asset held for investment for purposes of the line 4i 
schedules, except that investments in tangible personal property 
must continue to be reported as separate assets on the line 4i 
schedules.

    In the event that investments made through a participant-directed 
brokerage account are loans, partnership or joint venture interests, 
real property, employer securities, or investments that could result in 
a loss in excess of the account balance of the participant or 
beneficiary who directed the transaction, such assets must be broken 
out and treated as separate assets on the applicable asset and 
liability categories in Part I, income and expense categories in Part 
II, and on the line 4i schedules. The remaining assets in the 
participant-directed brokerage account may be reported in the aggregate 
as set forth in paragraph 2 above.
    Columns (a) and (b). Enter the current value on each line as of the 
beginning and end of the plan year.


    Note: Amounts reported in column (a) must be the same as 
reported for the end of the plan year for corresponding line items 
of the return/report for the preceding plan year. Do not include 
contributions designated for the 2009 plan year in column (a).


    Line 1a. Total noninterest bearing cash includes, among other 
things, cash on hand or cash in a noninterest bearing checking account.
    Line 1b(1). Noncash basis filers must include contributions due the 
plan by the employer but not yet paid. Do not include other amounts due 
from the employer such as the reimbursement of an expense or the 
repayment of a loan.
    Line 1b(2). Noncash basis filers must include contributions 
withheld by the employer from participants and amounts due directly 
from participants that have not yet been received by the plan. Do not 
include the repayment of participant loans.
    Line 1b(3). Noncash basis filers must include amounts due to the 
plan that are not includable in lines 1b(1) or 1b(2). These amounts may 
include investment income earned but not yet received by the plan and 
other amounts due to the plan such as amounts due from the employer or 
another plan for expense reimbursement or from a participant for the 
repayment of an overpayment of benefits.
    Line 1c(1). Include all assets that earn interest in a financial 
institution account such as interest bearing checking accounts, 
passbook savings accounts, or money market accounts.
    Line 1c(2). Include securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. 
Government or its designated agencies, such as U.S. Savings Bonds, 
Treasury bonds, Treasury bills, FNMA, and GNMA.
    Line 1c(3). Include investment securities (other than employer 
securities defined below in 1d(1)) issued by a corporate entity at a 
stated interest rate repayable on a particular future date such as most 
bonds, debentures, convertible debentures, commercial paper and zero 
coupon bonds. Do not include debt securities of governmental units that 
should be reported on line 1c(2) or 1c(15).
    ``Preferred'' means any of the above securities that are publicly 
traded on a recognized securities exchange and the securities have a 
rating of ``A'' or above. If the securities are not ``Preferred,'' list 
them as ``Other.''
    Line 1c(4)(A). Include stock issued by corporations (other than 
employer securities defined in 1d(1) below) which is accompanied by 
preferential rights such as the right to share in distributions of 
earnings at a higher rate or which has general priority over the common 
stock of the same entity. Include the value of warrants convertible 
into preferred stock.
    Line 1c(4)(B). Include any stock (other than employer securities 
defined in 1d(1)) that represents regular ownership of the corporation 
and is not accompanied by preferential rights. Include the value of 
warrants convertible into common stock.
    Line 1c(5). Include the value of the plan's participation in a 
partnership or joint venture if the underlying assets of the 
partnership or joint venture are not considered to be plan assets under 
29 CFR 2510.3-101. Do not include the value of a plan's interest in a 
partnership or joint venture that is a 103-12 Investment Entity (103-12 
IE). Include the value of a 103-12 IE in line 1c(12).
    Line 1c(6). Include the current value of both income and non-income 
producing real property owned by the plan. Do not include the value of 
property that is employer real property or property used in plan 
operations that must be reported on lines 1d and 1e, respectively.
    Line 1c(7). Enter the current value of all loans made by the plan, 
except participant loans reportable on line 1c(8). Include the sum of 
the value of loans for construction, securities loans, commercial and/
or residential mortgage loans that are not subject to Code section 
72(p) (either by making or participating in the loans directly or by 
purchasing loans originated by a third party), and other miscellaneous 
loans.
    Line 1c(8). Enter the current value of all loans to participants 
including residential mortgage loans that are subject to Code section 
72(p). Include the sum of the value of the unpaid principal balances, 
plus accrued but unpaid interest, if any, for participant loans made 
under an individual account plan with investment experience segregated 
for each account that are made in accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 
and secured solely by a portion of the participant's vested accrued 
benefit.
    When applicable, combine this amount with the current value of any 
other participant loans. Do not include in column (b) a participant 
loan that has been deemed distributed during the plan year under the 
provisions of Code section 72(p) and Treasury Regulation section 
1.72(p)-1, if both of the following circumstances apply:
    1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed 
investment solely of the participant's individual account; and
    2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not 
continuing repayment under the loan.
    If both of these circumstances apply, report the loan as a deemed 
distribution on line 2g. However, if either of these circumstances does 
not apply, the current value of the participant loan (including 
interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) must be 
included in column (b) without regard to the occurrence of a deemed 
distribution.


    Note: After a participant loan that has been deemed distributed 
is reported on line 2g, it is no longer to be reported as an asset 
on

[[Page 64832]]

Schedule H or Schedule I unless, in a later year, the participant 
resumes repayment under the loan. However, such a loan (including 
interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) that has 
not been repaid is still considered outstanding for purposes of 
applying Code section 72(p)(2)(A) to determine the maximum amount of 
subsequent loans. Also, the deemed distribution is not treated as an 
actual distribution for other purposes, such as the qualification 
requirements of Code section 401, including, for example, the 
determination of top-heavy status under Code section 416 and the 
vesting requirements of Treasury Regulation section 1.411(a)-
7(d)(5). See Q&As 12 and 19 of Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-
1.


    The entry on line 1c(8), column (b), of Schedule H (participant 
loans--end of year) or on line 1a, column (b), of Schedule I (plan 
assets--end of year) must include the current value of any participant 
loan that was reported as a deemed distribution on line 2g for any 
earlier year if the participant resumes repayment under the loan during 
the plan year. In addition, the amount to be entered on line 2g must be 
reduced by the amount of the participant loan that was reported as a 
deemed distribution on line 2g for the earlier year.
    Lines 1c(9), (10), (11), and (12). Enter the total current value of 
the plan's or DFE's interest in DFEs on the appropriate lines as of the 
beginning and end of the plan or DFE year. The value of the plan's or 
DFE's interest in each DFE at the end of the plan or DFE year must be 
reported on the Schedule D (Form 5500).
    CAUTION: The plan's or DFE's interest in common/collective trusts 
(CCTs) and pooled separate accounts (PSAs) for which a DFE Form 5500 
has not been filed may not be included on lines 1c(9) or 1c(10). The 
plan's or DFE's interest in the underlying assets of such CCTs and PSAs 
must be allocated and reported in the appropriate categories on a line-
by-line basis on Part I of the Schedule H.


    Note: For reporting purposes, a separate account that is not 
considered to be holding plan assets pursuant to 29 CFR 2510.3-
101(h)(1)(iii) does not constitute a PSA.


    Line 1c(14). Use the same method for determining the value of the 
insurance contracts reported here as you used for line 4 of Schedule A, 
or, if line 4 is not required, line 7 of Schedule A.
    Line 1c(15). Include all other investments not includable in lines 
1c(1) through (14), such as options, index futures, repurchase 
agreements, state and municipal securities, collectibles, and other 
personal property.
    Line 1d(1). An employer security is any security issued by an 
employer (including affiliates) of employees covered by the plan. These 
may include common stocks, preferred stocks, bonds, zero coupon bonds, 
debentures, convertible debentures, notes, and commercial paper.
    Line 1d(2). The term ``employer real property'' means real property 
(and related personal property) that is leased to an employer of 
employees covered by the plan, or to an affiliate of such employer. For 
purposes of determining the time at which a plan acquires employer real 
property for purposes of this line, such property shall be deemed to be 
acquired by the plan on the date on which the plan acquires the 
property or on the date on which the lease to the employer (or 
affiliate) is entered into, whichever is later.
    Line 1e. Include the current (not book) value of the buildings and 
other property used in the operation of the plan. Buildings or other 
property held as plan investments should be reported in lines 1c(6) and 
1d(2). Do not include the value of future pension payments on lines 1g, 
h, i, j, or k.
    Line 1g. Noncash basis plans must include the total amount of 
benefit claims that have been processed and approved for payment by the 
plan. Include welfare plan ``incurred but not reported'' (IBNR) benefit 
claims on this line.
    Line 1h. Noncash basis plans must include the total amount of 
obligations owed by the plan which were incurred in the normal 
operations of the plan and have been approved for payment by the plan 
but have not been paid.
    Line 1i. ``Acquisition indebtedness,'' for debt-financed property 
other than real property, means the outstanding amount of the principal 
debt incurred:
    1. By the organization in acquiring or improving the property;
    2. Before the acquisition or improvement of the property if the 
debt was incurred only to acquire or improve the property; or
    3. After the acquisition or improvement of the property if the debt 
was incurred only to acquire or improve the property and was reasonably 
foreseeable at the time of such acquisition or improvement. For further 
explanation, see Code section 514(c).
    Line 1j. Noncash basis plans must include amounts owed for any 
liabilities that would not be classified as benefit claims payable, 
operating payables, or acquisition indebtedness.
    Line 1l. The entry in column (b) must equal the sum of the entry in 
column (a) plus lines 2k, 2l(1), and 2l(2).
    Line 2a. Include the total cash contributions received and/or (for 
accrual basis plans) due to be received.


    Note: Plans using the accrual basis of accounting should not 
include contributions designated for years before the 2009 plan year 
on line 2a.


    Line 2a(1)(B). For welfare plans, report all employee 
contributions, including all elective contributions under a cafeteria 
plan (Code section 125). For pension benefit plans, participant 
contributions, for purposes of this item, also include elective 
contributions under a qualified cash or deferred arrangement (Code 
section 401(k)).
    Line 2a(2). Use the current value, at date contributed, of 
securities or other noncash property.
    Line 2b(1)(A). Enter interest earned on interest-bearing cash, 
including earnings from sweep accounts, STIF accounts, money market 
accounts, certificates of deposit, etc. This is the interest earned on 
the investments reported on line 1c(1).
    Line 2b(1)(B). Enter interest earned on U.S. Government Securities. 
This is the interest earned on the investments reported on line 1c(2).
    Line 2b(1)(C). Generally, this is the interest earned on securities 
that are reported on lines 1(c)(3)(A) and (B) and 1d(1).
    Line 2b(2). Generally, the dividends are for investments reported 
on line 1c(4)(A) and (B), 1(c)(13), and 1d(1). For accrual basis plans, 
include any dividends declared for stock held on the date of record, 
but not yet received as of the end of the plan year.
    Line 2b(3). Generally, rents represent the income earned on the 
real property that is reported in items 1c(6) and 1d(2). Enter rents as 
a ``Net'' figure. Net rents are determined by taking the total rent 
received and subtracting all expenses directly associated with the 
property. If the real property is jointly used as income producing 
property and for the operation of the plan, net that portion of the 
expenses attributable to the income producing portion of the property 
against the total rents received.
    Line 2b(4). Enter in column (b) the total of net gain (loss) on 
sale of assets. This equals the sum of the net realized gain (or loss) 
on each asset held at the beginning of the plan year which was sold or 
exchanged during the plan year, and on each asset that was both 
acquired and disposed of within the plan year.


    Note: As current value reporting is required for the Form 5500, 
assets are revalued to current value at the end of the plan year. 
For purposes of this form, the

[[Page 64833]]

increase or decrease in the value of assets since the beginning of 
the plan year (if held on the first day of the plan year) or their 
acquisition date (if purchased during the plan year) is reported in 
line 2b(5) below, with two exceptions: (1) The realized gain (or 
loss) on each asset that was disposed of during the plan year is 
reported in 2b(4) (NOT on line 2b(5)), and (2) the net investment 
gain (or loss) from CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, 103-12 IEs, and registered 
investment companies is reported in lines 2b(6) through (10).


    The sum of the realized gain (or loss) on assets sold or exchanged 
during the plan year is to be calculated as follows:
    1. Enter in 2b(4)(A), column (a), the sum of the amount received 
for these former assets;
    2. Enter in 2b(4)(B), column (a), the sum of the current value of 
these former assets as of the beginning of the plan year and the 
purchase price for assets both acquired and disposed of during the plan 
year; and
    3. Enter in 2b(4)(C), column (b), the result obtained when 2b(4)(B) 
is subtracted from 2b(4)(A). If entering a negative number, enter a 
minus sign ``-'' to the left of the number.


    Note: Bond write-offs must be reported as realized losses.


    Line 2b(5). Subtract the current value of assets at the beginning 
of the year plus the cost of any assets acquired during the plan year 
from the current value of assets at the end of the year to obtain this 
figure. If entering a negative number, enter a minus sign ``-'' to the 
left of the number. Do not include the value of assets reportable in 
lines 2b(4) and 2b(6) through 2b(10).
    Lines 2b(6), (7), (8), and (9). Report all earnings, expenses, 
gains or losses, and unrealized appreciation or depreciation included 
in computing the net investment gain (or loss) from all CCTs, PSAs, 
MTIAs, and 103-12 IEs here. If some plan funds are held in any of these 
entities and other plan funds are held in other funding media, complete 
all applicable subitems of line 2 to report plan earnings and expenses 
relating to the other funding media. The net investment gain (or loss) 
allocated to the plan for the plan year from the plan's investment in 
these entities is equal to:
    1. The sum of the current value of the plan's interest in each 
entity at the end of the plan year,
    2. Minus the current value of the plan's interest in each entity at 
the beginning of the plan year,
    3. Plus any amounts transferred out of each entity by the plan 
during the plan year, and
    4. Minus any amounts transferred into each entity by the plan 
during the plan year.
    Enter the net gain as a positive number or the net loss as a 
negative number.


    Note: Enter the combined net investment gain or loss from all 
CCTs and PSAs, regardless of whether a DFE Form 5500 was filed for 
the CCTs and PSAs.


    Line 2b(10). Enter net investment gain (loss) from registered 
investment companies here. Compute in the same manner as discussed 
above for lines 2b(6) through (9).
    Line 2c. Include all other plan income earned that is not included 
in lines 2a or 2b. Do not include transfers to or from other plans 
reported in line 2l.
    Line 2e(1). Include the current value of all cash, securities, or 
other property at the date of distribution. Include all eligible 
rollover distributions as defined in Code section 401(a)(31)(C) paid at 
the participant's election to an eligible retirement plan (including an 
IRA within the meaning of section 401(a)(31)(D)).
    Line 2e(2). Include payments to insurance companies and similar 
organizations such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and health maintenance 
organizations for the provision of plan benefits (e.g., paid-up 
annuities, accident insurance, health insurance, vision care, dental 
coverage, stop-loss insurance whose claims are paid to the plan (or 
which is otherwise an asset of the plan)), etc.
    Line 2e(3). Include all payments made to other organizations or 
individuals providing benefits. Generally, these are individual 
providers of welfare benefits such as legal services, day care 
services, training, and apprenticeship services.
    Line 2f. Include on this line all distributions paid during the 
plan year of excess deferrals under Code section 402(g)(2)(A)(ii), 
excess contributions under section 401(k)(8), and excess aggregate 
contributions under section 401(m)(6). Include allocable income 
distributed. Also include on this line any elective deferrals and 
employee contributions distributed or returned to employees during the 
plan year in accordance with Treasury Regulation section 1.415-
6(b)(6)(iv), as well as any attributable gains that were also 
distributed.
    Line 2g. Report on line 2g a participant loan that has been deemed 
distributed during the plan year under the provisions of Code section 
72(p) and Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1 only if both of the 
following circumstances apply:
    1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed 
investment solely of the participant's individual account; and
    2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not 
continuing repayment under the loan.
    If either of these circumstances does not apply, a deemed 
distribution of a participant loan must not be reported on line 2g. 
Instead, the current value of the participant loan (including interest 
accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) must be included on 
line 1c(8), column (b) (participant loans--end of year), without regard 
to the occurrence of a deemed distribution.


    Note: The amount to be reported on line 2g of Schedule H or 
Schedule I must be reduced if, during the plan year, a participant 
resumes repayment under a participant loan reported as a deemed 
distribution on line 2g for any earlier year. The amount of the 
required reduction is the amount of the participant loan reported as 
a deemed distribution on line 2g for the earlier year. If entering a 
negative number, enter a minus sign ``-'' to the left of the number. 
The current value of the participant loan must then be included in 
line 1c(8), column (b), of Schedule H (participant loans--end of 
year) or in line 1a, column (b), of Schedule I (plan assets--end of 
year).


    Although certain participant loans that are deemed distributed are 
to be reported on line 2g of the Schedule H or Schedule I, and are not 
to be reported on the Schedule H or Schedule I as an asset thereafter 
(unless the participant resumes repayment under the loan in a later 
year), they are still considered outstanding loans and are not treated 
as actual distributions for certain purposes. See Q&As 12 and 19 of 
Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1.
    Line 2h. Interest expense is a monetary charge for the use of money 
borrowed by the plan. This amount should include the total of interest 
paid or to be paid (for accrual basis plans) during the plan year.
    Line 2i. Report all administrative expenses (by specified category) 
paid by or charged to the plan, including those that were not 
subtracted from the gross income of CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 IEs 
in determining their net investment gain(s) or loss(es). Expenses 
incurred in the general operations of the plan are classified as 
administrative expenses.
    Line 2i(1). Include the total fees paid (or in the case of accrual 
basis plans costs incurred during the plan year but not paid as of the 
end of the plan year) by the plan for outside accounting, actuarial, 
legal, and valuation/appraisal services. Include fees for the annual 
audit of the plan by an independent qualified public accountant (IQPA); 
for payroll audits; for accounting/ bookkeeping services; for actuarial 
services rendered to the plan; and to a

[[Page 64834]]

lawyer for rendering legal opinions, litigation, and advice (but not 
for providing legal services as a benefit to plan participants). Report 
here fees and expenses for corporate trustees and individual plan 
trustees, including reimbursement of expenses associated with trustees, 
such as lost time, seminars, travel, meetings, etc. Include the fee(s) 
for valuations or appraisals to determine the cost, quality, or value 
of an item such as real property, personal property (gemstones, coins, 
etc.), and for valuations of closely held securities for which there is 
no ready market. Do not include amounts paid to plan employees to 
perform bookkeeping/accounting functions that should be included in 
line 2i(4).
    Line 2i(2). Enter the total fees paid (or in the case of accrual 
basis plans, costs incurred during the plan year but not paid as of the 
end of the plan year) to a contract administrator for performing 
administrative services for the plan. For purposes of the return/
report, a contract administrator is any individual, partnership or 
corporation, responsible for managing the clerical operations (e.g., 
handling membership rosters, claims payments, maintaining books and 
records) of the plan on a contractual basis. Do not include salaried 
staff or employees of the plan or banks or insurance carriers.
    Line 2i(3). Enter the total fees paid (or in the case of accrual 
basis plans, costs incurred during the plan year but not paid as of the 
end of the plan year) to an individual, partnership or corporation (or 
other person) for advice to the plan relating to its investment 
portfolio. These may include fees paid to manage the plan's 
investments, fees for specific advice on a particular investment, and 
fees for the evaluation of the plan's investment performance.
    Line 2i(4). Other expenses are those that cannot be included in 
lines 2i(1) through 2i(3). These may include plan expenditures such as 
salaries and other compensation and allowances (e.g., payment of 
premiums to provide health insurance benefits to plan employees), 
expenses for office supplies and equipment, cars, telephone, postage, 
rent, expenses associated with the ownership of a building used in the 
operation of the plan, and all miscellaneous expenses.
    Line 2l. Include in these reconciliation figures the value of all 
transfers of assets or liabilities into or out of the plan resulting 
from, among other things, mergers and consolidations. A transfer of 
assets or liabilities occurs when there is a reduction of assets or 
liabilities with respect to one plan and the receipt of these assets or 
the assumption of these liabilities by another plan. A transfer is not 
a shifting of one plan's assets or liabilities from one investment to 
another. A transfer is not a distribution of all or part of an 
individual participant's account balance that is reportable on IRS Form 
1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-
Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., (see the instructions 
for line 2e). Transfers out at the end of the year should be reported 
as occurring during the plan year.


    Note: If this Schedule H is filed for a DFE, report the value of 
all asset transfers to the DFE, including those resulting from 
contributions to participating plans on line 2l(1), and report the 
total value of all assets transferred out of the DFE, including 
assets withdrawn for disbursement as benefit payments by 
participating plans, on line 2l(2). Contributions and benefit 
payments are considered to be made to/by the plan (not to/by a DFE).


    Line 3. The administrator of an employee benefit plan who files a 
Schedule H generally must engage an IQPA pursuant to ERISA section 
103(a)(3)(A) and 29 CFR 2520.103-1(b). This requirement also applies to 
a Form 5500 Return/Report filed for a 103-12 IE and for a GIA (see 29 
CFR 2520.103-12 and 29 CFR 2520.103-2). The IQPA's report must be 
attached to the Form 5500 Return/Report when a Schedule H is attached 
unless line 3d(1) or 3d(2) on the Schedule H is checked.
    29 CFR 2520.103-1(b) requires that any separate financial 
statements prepared in order for the IQPA to form the opinion and notes 
to these financial statements must be attached to the Form 5500 Return/
Report. Any separate statements must include the information required 
to be disclosed in Parts I and II of the Schedule H; however, they may 
be aggregated into categories in a manner other than that used on the 
Schedule H. The separate statements must consist of reproductions of 
Parts I and II or statements incorporating by references Parts I and 
II. See ERISA section 103(a)(3)(A), and the DOL regulations 29 CFR 
2520.103-1(a)(2) and (b), 2520.103-2, and 2520.104-50.


    Note: Delinquent participant contributions reported on line 4a 
should be treated as part of the separate schedules referenced in 
ERISA section 103(a)(3)(A) and 29 CFR 2520.103-1(b) and 2520.103-
2(b) for purposes of preparing the IQPA's opinion described on line 
3 even though they are no longer required to be listed on Part III 
of the Schedule G. If the information contained on line 4a is not 
presented in accordance with regulatory requirements, i.e., when the 
IQPA concludes that the scheduled information required by Line 4a 
does not contain all the required information or contains 
information that is inaccurate or is inconsistent with the plan's 
financial statements, the IQPA report must make the appropriate 
disclosures in accordance with generally accepted auditing 
standards. Delinquent participant contributions that are exempt 
because they satisfy the DOL voluntary fiduciary correction program 
(VFCP) requirements and the conditions of prohibited transaction 
exemption (PTE) 2002-51 do not need to be treated as part of the 
schedule of nonexempt party-in-interest transactions.


    If the required IQPA's report is not attached to the Form 5500 
Return/Report, the filing is subject to rejection as incomplete and 
penalties may be assessed.
    Lines 3a(1) through 3a(4). These boxes identify the type of opinion 
offered by the accountant.
    Line 3a(1). Check if an unqualified opinion was issued. Generally, 
an unqualified opinion is issued when the IQPA concludes that the 
plan's financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, 
the financial status of the plan as of the end of the period audited 
and the changes in its financial status for the period under audit in 
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) or an 
other comprehensive basis of accounting (OCBOA), e.g., cash basis.
    Line 3a(2). Check if a qualified opinion was issued. Generally, a 
qualified opinion is issued by an IQPA when the plan's financial 
statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial 
status of the plan as of the end of the audit period and the changes in 
its financial status for the period under audit in conformity with GAAP 
or OCBOA, except for the effects of one or more matters described in 
the opinion.
    Line 3a(3). Check if a disclaimer of opinion was issued. A 
disclaimer of opinion is issued when the IQPA does not express an 
opinion on the financial statements because he or she has not performed 
an audit sufficient in scope to enable him or her to form an opinion on 
the financial statements.
    Line 3a(4). Check if the plan received an adverse accountant's 
opinion. Generally, an adverse opinion is issued by an IQPA when the 
plan's financial statements do not present fairly, in all material 
respects, the financial status of the plan as of the end of the audit 
period and the changes in its financial status for the period under 
audit in conformity with GAAP or OCBOA.
    Line 3b. Check ``Yes'' if a box is checked on line 3a and the scope 
of the plan's audit was limited pursuant to DOL regulations 29 CFR 
2520.103-8 and 2520.103-12(d) because the

[[Page 64835]]

examination and report of an IQPA did not extend to: (a) Statements or 
information regarding assets held by a bank, similar institution or 
insurance carrier that is regulated and supervised and subject to 
periodic examination by a state or federal agency provided that the 
statements or information are prepared by and certified to by the bank 
or similar institution or an insurance carrier, or (b) information 
included with the Form 5500 Return/Report filed for a 103-12 IE.
    The term ``similar institution'' as used here does not extend to 
securities brokerage firms (see DOL Advisory Opinion 93-21A). See 29 
CFR 2520.103-8 and 2520.103-12(d).


    Note: These regulations do not exempt the plan administrator 
from engaging an IQPA or from attaching the IQPA's report to the 
Form 5500 Return/Report. If you check line 3b, you must also check 
the appropriate box on line 3a to identify the type of opinion 
offered by the IQPA.


    Line 3c. Enter the name and EIN of the accountant (or accounting 
firm) in the space provided on line 3c. Do not use a social security 
number in lieu of an EIN. The Schedule H is open to public inspection, 
and the contents are public information and are subject to publication 
on the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social 
security number on this Schedule H may result in the rejection of the 
filing.
    Line 3d(1). Check this box only if the Schedule H is being filed 
for a CCT, PSA, or MTIA.
    Line 3d(2). Check this box if the plan has elected to defer 
attaching the IQPA's opinion for the first of two (2) consecutive plan 
years, one of which is a short plan year of seven (7) months or fewer. 
The Form 5500 for the first of the two years must be complete and 
accurate, with all required schedules and attachments, except for the 
IQPA's report, including an attachment explaining why one of the two 
plan years is of seven or fewer months duration and stating that the 
annual report for the immediately following plan year will include a 
report of an IQPA with respect to the financial statements and 
accompanying schedules for both of the two plan years. The Form 5500 
Return/Report for the second year must include: (a) Financial schedules 
and statements for both plan years; (b) a report of an IQPA with 
respect to the financial schedules and statements for each of the two 
plan years (regardless of the number of participants covered at the 
beginning of each plan year); and (c) a statement identifying any 
material differences between the unaudited financial information 
submitted with the first Form 5500 and the audited financial 
information submitted with the second Form 5500. See 29 CFR 2520.104-
50.


    Note: Do not check the box on line 3d(2) if the Form 5500 
Return/Report is filed for a 103-12 IE or a GIA. A deferral of the 
IQPA's opinion is not permitted for a 103-12 IE or a GIA. If an E or 
G is entered on Form 5500, Part I, line A(4), an IQPA's opinion must 
be attached to the Form 5500 Return/Report, and the type of opinion 
must be reported on Schedule H, line 3a.


    Lines 4a through 4n. Plans completing Schedule H must answer all 
these lines either ``Yes'' or ``No.'' If lines 4a through 4h are 
``Yes'' or line 4l is ``Yes'' an amount must be entered where 
indicated.
    Report investments in CCTs, PSAs, MTIAs, and 103-12 IEs, but not 
the investments made by these entities. Plans with all of their funds 
held in a master trust must check ``No'' on lines 4b, 4c, 4i, and 4j. 
CCTs and PSAs do not complete Part IV. MTIAs, 103-12 IEs, and GIAs do 
not complete lines 4a, 4e, 4f, 4g, 4h, 4k, 4m, or 4n. 103-12 IEs also 
do not complete lines 4j and 4l. MTIAs also do not complete line 4l.
    Line 4a. Amounts paid by a participant or beneficiary to an 
employer and/or withheld by an employer for contribution to the plan 
are participant contributions that become plan assets as of the 
earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated 
from the employer's general assets (see 29 CFR 2510.3-102). An employer 
holding these assets after that date commingled with its general assets 
will have engaged in a prohibited use of plan assets (see ERISA section 
406). If such a nonexempt prohibited transaction occurred with respect 
to a disqualified person (see Code section 4975(e)(2)), file IRS Form 
5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, with 
the IRS to pay any applicable excise tax on the transaction.
    Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the aggregate amount of all 
late contributions for the year. The total amount of the delinquent 
contributions must be included on line 4a of the Schedule H or I, as 
applicable, for the year in which the contributions were delinquent and 
must be carried over and reported again on line 4a of the Schedule H or 
I, as applicable, for each subsequent year until the year after the 
violation has been fully corrected, which correction includes payment 
of the late contributions and reimbursement of the plan for lost 
earnings or profits. If no participant contributions were received or 
withheld by the employer during the plan year, answer ``No.''
    Participant loan repayments paid to and/or withheld by an employer 
for purposes of transmittal to the plan that were not transmitted to 
the plan in a timely fashion must be reported either on line 4a in 
accordance with the reporting requirements that apply to delinquent 
participant contributions or on line 4d. See Advisory Opinion 2002-02A, 
available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    TIP: Delinquent participant contributions reported on line 4a must 
be treated as part of the separate schedules referenced in ERISA 
section 103(a)(3)(A) and 29 CFR 2520.103-1(b) and 2520.103-2(b) for 
purposes of preparing the IQPA's opinion described on line 3 even 
though they are no longer required to be listed on Part III of the 
Schedule G. If the information contained on line 4a is not presented in 
accordance with regulatory requirements, i.e., when the IQPA concludes 
that the scheduled information required by line 4a does not contain all 
the required information or contains information that is inaccurate or 
is inconsistent with the plan's financial statements, the IQPA report 
must make the appropriate disclosures in accordance with generally 
accepted auditing standards. For more information, see EBSA's 
Frequently Asked Questions About Reporting Delinquent Contributions on 
the Form 5500, available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa. 
These Frequently Asked Questions clarify that plans have an obligation 
to include delinquent participant contributions on their financial 
statements and supplemental schedules and that the IQPA's report covers 
such delinquent contributions even though they are no longer required 
to be included on Part III of the Schedule G. Although all delinquent 
participant contributions must be reported on line 4a, delinquent 
contributions for which the DOL VFCP requirements and the conditions of 
PTE 2002-51 have been satisfied do not need to be treated as nonexempt 
party-in-interest transactions.
    The VFCP describes how to apply the specific transactions covered 
(which transactions include delinquent participant contributions to 
pension and welfare plans), and acceptable methods for correcting 
violations. In addition, applicants that satisfy both the VFCP 
requirements and the conditions of PTE 2002-51 are eligible for 
immediate relief from payment of certain prohibited transaction excise 
taxes for certain corrected transactions, and are also

[[Page 64836]]

relieved from the obligation to file the IRS Form 5330 with the IRS. 
For more information, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006) and 71 FR 20135 
(Apr. 19, 2006).
    All delinquent participant contributions must be reported on line 
4a even if violations have been corrected. Information about the VFCP 
is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    Line 4a Schedule. Attach a Schedule of Delinquent Participant 
Contributions using the format below if you entered ``Yes.'' If you 
choose to include participant loan repayments on line 4a, you must 
apply the same supplemental schedule and IQPA disclosure requirements 
to the loan repayments as applied to delinquent transmittals of 
participant contributions.

                                         Schedule H Line 4a.--Schedule of Delinquent Participation Contributions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Total that Constitute Nonexempt Prohibited Transactions
      Participant Contributions      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Fully Corrected Under
      Transferred Late to Plan                                       Contributions Corrected       Contributions Pending         VFCP and PTE 2002-51
                                      Contributions Not Corrected          Outside VFCP              Correction in VFCP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check here if Late Participant Loan
 Repayments are included: [squ]
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Line 4b. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount and 
complete Part I of Schedule G. The due date, payment amount and 
conditions for determining default of a note or loan are usually 
contained in the documents establishing the note or loan. A loan by the 
plan is in default when the borrower is unable to pay the obligation 
upon maturity. Obligations that require periodic repayment can default 
at any time. Generally, loans and fixed income obligations are 
considered uncollectible when payment has not been made and there is 
little probability that payment will be made. A fixed income obligation 
has a fixed maturity date at a specified interest rate. Do not include 
participant loans made under an individual account plan with investment 
experience segregated for each account that were made in accordance 
with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 and secured solely by a portion of the 
participant's vested accrued benefit.
    Line 4c. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount and 
complete Part II of Schedule G. A lease is an agreement conveying the 
right to use property, plant, or equipment for a stated period. A lease 
is in default when the required payment(s) has not been made. An 
uncollectible lease is one where the required payments have not been 
made and for which there is little probability that payment will be 
made.
    Line 4d. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount and 
complete Part III of Schedule G. Check ``Yes'' if any nonexempt 
transaction with a party-in-interest occurred regardless of whether the 
transaction is disclosed in the IQPA's report. Do not check ``Yes'' or 
complete Schedule G, Part III, with respect to transactions that are: 
(1) Statutorily exempt under Part 4 of Title I of ERISA; (2) 
administratively exempt under ERISA section 408(a); (3) exempt under 
Code sections 4975(c) or 4975(d); (4) the holding of participant 
contributions in the employer's general assets for a welfare plan that 
meets the conditions of ERISA Technical Release 92-01; (5) a 
transaction of a 103-12 IE with parties other than the plan; or (6) 
delinquent participant contributions reported on line 4a.


    Note: See the instructions for Part III of the Schedule G 
concerning non-exempt transactions and parties-in-interest.


    You may indicate that an application for an administrative 
exemption is pending. If you are unsure as to whether a transaction is 
exempt or not, you should consult with either the plan's IQPA or legal 
counsel or both.
    TIP: Applicants that satisfy the VFCP requirements and the 
conditions of PTE 2002-51 (see the instructions for line 4a) are 
eligible for immediate relief from payment of certain prohibited 
transaction excise taxes for certain corrected transactions, and are 
also relieved from the obligation to file the IRS Form 5330 with the 
IRS. For more information, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006) and 71 FR 
20135 (Apr. 19, 2006). When the conditions of PTE 2002-51 have been 
satisfied, the corrected transactions should be treated as exempt under 
Code section 4975(c) for the purposes of answering line 4d.
    Line 4e. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the aggregate amount 
of fidelity bond coverage for all claims. Check ``Yes'' only if the 
plan itself (as opposed to the plan sponsor or administrator) is a 
named insured under a fidelity bond from an approved surety covering 
plan officials and that protects the plan as described in 29 CFR Part 
2580. Generally, every plan official of an employee benefit plan who 
``handles'' funds or other property of such plan must be bonded. 
Generally, a person shall be deemed to be ``handling'' funds or other 
property of a plan, so as to require bonding, whenever his or her other 
duties or activities with respect to given funds are such that there is 
a risk that such funds could be lost in the event of fraud or 
dishonesty on the part of such person, acting either alone or in 
collusion with others. Section 412 of ERISA and 29 CFR Part 2580 
describe the bonding requirements, including the definition of 
``handling'' (29 CFR 2580.412-6), the permissible forms of bonds (29 
CFR 2580.412-10), the amount of the bond (29 CFR Part 2580, subpart C), 
and certain exemptions such as the exemption for unfunded plans, 
certain banks and insurance companies (ERISA section 412), and the 
exemption allowing plan officials to purchase bonds from surety 
companies authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury as acceptable 
reinsurers on Federal bonds (29 CFR 2580.412-23). Information 
concerning the list of approved sureties and reinsurers is available on 
the Internet at http://www.fms.treas.gov/c570.

    Note: Plans are permitted under certain conditions to purchase 
fiduciary liability insurance with plan assets. These fiduciary 
liability insurance policies are not written specifically to protect 
the plan from losses due to dishonest acts and are not fidelity 
bonds reported in line 4e.

    Line 4f. Check ``Yes'' if the plan suffered or discovered any loss 
as a result of any dishonest or fraudulent act(s) even if the loss was 
reimbursed by the plan's fidelity bond or from any other source. If 
``Yes'' is checked enter the full amount of the loss. If the full 
amount of the loss has not yet been determined, provide an estimate as 
determined in good faith by a plan fiduciary. You must keep, in 
accordance with ERISA section 107, records showing how the estimate was 
determined.
    CAUTION: Willful failure to report is a criminal offense. See ERISA 
section 501.

[[Page 64837]]

    Lines 4g and 4h. Current value means fair market value where 
available. Otherwise, it means the fair value as determined in good 
faith under the terms of the plan by a trustee or a named fiduciary, 
assuming an orderly liquidation at the time of the determination. See 
ERISA section 3(26).
    An accurate assessment of fair market value is essential to a 
pension plan's ability to comply with the requirements set forth in the 
Code (e.g., the exclusive benefit rule of Code section 401(a)(2), the 
limitations on benefits and contributions under Code section 415, and 
the minimum funding requirements under Code section 412) and must be 
determined annually.
    Examples of assets that may not have a readily determinable value 
on an established market (e.g., NYSE, AMEX, over the counter, etc.) 
include real estate, nonpublicly traded securities, shares in a limited 
partnership, and collectibles. Do not check ``Yes'' on line 4g for 
mutual fund shares or insurance company investment contracts. Also do 
not check ``Yes'' on line 4g if the plan is a defined contribution plan 
and the only assets the plan holds that do not have a readily 
determinable value on an established market are: (1) Participant loans 
not in default or (2) assets over which the participant exercises 
control within the meaning of section 404(c) of ERISA.
    Although the current value of plan assets must be determined each 
year, there is no requirement that the assets (other than certain 
nonpublicly traded employer securities held in ESOPs) be valued every 
year by independent third-party appraisers.
    Enter in the amount column the fair market value of the assets 
referred to on line 4g whose value was not readily determinable on an 
established market and which were not valued by an independent third-
party appraiser in the plan year. Generally, as it relates to these 
questions, an appraisal by an independent third party is an evaluation 
of the value of an asset prepared by an individual or firm who knows 
how to judge the value of such assets and does not have an ongoing 
relationship with the plan or plan fiduciaries except for preparing the 
appraisals.
    Line 4i. Check ``Yes'' if the plan had any assets held for 
investment purposes, and attach a schedule of assets held for 
investment purposes at end of year, a schedule of assets held for 
investment purposes that were both acquired and disposed of within the 
plan year, or both, as applicable. The schedules must use the format 
set forth below or a similar format. See 29 CFR 2520.103-11.
    Assets held for investment purposes shall include:
    <bullet> Any investment asset held by the plan on the last day of 
the plan year; and
    <bullet> Any investment asset purchased during the plan year and 
sold before the end of the plan year except:
    1. Debt obligations of the U.S. or any U.S. agency.
    2. Interests issued by a company registered under the Investment 
Company Act of 1940 (e.g., a mutual fund).
    3. Bank certificates of deposit with a maturity of one year or 
less.
    4. Commercial paper with a maturity of 9 months or less if it is 
valued in the highest rating category by at least two nationally 
recognized statistical rating services and is issued by a company 
required to file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
under section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
    5. Participations in a bank common or collective trust.
    6. Participations in an insurance company pooled separate account.
    7. Securities purchased from a broker-dealer registered under the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and either: (1) Listed on a national 
securities exchange and registered under section 6 of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 or (2) quoted on NASDAQ.
    Assets held for investment purposes shall not include any 
investment that was not held by the plan on the last day of the plan 
year if that investment is reported in the annual report for that plan 
year in any of the following:
    1. The schedule of loans or fixed income obligations in default 
required by Schedule G, Part I;
    2. The schedule of leases in default or classified as uncollectible 
required by Schedule G, Part II;
    3. The schedule of non-exempt transactions required by Schedule G, 
Part III; or
    4. The schedule of reportable transactions required by Schedule H, 
line 4j.
    Line 4i schedules. The first schedule required to be attached is a 
schedule of all assets held for investment purposes at the end of the 
plan year, aggregated and identified by issue, maturity date, rate of 
interest, collateral, par or maturity value, cost and current value, 
and, in the case of a loan, the payment schedule.
    In column (a), place an asterisk (*) on the line of each identified 
person known to be a party-in-interest to the plan. In column (c), 
include any restriction on transferability of corporate securities. 
(Include lending of securities permitted under Prohibited Transactions 
Exemption 81-6.)
    This schedule must be clearly labeled ``Schedule H, line 4i--
Schedule of Assets (Held At End of Year).''

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                (c) Description of
                          (b) Identity of      investment including
                          issue, borrower,     maturity date, rate
         (a)             lessor, or similar        of interest,             (d) Cost          (e) Current value
                               party           collateral, par, or
                                                  maturity value
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The second schedule required to be attached is a schedule of 
investment assets that were both acquired and disposed of within the 
plan year. This schedule must be clearly labeled ``Schedule H, line 
4i--Schedule of Assets (Acquired and Disposed of Within Year).''

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    (b) Description
                     of investment
 (a) Identity of       including
 issue, borrower,    maturity date,     (c) Costs of     (d) Proceeds of
    lessor, or     rate of interest,    acquisitions      dispositions
  similar party     collateral, par,
                   or maturity value
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 64838]]

 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Notes: (1) Participant loans under an individual account plan 
with investment experience segregated for each account, that are 
made in accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 and that are secured 
solely by a portion of the participant's vested accrued benefit, may 
be aggregated for reporting purposes in item 4i. Under identity of 
borrower enter ``Participant loans,'' under rate of interest enter 
the lowest rate and the highest rate charged during the plan year 
(e.g., 8%-10%), under the cost and proceeds columns enter zero, and 
under current value enter the total amount of these loans. (2) 
Column (d) cost information for the Schedule of Assets (Held At End 
of Year) and the column (c) cost of acquisitions information for the 
Schedule of Assets (Acquired and Disposed of Within Year) may be 
omitted when reporting investments of an individual account plan 
that a participant or beneficiary directed with respect to assets 
allocated to his or her account (including a negative election 
authorized under the terms of the plan). Likewise, investments in 
Code section 403(b)(1) annuity contracts and Code section 403(b)(7) 
custodial accounts may also be omitted. (3) Participant-directed 
brokerage account assets reporting in the aggregate on line 1c(15) 
must be treated as one asset held for investment for purposes of the 
line 4i schedules, except investments in tangible personal property 
must continue to be reported as separate assets on the line 4i 
schedules. Investments in Code section 403(b) annuity contracts and 
Code section 403(b)(7) custodial accounts should also be treated as 
one asset held for investment for purposes on the line 4i schedules.

    Line 4j. Check ``Yes'' and attach to the Form 5500 the following 
schedule if the plan had any reportable transactions (see 29 CFR 
2520.103-6 and the examples provided in the regulation). The schedule 
must use the format set forth below or a similar format. See 29 CFR 
2520.103-11.
    A reportable transaction includes:
    1. A single transaction within the plan year in excess of 5% of the 
current value of the plan assets;
    2. Any series of transactions with or in conjunction with the same 
person, involving property other than securities, which amount in the 
aggregate within the plan year (regardless of the category of asset and 
the gain or loss on any transaction) to more than 5% of the current 
value of plan assets;
    3. Any transaction within the plan year involving securities of the 
same issue if within the plan year any series of transactions with 
respect to such securities amount in the aggregate to more than 5% of 
the current value of the plan assets; and
    4. Any transaction within the plan year with respect to securities 
with, or in conjunction with, a person if any prior or subsequent 
single transaction within the plan year with such person, with respect 
to securities, exceeds 5% of the current value of plan assets.
    The 5% figure is determined by comparing the current value of the 
transaction at the transaction date with the current value of the plan 
assets at the beginning of the plan year. If this is the initial plan 
year, you may use the current value of plan assets at the end of the 
plan year to determine the 5% figure.
    If the assets of two or more plans are maintained in one trust, 
except as provided below, the plan's allocable portion of the 
transactions of the trust shall be combined with the other transactions 
of the plan, if any, to determine which transactions (or series of 
transactions) are reportable (5%) transactions.
    For investments in common/collective trusts (CCTs), pooled separate 
accounts (PSAs), 103-12 IEs and registered investment companies, 
determine the 5% figure by comparing the transaction date value of the 
acquisition and/or disposition of units of participation or shares in 
the entity with the current value of the plan assets at the beginning 
of the plan year. If the Schedule H is attached to a Form 5500 filed 
for a plan with all plan funds held in a master trust, check ``No'' on 
line 4j. Plans with assets in a master trust that have other 
transactions should determine the 5% figure by subtracting the current 
value of plan assets held in the master trust from the current value of 
all plan assets at the beginning of the plan year and check ``Yes'' or 
``No,'' as appropriate. Do not include individual transactions of CCTs, 
PSAs, master trust investment accounts (MTIAs), 103-12 IEs, and 
registered investment companies in which this plan or DFE invests.
    In the case of a purchase or sale of a security on the market, do 
not identify the person from whom purchased or to whom sold.
    Special rule for certain participant-directed transactions. 
Transactions under an individual account plan that a participant or 
beneficiary directed with respect to assets allocated to his or her 
account (including a negative election authorized under the terms of 
the plan) should not be treated for purposes of line 4j as reportable 
transactions. The current value of all assets of the plan, including 
these participant-directed transactions, should be included in 
determining the 5% figure for all other transactions.
    Line 4j schedule. The schedule required to be attached is a 
schedule of reportable transactions that must be clearly labeled 
``Schedule H, line 4j--Schedule of Reportable Transactions.''

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  (b) Description of
                                    asset (include                                                                    (f) Expense                          (h) Current value
 (a) Identity of party involved    interest rate and  (c) Purchase price   (d) Selling price   (e) Lease rental      incurred with     (g) Cost of asset      of asset on       (i) Net gain or
                                   maturity in case                                                                   transaction                          transaction date         (loss)
                                      of a loan)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Line 4k. Check ``Yes'' if all the plan assets (including insurance/
annuity contracts) were distributed to the participants and 
beneficiaries, legally transferred to the control of another

[[Page 64839]]

plan, or brought under the control of the PBGC.
    Check ``No'' for a welfare benefit plan that is still liable to pay 
benefits for claims incurred before the termination date, but not yet 
paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    Line 4l. You must check ``Yes'' if any benefits due under the plan 
were not timely paid or not paid in full. Include in this amount the 
total of any outstanding amounts that were not paid when due in 
previous years that have continued to remain unpaid.
    Line 4m. Check ``Yes'' if there was a ``blackout period.'' A 
blackout period is a temporary suspension of more than three 
consecutive business days during which participants or beneficiaries of 
a 401(k) or other individual account pension plan were unable to, or 
were limited or restricted in their ability to, direct or diversify 
assets credited to their accounts, obtain loans from the plan, or 
obtain distributions from the plan. A ``blackout period'' generally 
does not include a temporary suspension of the right of participants 
and beneficiaries to direct or diversify assets credited to their 
accounts, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain distributions from the 
plan if the temporary suspension is: (1) Part of the regularly 
scheduled operations of the plan that has been disclosed to 
participants and beneficiaries; (2) due to a qualified domestic 
relations order (QDRO) or because of a pending determination as to 
whether a domestic relations order is a QDRO; (3) due to an action or a 
failure to take action by an individual participant or because of an 
action or claim by someone other than the plan regarding a 
participant's individual account; or (4) by application of federal 
securities laws. For more information, see 29 CFR 2520.101-3 (available 
at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa).
    Line 4n. If there was a blackout period, did you provide the 
required notice not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days in advance 
of restricting the rights of participants and beneficiaries to change 
their plan investments, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain 
distributions from the plan? If so, check ``Yes.'' See 29 CFR 2520.101-
3 for specific notice requirements and for exceptions from the notice 
requirement. Also, answer ``Yes'' if one of the exceptions to the 
notice requirement under 29 CFR 2520.101-3 applies.
    Line 5a. Check ``Yes'' if a resolution to terminate the plan was 
adopted during this or any prior plan year, unless the termination was 
revoked and no assets reverted to the employer. If ``Yes'' is checked, 
enter the amount of plan assets that reverted to the employer during 
the plan year in connection with the implementation of such 
termination. Enter ``-0-'' if no reversion occurred during the current 
plan year.
    CAUTION: A Form 5500 must be filed for each year the plan has 
assets, and, for a welfare benefit plan, if the plan is still liable to 
pay benefits for claims incurred before the termination date, but not 
yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    Line 5b. Enter information concerning assets and/or liabilities 
transferred from this plan to another plan(s) (including spinoffs) 
during the plan year. A transfer of assets or liabilities occurs when 
there is a reduction of assets or liabilities with respect to one plan 
and the receipt of these assets or the assumption of these liabilities 
by another plan. Enter the name, EIN, and PN of the transferee plan(s) 
involved on lines 5b(1), (2), and (3). If you need additional space, 
include an attachment with the information required for lines 5b(1), 
(2), and (3) for each additional plan and label the attachment 
``Schedule H, line 5b--Additional Plans.''
    Do not use a social security number in lieu of an EIN or include an 
attachment that contains visible social security numbers. The Schedule 
H is open to public inspection, and the contents are public information 
and are subject to publication on the Internet. Because of privacy 
concerns, the inclusion of a social security number on this Schedule H 
or the inclusion of a visible social security number on an attachment 
may result in the rejection of the filing.

    Note: A distribution of all or part of an individual 
participant's account balance that is reportable on Form 1099-R 
should not be included on line 5b. Do not submit Form 1099-R with 
the Form 5500.

    CAUTION: IRS Form 5310-A, Notice of Plan Merger or Consolidation, 
Spinoff, or Transfer of Plan Assets or Liabilities; Notice of Qualified 
Separate Lines of Business, must be filed at least 30 days before any 
plan merger or consolidation or any transfer of plan assets or 
liabilities to another plan. There is a penalty for not filing Form 
5310-A on time. In addition, a transfer of benefit liabilities 
involving a plan covered by PBGC insurance may be reportable to the 
PBGC. See PBGC Form 10, Post-Event Notice of Reportable Events, and 
Form 10-Advance, Advance Notice of Reportable Events.

2009 Instructions for Schedule I (Form 5500) Financial Information--
Small Plan

General Instructions

Who Must File

    Schedule I (Form 5500), Financial Information--Small Plan, must be 
attached to a Form 5500 filed for pension benefit plans and welfare 
benefit plans that covered fewer than 100 participants as of the 
beginning of the plan year and that are not eligible to file Form 5500-
SF.

    Note: If a Schedule I was filed for the plan for the 2008 plan 
year and the plan covered fewer than 121 participants as of the 
beginning of the 2009 plan year, the Schedule I may be completed 
instead of a Schedule H.

    Exception: Certain insured, unfunded or combination unfunded/
insured welfare plans are exempt from filing the Form 5500 and the 
Schedule I. In addition, certain fully insured pension benefit plans 
are exempt from completing the Schedule I. See the Form 5500 
instructions for Who Must File and Limited Pension Plan Reporting for 
more information.
    Check the Schedule I box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10b(2)) if 
a Schedule I is attached to the Form 5500. Do not attach both a 
Schedule I and a Schedule H to the same Form 5500.

Specific Instructions

    Lines A, B, C, and D. This information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule I is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a social security number in line D in lieu of an EIN. 
The Schedule I and its attachments are open to public inspection, and 
the contents are public information and are subject to publication on 
the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social 
security number on this Schedule I or any of its attachments may result 
in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on Form SS-4, Application 
for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. You can obtain 
Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web 
Site at www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.

    Note: Use the cash, modified cash, or accrual basis for 
recognition of transactions, as long as you use one method 
consistently. Round off all amounts reported on the Schedule I to 
the nearest dollar. Any other amounts are subject to rejection. 
Check all subtotals and totals carefully.

    If the assets of two or more plans are maintained in one fund, such 
as when

[[Page 64840]]

an employer has two plans funded through a single trust (except a DFE), 
complete Parts I and II by entering the plan's allocable part of each 
line item.
    If assets of one plan are maintained in two or more trust funds, 
report the combined financial information in Part I.
    Current value means fair market value where available. Otherwise, 
it means the fair value as determined in good faith under the terms of 
the plan by a trustee or a named fiduciary, assuming an orderly 
liquidation at time of the determination. See ERISA section 3(26).

Part I--Small Plan Financial Information

    Amounts reported on lines 1a, 1b, and 1c for the beginning of the 
plan year must be the same as reported for the end of the plan year for 
corresponding lines on the return/report for the preceding plan year.
    Do not include contributions designated for the 2009 plan year in 
column (a).
    Line 1a. A plan with assets held in common/collective trusts 
(CCTs), pooled separate accounts (PSAs), master trust investment 
accounts (MTIAs), and/or 103-12 IEs must also attach Schedule D.
    Use the same method for determining the value of the plan's 
interest in an insurance company general account (unallocated 
contracts) that you used for line 4 of Schedule A, or, if line 4 is not 
required, line 7 of Schedule A.

    Note: Do not include in column (b) a participant loan that has 
been deemed distributed during the plan year under the provisions of 
Code section 72(p) and Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1, if 
both of the following circumstances apply:
    1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed 
investment solely of the participant's individual account; and
    2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not 
continuing repayment under the loan.

    If the deemed distributed participant loan is included in column 
(a) and both of these circumstances apply, report the loan as a deemed 
distribution on line 2g. However, if either of these circumstances does 
not apply, the current value of the participant loan (including 
interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) should be 
included in column (b) without regard to the occurrence of a deemed 
distribution.
    After a participant loan that has been deemed distributed is 
reported on line 2g, it is no longer to be reported as an asset on 
Schedule H or Schedule I unless, in a later year, the participant 
resumes repayment under the loan. However, such a loan (including 
interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) that has not 
been repaid is still considered outstanding for purposes of applying 
Code section 72(p)(2)(A) to determine the maximum amount of subsequent 
loans. Also, the deemed distribution is not treated as an actual 
distribution for other purposes, such as the qualification requirements 
of Code section 401, including, for example, the determination of top-
heavy status under Code section 416 and the vesting requirements of 
Treasury Regulation section 1.411(a)-7(d)(5). See Q&As 12 and 19 of 
Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1.
    The entry on line 1a, column (b), of Schedule I (plan assets--end 
of year) or on line 1c(8), column (b), of Schedule H (participant 
loans--end of year) must include the current value of any participant 
loan reported as a deemed distribution on line 2g for any earlier year 
if, during the plan year, the participant resumes repayment under the 
loan. In addition, the amount to be entered on line 2g must be reduced 
by the amount of the participant loan reported as a deemed distribution 
on line 2g for the earlier year.
    Line 1b. Enter the total liabilities at the beginning and end of 
the plan year. Liabilities to be entered here do not include the value 
of future pension payments to plan participants. However, the amount to 
be entered in line 1b for accrual basis filers includes, among other 
things:
    1. Benefit claims that have been processed and approved for payment 
by the plan but have not been paid (including all incurred but not 
reported welfare benefit claims);
    2. Accounts payable obligations owed by the plan that were incurred 
in the normal operations of the plan but have not been paid; and
    3. Other liabilities such as acquisition indebtedness and any other 
amount owed by the plan.
    Line 1c. Enter the net assets as of the beginning and end of the 
plan year. (Subtract line 1b from 1a). Line 1c, column (b) must equal 
the sum of line 1c, column (a) plus lines 2j and 2k.
    Line 2a. Include the total cash contributions received and/or (for 
accrual basis plans) due to be received.
    Line 2a(1). Plans using the accrual basis of accounting must not 
include contributions designated for years before the 2009 plan year on 
line 2a(1).
    Line 2a(2). For welfare plans, report all employee contributions, 
including all elective contributions under a cafeteria plan (Code 
section 125). For pension benefit plans, participant contributions, for 
purposes of this item, also include elective contributions under a 
qualified cash or deferred arrangement (Code section 401(k)).
    Line 2b. Use the current value, at date contributed, of securities 
or other noncash property.
    Line 2c. Enter all other plan income for the plan year. Do not 
include transfers from other plans that are reported on line 2k. Other 
income received and/or receivable would include:
    1. Interest on investments (including money market accounts, sweep 
accounts, STIF accounts, etc.)
    2. Dividends. (Accrual basis plans should include dividends 
declared for all stock held by the plan even if the dividends have not 
been received as of the end of the plan year.)
    3. Rents from income-producing property owned by the plan.
    4. Royalties.
    5. Net gain or loss from the sale of assets.
    6. Other income, such as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) in 
plan assets. To compute this amount subtract the current value of all 
assets at the beginning of the year plus the cost of any assets 
acquired during the plan year from the current value of all assets at 
the end of the year minus assets disposed of during the plan year.
    Line 2d. Enter the total of all cash contributions (line 2a(1) 
through (3)), noncash contributions (line 2b), and other plan income 
(line 2c) during the plan year. If entering a negative number, enter a 
minus sign ``-'' to the left of the number.
    Line 2e. Include: (1) Payments made (and for accrual basis filers 
payments due) to or on behalf of participants or beneficiaries in cash, 
securities, or other property (including rollovers of an individual's 
accrued benefit or account balance). Include all eligible rollover 
distributions as defined in Code section 401(a)(31)(D) paid at the 
participant's election to an eligible retirement plan (including an IRA 
within the meaning of section 401(a)(31)(E)); (2) payments to insurance 
companies and similar organizations such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield, 
and health maintenance organizations for the provision of plan benefits 
(e.g., paid-up annuities, accident insurance, health insurance, vision 
care, dental coverage, etc.); and (3) payments made to other 
organizations or individuals providing benefits.
    Generally, these payments discussed in (3) are made to individual 
providers of welfare benefits such as legal services, day care 
services, and training and apprenticeship services. If securities or 
other property are

[[Page 64841]]

distributed to plan participants or beneficiaries, include the current 
value on the date of distribution.
    Line 2f. Include all distributions paid during the plan year of 
excess deferrals under Code section 402(g)(2)(A)(ii), excess 
contributions under section 401(k)(8), and excess aggregate 
contributions under section 401(m)(6), allocable income distributed, 
and any elective deferrals and employee contributions distributed or 
returned to employees during the plan year in accordance with Treasury 
Regulation section 1.415-6(b)(6)(iv), as well as any attributable gains 
that were also distributed.
    Line 2g. Report on line 2g a participant loan included in line 1a, 
column (a) (participant loans--beginning of year) and that has been 
deemed distributed during the plan year under the provisions of Code 
section 72(p) and Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1 only if both of 
the following circumstances apply:
    1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed 
investment solely of the participant's individual account; and
    2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not 
continuing repayment under the loan.
    If either of these circumstances does not apply, a deemed 
distribution of a participant loan should not be reported on line 2g. 
Instead, the current value of the participant loan including interest 
accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) should be included on 
line 1a, column (b) (plan assets--end of year), without regard to the 
occurrence of a deemed distribution.

    Note: The amount to be reported on line 2g of Schedule H or 
Schedule I must be reduced if, during the plan year, a participant 
resumes repayment under a participant loan reported as a deemed 
distribution on line 2g for any earlier year. The amount of the 
required reduction is the amount of the participant loan that was 
reported as a deemed distribution on line 2g for the earlier year. 
If entering a negative number, enter a minus sign ``-'' to the left 
of the number. The current value of the participant loan must then 
be included in line 1c(8), column (b), of Schedule H (participant 
loans--end of year) or in line 1a, column (b), of Schedule I (plan 
assets--end of year).

    Although certain participant loans deemed distributed are to be 
reported on line 2g of the Schedule H or Schedule I, and are not to be 
reported on the Schedule H or Schedule I as an asset thereafter (unless 
the participant resumes repayment under the loan in a later year), they 
are still considered outstanding loans and are not treated as actual 
distributions for certain purposes. See Q&As 12 and 19 of Treasury 
Regulation section 1.72(p)-1.
    Line 2h. The amount to be reported for expenses involving 
administrative service providers (salaries, fees, and commissions) 
include the total fees paid (or in the case of accrual basis plans, 
costs incurred during the plan year but not paid as of the end of the 
plan year) by the plan for, among others:
    1. Salaries to employees of the plan;
    2. Fees and expenses for accounting, actuarial, legal, investment 
management, investment advice, and securities brokerage services;
    3. Contract administrator fees;
    4. Fees and expenses for individual plan trustees, including 
reimbursement for travel, seminars, and meeting expenses; and
    5. Fees and expenses paid for valuations and appraisals of real 
estate and closely held securities.
    Line 2i. Other expenses (paid and/or payable) include other 
administrative and miscellaneous expenses paid by or charged to the 
plan, including among others, office supplies and equipment, telephone, 
postage, rent and expenses associated with the ownership of a building 
used in operation of the plan.
    Line 2j. Enter the total of all benefits paid or due as reported on 
lines 2e, 2f, and 2g and all other plan expenses (lines 2h and 2i) 
during the year.
    Line 2l. Enter the net value of all assets transferred to and from 
the plan during the plan year including those resulting from mergers 
and spinoffs. A transfer of assets or liabilities occurs when there is 
a reduction of assets or liabilities with respect to one plan and the 
receipt of these assets or the assumption of these liabilities by 
another plan. Transfers out at the end of the year should be reported 
as occurring during the plan year.

    Note: A distribution of all or part of an individual 
participant's account balance that is reportable on Form 1099-R, 
Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing 
Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., should not be included on 
line 2l but must be included in benefit payments reported on line 
2e. Do not submit IRS Form 1099-R with Form 5500.

    Lines 3a through 3g. You must check either ``Yes'' or ``No'' on 
each line to report whether the plan held any assets in the listed 
categories at any time during the plan year. If ``Yes'' is checked on 
any line, enter in the amount column for that line the current value of 
the assets held at the end of the plan year or ``0'' if no assets 
remain in the category at the end of the plan year. You should allocate 
the value of the plan's interest in a commingled trust containing the 
assets of more than one plan on a line-by-line basis, except do not 
include on lines 3a through 3g the value of the plan's interest in any 
CCT, PSA, MTIA, or 103-12 IE (see Instructions for definitions of CCT, 
PSA, MTIA, and 103-12 IE).
    Line 3a. Enter the value of the plan's participation in a 
partnership or joint venture, unless the partnership or joint venture 
is a 103-12 IE.
    Line 3b. The term ``employer real property'' means real property 
(and related personal property) that is leased to an employer of 
employees covered by the plan, or to an affiliate of such employer. For 
purposes of determining the time at which a plan acquires employer real 
property for purposes of this line, such property shall be deemed to be 
acquired by the plan on the date on which the plan acquires the 
property or on the date on which the lease to the employer (or 
affiliate) is entered into, whichever is later.
    Line 3d. An employer security is any security issued by an employer 
(including affiliates) of employees covered by the plan. These may 
include common stocks, preferred stocks, bonds, zero coupon bonds, 
debentures, convertible debentures, notes, and commercial paper.
    Line 3e. Enter the current value of all loans to participants 
including residential mortgage loans that are subject to Code section 
72(p). Include the sum of the value of the unpaid principal balances, 
plus accrued but unpaid interest, if any, for participant loans made 
under an individual account plan with investment experience segregated 
for each account that are made in accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 
and secured solely by a portion of the participant's vested accrued 
benefit. When applicable, combine this amount with the current value of 
any other participant loans. Do not include any amount of a participant 
loan deemed distributed during the plan year under the provisions of 
Code section 72(p) and Treasury Regulation section 1.72(p)-1, if both 
of the following circumstances apply:
    1. Under the plan, the participant loan is treated as a directed 
investment solely of the participant's individual account; and
    2. As of the end of the plan year, the participant is not 
continuing repayment under the loan.
    If both of these circumstances apply, report the loan as a deemed 
distribution on line 2g. However, if either of these circumstances does 
not apply, the current value of the participant loan (including 
interest accruing thereon after the deemed distribution) should be

[[Page 64842]]

included on line 3e without regard to the occurrence of a deemed 
distribution.

    Note: After participant loans have been deemed distributed and 
reported on line 2g of the Schedule I or H, they are no longer 
required to be reported as assets on the Schedule I or H. However, 
such loans (including interest accruing thereon after the deemed 
distribution) that have not been repaid are still considered 
outstanding for purposes of applying Code section 72(p)(2)(A) to 
determine the maximum amount of subsequent loans. Also, the deemed 
distribution is not treated as an actual distribution for other 
purposes, such as the qualification requirements of Code section 
401, including, for example, the determination of top-heavy status 
under Code section 416 and the vesting requirements of Treasury 
Regulation section 1.411(a)-7(d)(5). See Q&As 12 and 19 of Treasury 
Regulation section 1.72(p)-1.

    Line 3f. Enter the current value of all loans made by the plan, 
except participant loans reportable on line 3e. Include the sum of the 
value of loans for construction, securities loans, commercial and/or 
residential mortgage loans that are not subject to Code section 72(p) 
(either by making or participating in the loans directly or by 
purchasing loans originated by a third party), and other miscellaneous 
loans.
    Line 3g. Include all property that has concrete existence and is 
capable of being processed, such as goods, wares, merchandise, 
furniture, machines, equipment, animals, automobiles, etc. This 
includes collectibles, such as works of art, rugs, antiques, metals, 
gems, stamps, coins, alcoholic beverages, musical instruments, and 
historical objects (documents, clothes, etc.). Do not include the value 
of a plan's interest in property reported on lines 3a through 3f, or 
intangible property, such as patents, copyrights, goodwill, franchises, 
notes, mortgages, stocks, claims, interests, or other property that 
embodies intellectual or legal rights.

Part II--Compliance Questions

    Answer all lines either ``Yes'' or ``No,'' and if lines 4a through 
4i are ``Yes'' or line 4l is ``Yes,'' an amount must be entered. If you 
check ``No'' on line 4k you must attach the report of an independent 
qualified public accountant (IQPA) or a statement that the plan is 
eligible and elects to defer attaching the IQPA's opinion pursuant to 
29 CFR 2520.104-50 in connection with a short plan year of seven months 
or less. Plans with all of their funds held in a master trust should 
check ``No'' on Schedule I, lines 4b, c, and i.
    Line 4a. Amounts paid by a participant or beneficiary to an 
employer and/or withheld by an employer for contribution to the plan 
are participant contributions that become plan assets as of the 
earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated 
from the employer's general assets (see 29 CFR 2510.3-102). An employer 
holding these assets after that date commingled with its general assets 
will have engaged in a prohibited use of plan assets (see ERISA section 
406). If such a nonexempt prohibited transaction occurred with respect 
to a disqualified person (see Code section 4975(e)(2)), file Form 5330, 
Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, with the IRS 
to pay any applicable excise tax on the transaction.
    Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the aggregate amount of all 
late contributions for the year. The total amount of the delinquent 
contributions must be included on line 4a of the Schedule H or I, as 
applicable, for the year in which the contributions were delinquent and 
must be carried over and reported again on line 4a of the Schedule H or 
I, as applicable, for each subsequent year until the year after the 
violation has been fully corrected, which correction includes payment 
of the late contributions and reimbursement of the plan for lost 
earnings or profits. If no participant contributions were received or 
withheld by the employer during the plan year, answer ``No.''
    Participant loan repayments paid to and/or withheld by an employer 
for purposes of transmittal to the plan that were not transmitted to 
the plan in a timely fashion must be reported either on line 4a in 
accordance with the reporting requirements that apply to delinquent 
participant contributions or on line 4d. See Advisory Opinion 2002-02A, 
available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    TIP: For those Schedule I filers required to submit an IQPA report, 
delinquent participant contributions reported on line 4a must be 
treated as part of the separate schedules referenced in ERISA section 
103(a)(3)(A) and 29 CFR 2520.103-1(b) and 2520.103-2(b) for purposes of 
preparing the IQPA's opinion even though they are no longer required to 
be listed on Part III of the Schedule G. If the information contained 
on line 4a is not presented in accordance with regulatory requirements, 
i.e., when the IQPA concludes that the scheduled information required 
by line 4a does not contain all the required information or contains 
information that is inaccurate or is inconsistent with the plan's 
financial statements, the IQPA report must make the appropriate 
disclosures in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. 
For more information, see EBSA's Frequently Asked Questions About 
Reporting Delinquent Contributions on the Form 5500, available on the 
Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa. These Frequently Asked Questions 
clarify that plans have an obligation to include delinquent participant 
contributions on their financial statements and supplemental schedules 
and that the IQPA's report covers such delinquent contributions even 
though they are no longer required to be included on Part III of the 
Schedule G. Although all delinquent participant contributions must be 
reported on line 4a, delinquent contributions for which the DOL 
Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) requirements and the 
conditions of Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2002-51 have been 
satisfied do not need to be treated as nonexempt party-in-interest 
transactions.
    The VFCP describes how to apply, the specific transactions covered 
(which transactions include delinquent participant contributions to 
pension and welfare plans), and acceptable methods for correcting 
violations. In addition, applicants that satisfy both the VFCP 
requirements and the conditions of PTE 2002-51 are eligible for 
immediate relief from payment of certain prohibited transaction excise 
taxes for certain corrected transactions, and are also relieved from 
the obligation to file the IRS Form 5330 with the IRS. For more 
information, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006) and 71 FR 20135 (Apr. 19, 
2006). All delinquent participant contributions must be reported on 
line 4a even if violations have been corrected. Information about the 
VFCP is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
    Line 4a Schedule. Attach a Schedule of Delinquent Participant 
Contributions using the format below if you entered ``Yes'' on Line 4a 
and you are checking ``No'' on Line 4k because you are not claiming the 
audit waiver for the plan. If you choose to include participant loan 
repayments on Line 4a, you must apply the same supplemental schedule 
and IQPA disclosure requirements to the loan repayments as apply to 
delinquent transmittals of participant contributions.

[[Page 64843]]



                      Schedule I Line 4a.--Schedule of Delinquent Participant Contributions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Total that constitute nonexempt prohibited transactions
                                -------------------------------------------------------------     Total fully
   Participant contributions                             Contributions       Contributions      corrected under
    transferred late to plan      Contributions not    corrected outside  pending correction  VFCP and PTE 2002-
                                      corrected              VFCP               in VFCP               51
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Note here if Late Participant
 Loan Repayments are included:
 [ballot]
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Line 4b. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount. The due 
date, payment amount and conditions for determining default of a note 
or loan are usually contained in the documents establishing the note or 
loan. A loan by the plan is in default when the borrower is unable to 
pay the obligation upon maturity. Obligations that require periodic 
repayment can default at any time. Generally, loans and fixed income 
obligations are considered uncollectible when payment has not been made 
and there is little probability that payment will be made. A fixed 
income obligation has a fixed maturity date at a specified interest 
rate. Do not include participant loans made under an individual account 
plan with investment experience segregated for each account that were 
made in accordance with 29 CFR 2550.408b-1 and secured solely by a 
portion of the participant's vested accrued benefit.
    Line 4c. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount. A lease is 
an agreement conveying the right to use property, plant or equipment 
for a stated period. A lease is in default when the required payment(s) 
has not been made. An uncollectible lease is one where the required 
payments have not been made and for which there is little probability 
that payment will be made.
    Line 4d. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the amount. Check 
``Yes'' if any nonexempt transaction with a party-in-interest occurred 
regardless of whether the transaction is disclosed in the IQPA's 
report. Do not check ``Yes'' with respect to transactions that are: (1) 
Statutorily exempt under Part 4 of Title I of ERISA; (2) 
administratively exempt under ERISA section 408(a); (3) exempt under 
Code sections 4975(c) or 4975(d); (4) the holding of participant 
contributions in the employer's general assets for a welfare plan that 
meets the conditions of ERISA Technical Release 92-01; (5) a 
transaction of a 103-12 IE with parties other than the plan; or (6) 
delinquent participant contributions reported on line 4a. You may 
indicate that an application for an administrative exemption is 
pending. If you are unsure whether a transaction is exempt or not, you 
should consult with either a qualified public accountant, legal 
counsel, or both. If the plan is a qualified pension plan and a 
nonexempt prohibited transaction occurred with respect to a 
disqualified person, an IRS Form 5330 should be filed with the IRS to 
pay the excise tax on the transaction.
    TIP: Applicants that satisfy the VFCP requirements and the 
conditions of PTE 2002-51 (see the instructions for line 4a) are 
eligible for immediate relief from payment of certain prohibited 
transaction excise taxes for certain corrected transactions, and are 
also relieved from the obligation to file the Form 5330 with the IRS. 
For more information, see 71 FR 20261 (Apr. 19, 2006) and 71 FR 20135 
(Apr. 19, 2006). When the conditions of PTE 2002-51 have been 
satisfied, the corrected transactions should be treated as exempt under 
Code section 4975(c) for the purposes of answering line 4d.
    Party-in-Interest. For purposes of this form, party-in-interest is 
deemed to include a disqualified person. See Code section 4975(e)(2). 
The term ``party-in-interest'' means, as to an employee benefit plan:
    A. Any fiduciary (including, but not limited to, any administrator, 
officer, trustee or custodian), counsel, or employee of the plan;
    B. A person providing services to the plan;
    C. An employer, any of whose employees are covered by the plan;
    D. An employee organization, any of whose members are covered by 
the plan;
    E. An owner, direct or indirect, of 50% or more of: (1) The 
combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote or the 
total value of shares of all classes of stock of a corporation, (2) the 
capital interest or the profits interest of a partnership, or (3) the 
beneficial interest of a trust or unincorporated enterprise that is an 
employer or an employee organization described in C or D;
    F. A relative of any individual described in A, B, C, or E;
    G. A corporation, partnership, or trust or estate of which (or in 
which) 50% or more of: (1) The combined voting power of all classes of 
stock entitled to vote or the total value of shares of all classes of 
stock of such corporation, (2) the capital interest or profits interest 
of such partnership, or (3) the beneficial interest of such trust or 
estate is owned directly or indirectly, or held by, persons described 
in A, B, C, D, or E;
    H. An employee, officer, director (or an individual having powers 
or responsibilities similar to those of officers or directors), or a 
10% or more shareholder, directly or indirectly, of a person described 
in B, C, D, E, or G, or of the employee benefit plan; or
    I. A 10% or more (directly or indirectly in capital or profits) 
partner or joint venturer of a person described in B, C, D, E, or G.
    Nonexempt transactions with a party-in-interest include any direct 
or indirect:
    A. Sale or exchange, or lease, of any property between the plan and 
a party-in-interest.
    B. Lending of money or other extension of credit between the plan 
and a party-in-interest.
    C. Furnishing of goods, services, or facilities between the plan 
and a party-in-interest.
    D. Transfer to, or use by or for the benefit of, a party-in-
interest, of any income or assets of the plan.
    E. Acquisition, on behalf of the plan, of any employer security or 
employer real property in violation of ERISA section 407(a).
    F. Dealing with the assets of the plan for a fiduciary's own 
interest or own account.
    G. Acting in a fiduciary's individual or any other capacity in any 
transaction involving the plan on behalf of a party (or represent a 
party) whose interests are adverse to the interests of the plan or the 
interests of its participants or beneficiaries.
    H. Receipt of any consideration for his or her own personal account 
by a party-in-interest who is a fiduciary from any party dealing with 
the plan in connection with a transaction involving the income or 
assets of the plan.
    Line 4e. Plans that check ``Yes'' must enter the aggregate amount 
of fidelity bond coverage for all claims. Check ``Yes'' only if the 
plan itself (as opposed

[[Page 64844]]

to the plan sponsor or administrator) is a named insured under a 
fidelity bond from an approved surety covering plan officials and that 
protects the plan as described in 29 CFR part 2580. Generally, every 
plan official of an employee benefit plan who ``handles'' funds or 
other property of such plan must be bonded. Generally, a person shall 
be deemed to be ``handling'' funds or other property of a plan, so as 
to require bonding, whenever his or her other duties or activities with 
respect to given funds are such that there is a risk that such funds 
could be lost in the event of fraud or dishonesty on the part of such 
person, acting either alone or in collusion with others. Section 412 of 
ERISA and 29 CFR part 2580 describe the bonding requirements, including 
the definition of ``handling'' (29 CFR 2580.412-6), the permissible 
forms of bonds (29 CFR 2580.412-10), the amount of the bond (29 CFR 
part 2580, subpart C), and certain exemptions such as the exemption for 
unfunded plans, certain banks and insurance companies (ERISA section 
412), and the exemption allowing plan officials to purchase bonds from 
surety companies authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury as 
acceptable reinsurers on Federal bonds (29 CFR 2580.412-23). 
Information concerning the list of approved sureties and reinsurers is 
available on the Internet at http://www.fms.treas.gov/c570.

    Note: Plans are permitted under certain conditions to purchase 
fiduciary liability insurance with plan assets. These fiduciary 
liability insurance policies are not written specifically to protect 
the plan from losses due to dishonest acts and are not fidelity 
bonds reported in line 4e.

    Line 4f. Check ``Yes'' if the plan suffered or discovered any loss 
as a result of any dishonest or fraudulent act(s) even if the loss was 
reimbursed by the plan's fidelity bond or from any other source. If 
``Yes'' is checked enter the full amount of the loss. If the full 
amount of the loss has not yet been determined, provide an estimate as 
determined in good faith by a plan fiduciary. You must keep, in 
accordance with ERISA section 107, records showing how the estimate was 
determined.
    CAUTION: Willful failure to report is a criminal offense. See ERISA 
section 501.
    Lines 4g and 4h. Current value means fair market value where 
available. Otherwise, it means the fair value as determined in good 
faith under the terms of the plan by a trustee or a named fiduciary, 
assuming an orderly liquidation at time of the determination. See ERISA 
section 3(26).
    An accurate assessment of fair market value is essential to a 
pension plan's ability to comply with the requirements set forth in the 
Code (e.g., the exclusive benefit rule of Code section 401(a)(2), the 
limitations on benefits and contributions under Code section 415, and 
the minimum funding requirements under Code section 412) and must be 
determined annually.
    Examples of assets that may not have a readily determinable value 
on an established market (e.g., NYSE, AMEX, over the counter, etc.) 
include real estate, nonpublicly traded securities, shares in a limited 
partnership, and collectibles. Do not check ``Yes'' on line 4g for 
mutual fund shares or insurance company investment contracts. Also do 
not check ``Yes'' on line 4g if the plan is a defined contribution plan 
and the only assets the plan holds, that do not have a readily 
determinable value on an established market are: (1) Participant loans 
not in default, or (2) assets over which the participant exercises 
control within the meaning of section 404(c) of ERISA.
    Although the current value of plan assets must be determined each 
year, there is no requirement that the assets (other than certain 
nonpublicly traded employer securities held in ESOPs) be valued every 
year by independent third-party appraisers.
    Enter in the amount column the fair market value of the assets 
referred to on line 4g whose value was not readily determinable on an 
established market and which were not valued by an independent third-
party appraiser in the plan year. Generally, as it relates to these 
questions, an appraisal by an independent third party is an evaluation 
of the value of an asset prepared by an individual or firm who knows 
how to judge the value of such assets and does not have an ongoing 
relationship with the plan or plan fiduciaries except for preparing the 
appraisals.
    Line 4i. Include as a single security all securities of the same 
issue. An example of a single issue is a certificate of deposit issued 
by the XYZ Bank on July 1, 2008, which matures on June 30, 2009, and 
yields 5.5%. For the purposes of line 4i, do not check ``Yes'' for 
securities issued by the U.S. Government or its agencies. Also, do not 
check ``Yes'' for securities held as a result of participant-directed 
transactions.
    Line 4j. Check ``Yes'' if all the plan assets (including insurance/
annuity contracts) were distributed to the participants and 
beneficiaries, legally transferred to the control of another plan, or 
brought under the control of the PBGC.
    Check ``No'' for a welfare benefit plan that is still liable to pay 
benefits for claims that were incurred before the termination date, but 
not yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    Line 4k. Check ``Yes'' if you are claiming a waiver of the annual 
examination and report of an independent qualified public accountant 
(IQPA) under 29 CFR 2520.104-46. You are eligible to claim the waiver 
if the Schedule I is being filed for:
    1. A small welfare plan, or
    2. A small pension plan for a plan year that began on or after 
April 18, 2001, that complies with the conditions of 29 CFR 2520.104-46 
summarized below.
    Check ``No'' and attach the report of the IQPA meeting the 
requirements of 29 CFR 2520.103-1(b) if you are not claiming the 
waiver. Also check ``No,'' and attach the required IQPA reports or the 
required explanatory statement if you are relying on 29 CFR 2520.104-50 
in connection with a short plan year of seven months or less. At the 
top of any attached 2520.104-50 statement, enter ``2520.104-50 
Statement, Schedule I, Line 4k.''
    For more information on the requirements for deferring an IQPA 
report pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.104-50 in connection with a short plan 
year of seven months or less and the contents of the required 
explanatory statement, see the instructions for Schedule H, line 3d(2) 
or call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided].

    Note: For plans that check ``No,'' the IQPA report must make the 
appropriate disclosures in accordance with generally accepted 
auditing standards if the information reported on line 4a is not 
presented in accordance with regulatory requirements.

    The following summarizes the conditions of 29 CFR 2520.104-46 that 
must be met for a small pension plan with a plan year beginning on or 
after April 18, 2001, to be eligible for the waiver. For more 
information regarding these requirements, see the EBSA's Frequently 
Asked Questions On The Small Pension Plan Audit Waiver Regulation and 
29 CFR 2520.104-46, which are available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa, or 
call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided].
    Condition 1: At least 95 percent of plan assets are ``qualifying 
plan assets'' as of the end of the preceding plan year, or any person 
who handles assets of the plan that do not constitute qualifying plan 
assets is bonded in accordance with the requirements of ERISA section 
412 (see the instructions for line 4e), except that the amount of the 
bond shall

[[Page 64845]]

not be less than the value of such non-qualifying assets.
    The determination of the ``percent of plan assets'' as of the end 
of the preceding plan year and the amount of any required bond must be 
made at the beginning of the plan's reporting year for which the waiver 
is being claimed. For purposes of this line, you will have satisfied 
the requirement to make these determinations at the beginning of the 
plan reporting year for which the waiver is being claimed if they are 
made as soon after the date when such year begins as the necessary 
information from the preceding reporting year can practically be 
ascertained. See 29 CFR 2580.412-11, 14 and 19 for additional guidance 
on these determinations, and 29 CFR 2580.412-15 for procedures to be 
used for estimating these amounts if there is no preceding plan year.
    The term ``qualifying plan assets,'' for purposes of this line, 
means:
    1. Any assets held by any of the following regulated financial 
institutions:
    a. A bank or similar financial institution as defined in 29 CFR 
2550.408b-4(c);
    b. An insurance company qualified to do business under the laws of 
a state;
    c. An organization registered as a broker-dealer under the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934; or
    d. Any other organization authorized to act as a trustee for 
individual retirement accounts under Code section 408.
    2. Shares issued by an investment company registered under the 
Investment Company Act of 1940 (e.g., mutual funds);
    3. Investment and annuity contracts issued by any insurance company 
qualified to do business under the laws of a state;
    4. In the case of an individual account plan, any assets in the 
individual account of a participant or beneficiary over which the 
participant or beneficiary has the opportunity to exercise control and 
with respect to which the participant or beneficiary is furnished, at 
least annually, a statement from a regulated financial institution 
referred to above describing the assets held or issued by the 
institution and the amount of such assets;
    5. Qualifying employer securities, as defined in ERISA section 
407(d)(5); and
    6. Participant loans meeting the requirements of ERISA section 
408(b)(1).
    Condition 2: The administrator must include in the summary annual 
report (SAR) or, in the case of plans subject to section 101(f) of the 
Act, the annual funding notice (described in Sec.  2520.101-5), 
furnished to participants and beneficiaries in accordance with 29 CFR 
2520.104b-10:
    1. The name of each regulated financial institution holding or 
issuing qualifying plan assets and the amount of such assets reported 
by the institution as of the end of the plan year (this SAR disclosure 
requirement does not apply to qualifying employer securities, 
participant loans and individual account assets described in paragraphs 
4, 5 and 6 above);
    2. The name of the surety company issuing the fidelity bond, if the 
plan has more than 5% of its assets in non-qualifying plan assets;
    3. A notice that participants and beneficiaries may, upon request 
and without charge, examine or receive from the plan evidence of the 
required bond and copies of statements from the regulated financial 
institutions describing the qualifying plan assets; and
    4. A notice that participants and beneficiaries should contact the 
EBSA Regional Office if they are unable to examine or obtain copies of 
the regulated financial institution statements or evidence of the 
required bond, if applicable.
    A Model Notice that plans can use to satisfy the enhanced SAR (or 
Annual Funding Notice) disclosure requirements to be eligible for the 
audit waiver is available as an Appendix to 29 CFR 2520.104-46.
    Condition 3: In addition, in response to a request from any 
participant or beneficiary, the administrator, without charge to the 
participant or beneficiary, must make available for examination, or 
upon request furnish copies of, each regulated financial institution 
statement and evidence of any required bond.
    Examples. Plan A, which has a plan year that began on or after 
April 18, 2001, had total assets of $600,000 as of the end of the 2000 
plan year that included: Investments in various bank, insurance company 
and mutual fund products of $520,000; investments in qualifying 
employer securities of $40,000; participant loans (meeting the 
requirements of ERISA section 408(b)(1)), totaling $20,000; and a 
$20,000 investment in a real estate limited partnership. Because the 
only asset of the plan that did not constitute a ``qualifying plan 
asset'' is the $20,000 real estate limited partnership investment and 
that investment represents less than 5% of the plan's total assets, no 
fidelity bond is required as a condition for the plan to be eligible 
for the waiver for the 2001 plan year.
    Plan B is identical to Plan A except that of Plan B's total assets 
of $600,000 as of the end of the 2000 plan year, $558,000 constitutes 
``qualifying plan assets'' and $42,000 constitutes non-qualifying plan 
assets. Because 7%--more than 5%--of Plan B's assets do not constitute 
``qualifying plan assets,'' Plan B, as a condition to be eligible for 
the waiver for the 2001 plan year, must ensure that it has a fidelity 
bond in an amount equal to at least $42,000 covering persons handling 
its non-qualifying plan assets. Inasmuch as compliance with ERISA 
section 412 generally requires the amount of the bond be not less than 
10% of the amount of all the plan's funds or other property handled, 
the bond acquired for section 412 purposes may be adequate to cover the 
non-qualifying plan assets without an increase (i.e., if the amount of 
the bond determined to be needed for the relevant persons for section 
412 purposes is at least $42,000). As demonstrated by the foregoing 
example, where a plan has more than 5% of its assets in non-qualifying 
plan assets, the required bond is for the total amount of the non-
qualifying plan assets, not just the amount in excess of 5%.
    If you need further information regarding these requirements, see 
29 CFR 2520.104-46 which is available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa or 
call the EFAST Help Line at [number to be provided].
    Line 4l. You must check ``Yes'' if any benefits due under the plan 
were not timely paid or not paid in full. Include in this amount the 
total of any outstanding amounts that were not paid when due in 
previous years that have continued to remain unpaid.
    Line 4m. Check ``Yes'' if there was a ``blackout period.'' A 
blackout period is a temporary suspension of more than three 
consecutive business days during which participants or beneficiaries of 
a 401(k) or other individual account pension plan were unable to, or 
were limited or restricted in their ability to, direct or diversify 
assets credited to their accounts, obtain loans from the plan, or 
obtain distributions from the plan. A ``blackout period'' generally 
does not include a temporary suspension of the right of participants 
and beneficiaries to direct or diversify assets credited to their 
accounts, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain distributions from the 
plan if the temporary suspension is: (1) Part of the regularly 
scheduled operations of the plan that has been disclosed to 
participants and beneficiaries; (2) due to a qualified domestic 
relations order (QDRO) or because of a pending determination as to 
whether a domestic relations order is a QDRO; (3) due to an action or a 
failure to take action by an

[[Page 64846]]

individual participant or because of an action or claim by someone 
other than the plan regarding a participant's individual account; or 
(4) by application of federal securities laws. For more information, 
see 29 CFR 2520.101-3 (available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa).
    Line 4n. If there was a blackout period, did you provide the 
required notice not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days in advance 
of restricting the rights of participants and beneficiaries to change 
their plan investments, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain 
distributions from the plan? If so, check ``Yes.'' See 29 CFR 2520.101-
3 for specific notice requirements and for exceptions from the notice 
requirement. Also, answer ``Yes'' if one of the exceptions to the 
notice requirement under 29 CFR 2520.101-3 applies.
    Line 5a. Check ``Yes'' if a resolution to terminate the plan was 
adopted during this or any prior plan year, unless the termination was 
revoked and no assets reverted to the employer. If ``Yes'' is checked, 
enter the amount of plan assets that reverted to the employer during 
the plan year in connection with the implementation of such 
termination. Enter ``-0-'' if no reversion occurred during the current 
plan year.
    CAUTION: A Form 5500 must be filed for each year the plan has 
assets, and, for a welfare benefit plan, if the plan is still liable to 
pay benefits for claims that were incurred before the termination date, 
but not yet paid. See 29 CFR 2520.104b-2(g)(2)(ii).
    Line 5b. Enter information concerning assets and/or liabilities 
transferred from this plan to another plan(s) (including spinoffs) 
during the plan year. A transfer of assets or liabilities occurs when 
there is a reduction of assets or liabilities with respect to one plan 
and the receipt of these assets or the assumption of these liabilities 
by another plan. Enter the name, EIN, and PN of the transferee plan(s) 
involved on lines 5b(1), b(2) and b(3). If you need additional space, 
include an attachment with the information required for 5b(1), (2), and 
(3) for each additional plan and label the attachment, ``Schedule I, 
line 5b--Additional Plans.''
    Do not use a social security number in lieu of an EIN or include an 
attachment that contains visible social security numbers. The Schedule 
I and its attachments are open to public inspection, and the contents 
are public information and are subject to publication on the Internet. 
Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security number 
on this Schedule I or the inclusion of a visible social security number 
on an attachment may result in the rejection of the filing.

    Note: A distribution of all or part of an individual 
participant's account balance that is reportable on IRS Form 1099-R 
should not be included on line 5b. Do not submit IRS Form 1099-R 
with the Form 5500.

    CAUTION: IRS Form 5310-A, Notice of Plan Merger or Consolidation, 
Spinoff, or Transfer of Plan Assets or Liabilities; Notice of Qualified 
Separate Lines of Business, must be filed at least 30 days before any 
plan merger or consolidation or any transfer of plan assets or 
liabilities to another plan. There is a penalty for not filing IRS Form 
5310-A on time. In addition, a transfer of benefit liabilities 
involving a plan covered by PBGC insurance may be reportable to the 
PBGC. See PBGC Form 10, Post-Event Notice of Reportable Events, and 
PBGC Form 10--Advance, Advance Notice of Reportable Events.

2009 Instructions for Schedule R (Form 5500) Retirement Plan 
Information

General Instructions

Purpose of Schedule

    Schedule R (Form 5500), Retirement Plan Information, reports 
certain information on plan distributions, funding, and the adoption of 
amendments increasing the value of benefits in a defined benefit 
pension plan, as well as certain information on ESOPs and multiemployer 
defined benefit plans.

Who Must File

    Schedule R must be attached to a Form 5500 filed for both tax 
qualified and nonqualified pension benefit plans. The parts of the 
Schedule R that must be completed depend on whether the plan is subject 
to the minimum funding standards of Code section 412 or ERISA section 
302 and the type of plan. See line item requirements under ``Specific 
Instructions'' for more details.
    Exceptions: (1) Schedule R should not be completed when the Form 
5500 Return/Report is filed for a pension plan that uses, as the sole 
funding vehicle for providing benefits, individual retirement accounts 
or annuities (as described in Code section 408). See the Form 5500 
instructions for Limited Pension Plan Reporting for more information.
    (2) Schedule R also should not be completed if each of the 
following conditions is met:
    <bullet> The plan is not a defined benefit plan or otherwise 
subject to the minimum funding standards of Code section 412 or ERISA 
section 302.
    <bullet> No plan benefits that would be reportable on line 1 of 
Part I of this Schedule R were distributed during the plan year. See 
the instructions for Part I, line 1, below.
    <bullet> No benefits, as described in the instructions for Part I, 
line 2, below, were paid during the plan year other than by the plan 
sponsor or plan administrator. (This condition is not met if benefits 
were paid by the trust or any other payor(s) which are reportable on 
IRS Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or 
Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc, using an EIN 
other than that of the plan sponsor or plan administrator reported on 
line 2b or 3b of Form 5500.)
    <bullet> Unless the plan is a profit-sharing, ESOP or stock bonus 
plan, no plan benefits of living or deceased participants were 
distributed during the plan year in the form of a single sum 
distribution. See the instructions for Part I, line 3, below.
    <bullet> The plan is not an ESOP.
    <bullet> The plan is not a multiemployer defined benefit plan.
    Check the Schedule R box on the Form 5500 (Part II, line 10a(1)) if 
a Schedule R is attached to the Form 5500.

Specific Instructions

    Lines A, B, C, and D. This information must be the same as reported 
in Part II of the Form 5500 to which this Schedule R is attached. The 
plan name may be abbreviated.
    Do not use a Social Security number in line D in lieu of an EIN. 
The Schedule R and its attachments are open to public inspection, and 
the contents are public information and are subject to publication on 
the Internet. Because of privacy concerns, the inclusion of a Social 
Security number on this Schedule R or any of its attachments may result 
in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on IRS Form SS-4, 
Application for Employer Identification Number, as soon as possible. 
You can obtain an IRS Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-
3676) or at the IRS Web Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not 
issue EINs.

Part I--Distributions

    ``Distribution'' includes only payments of benefits during the plan 
year, in cash, in kind, by purchase for the distributee of an annuity 
contract from an insurance company, or by distribution of life 
insurance contracts. It does not include corrective distributions of 
excess deferrals, excess contributions, or excess aggregate 
contributions, or the income allocable to any of these amounts. It also 
does not

[[Page 64847]]

include the distribution of elective deferrals or the return of 
employee contributions to correct excess annual additions under Code 
section 415, or the gains attributable to these amounts. Finally, it 
does not include a loan treated as a distribution under Code section 
72(p); however, it does include a distribution of a plan loan offset 
amount as defined in section 1.402(c)-2, Q&A 9(b).
    ``Participant'' for purposes of Schedule R means any present of 
former employee who at any time during the plan year had an accrued 
benefit (account balance in a defined contribution plan) in the plan.
    Line 1. Enter the total value of all distributions made during the 
year (regardless of when the distribution began) in any form other than 
cash, annuity contracts issued by an insurance company, distribution of 
life insurance contracts, marketable securities, within the meaning of 
Code section 731(c)(2), or plan loan offset amounts. Do not include 
eligible rollover distributions paid directly to eligible retirement 
plans in a direct rollover under Code section 401(a)(31) unless such 
direct rollovers include property other than that enumerated in the 
preceding sentence.
    Line 2. Enter the EIN(s) of any payor(s) (other than the plan 
sponsor or plan administrator on line 2b or 3b of the Form 5500) who 
paid benefits reportable on IRS Form 1099-R on behalf of the plan to 
participants or beneficiaries during the plan year. This is the EIN 
that appears on the IRS Forms 1099-R that are issued to report the 
payments. Include the EIN of the trust if different than that of the 
sponsor or plan administrator. If more than two payors made such 
payments during the year, enter the EINs of the two payors who paid the 
greatest dollar amounts during the year, in cash or in kind, that are 
reportable on IRS Form 1099-R, regardless of when the payment began, 
but take into account payments from an insurance company under an 
annuity only in the year the contract was purchased.
    Line 3. Enter the number of living or deceased participants whose 
benefits under the plan were distributed during the plan year in the 
form of a single sum distribution. For this purpose, a distribution of 
a participant's benefits will not fail to be a single sum distribution 
merely because, after the date of the distribution, the plan makes a 
supplemental distribution as a result of earnings or other adjustments 
made after the date of the single sum distribution. Also include any 
participants whose benefits were distributed in the form of a direct 
rollover to the trustee or custodian of a qualified plan or individual 
retirement account.

Part II--Funding Information

    Complete Part II only if the plan is subject to the minimum funding 
requirements of Code section 412 or ERISA section 302.
    All qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans are 
subject to the minimum funding requirements of Code section 412 unless 
they are described in the exceptions listed under section 412(e)(2). 
These exceptions include profit-sharing or stock bonus plans, insurance 
contract plans described in section 412(e)(3), and certain plans to 
which no employer contributions are made.
    Nonqualified employee pension benefit plans are subject to the 
minimum funding requirements of ERISA section 302 unless specifically 
exempted under ERISA sections 4(a) or 301(a).
    The employer or plan administrator of a single-employer or 
multiple-employer defined benefit plan that is subject to the minimum 
funding requirements must file the Schedule SB as an attachment to Form 
5500. Schedule MB is filed for multiemployer defined benefit plans and 
certain money purchase defined contribution plans (whether they are 
single or multiemployer plans). However, Schedule MB is not required to 
be filed for a money purchase defined contribution plan that is subject 
to the minimum funding requirements unless the plan is currently 
amortizing a waiver of the minimum funding requirements.
    Line 4. Check ``Yes'' if, for purposes of computing the minimum 
funding requirements for the plan year, the plan administrator is 
making an election intended to satisfy the requirements of Code section 
412(d)(2) or ERISA section 302(d)(2). Under Code section 412(d)(2) and 
ERISA section 302(d)(2), a plan administrator may elect to have any 
amendment, adopted after the close of the plan year for which it 
applies, treated as having been made on the first day of the plan year 
if all of the following requirements are met:
    1. The requirement is adopted no later than two and one-half months 
after the close of such plan year (two years for a multiemployer plan);
    2. The amendment does not reduce the accrued benefit of any 
participant determined as of the beginning of such plan year; and
    3. The amendment does not reduce the accrued benefit of any 
participant determined as of the adoption of the amendment unless the 
plan administrator notified the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
amendment and the Secretary either approved the amendment or failed to 
disapprove the amendment within 90 days after the date the notice was 
filed.
    See Temporary Regulations section 11.412(c)-7(b) for details on 
when and how to make the election and what information to include on 
the statement of election, which must be filed with the Form 5500 
Return/Report.
    Line 5. If a money purchase defined contribution plan (including a 
target benefit plan) has received a waiver of the minimum funding 
standard, and the waiver is currently being amortized, complete lines 
3, 9, and 10 of Schedule MB. See instructions for Schedule MB. Attach 
Schedule MB to Form 5500. The Schedule MB does not need to be signed by 
an enrolled actuary for a money purchase defined contribution plan.
    Line 6a. The minimum required contribution for a money purchase 
defined contribution plan for a plan year is the amount required to be 
contributed for the year under the formula set forth in the plan 
document. If there is an accumulated funding deficiency for a prior 
year that has not been waived, that amount should also be included as 
part of the contribution required for the current year.
    Line 6b. Include all contributions for the plan year made not later 
than 8\1/2\ months after the end of the plan year. Show only 
contributions actually made to the plan by the date the form is filed. 
For example, do not include receivable contributions for this purpose.
    Line 6c. If the minimum required contribution exceeds the 
contributions for the plan year made not later than 8\1/2\ months after 
the end of the plan year, the excess is an accumulated funding 
deficiency for the plan year. File IRS Form 5330, Return of Excise 
Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, with the IRS to pay the excise 
tax on the deficiency. There is a penalty for not filing IRS Form 5330 
on time.
    Line 7. Will the minimum required contribution remaining in 6c be 
made no later than 8\1/2\ months after the end of the plan year? If 
``Yes,'' and contributions are actually made by this date, then there 
will be no reportable deficiency and IRS Form 5330 will not need to be 
filed.
    Line 8. A revenue procedure providing for automatic approval for a 
change in funding method for a plan year generally does not apply 
unless the plan administrator or an authorized representative of the 
plan sponsor explicitly agrees to the change. If a

[[Page 64848]]

change in funding method made pursuant to such a revenue procedure (or 
class ruling letter) is to be applicable for the current plan year, 
this line generally must be checked ``Yes.'' In certain situations, 
however, the requirement that the plan administrator or an authorized 
representative of the plan sponsor agree to the change in funding 
method will be satisfied if the plan administrator or an authorized 
representative of the plan sponsor is made aware of the change. In 
these situations, this line must be checked ``N/A.'' See section 
6.01(2) of Rev. Proc. 2000-40, 2000-42 I.R.B. 357.

Part III--Amendments

    Line 9.
    <bullet> Check ``No'' if no amendments were adopted during this 
plan year that increased or decreased the value of benefits.
    <bullet> Check ``Increase'' if an amendment was adopted during the 
plan year that increased the value of benefits in any way. This 
includes an amendment providing for an increase in the amount of 
benefits or rate of accrual, more generous lump sum factors, COLAs, 
more rapid vesting, additional payment forms, and/or earlier 
eligibility for some benefits.
    <bullet> Check ``Decrease'' if an amendment was adopted during the 
plan year that decreased the value of benefits in any way. This 
includes a decrease in future accruals, closure of the plan to new 
employees, and accruals being frozen for some or all participants.
    <bullet> If the amendments that were adopted increased the value of 
some benefits but decreased the value of others, check ``Both.''

Part IV--ESOP Information

    Line 11b. A loan is a ``back-to-back loan'' if the following 
requirements are satisfied:
    1. The loan from the employer corporation to the ESOP qualifies as 
an exempt loan under DOL regulations at 29 CFR 2550.408b-3 and under 
Treasury Regulation sections 54.4975-7 and 54.4975-11; and
    2. The repayment terms of the loan from the sponsoring corporation 
to the ESOP are substantially similar to the repayment terms of the 
loan from the commercial lender to the sponsoring employer.

Part V--Additional Employer Information for Multiemployer Defined 
Benefit Pension Plans

    Line 13. Line 13 should be completed only by multiemployer defined 
benefit pension plans that are subject to the minimum funding standards 
(see Code section 412 and Part 3 of Title I of ERISA). Enter the 
information on Lines 13a through 13e for any employer that contributed 
more than five (5) percent of the plan's total contributions for the 
2009 plan year. The employers should be listed in descending order 
according to the dollar amount of their contributions to the plan. 
Complete as many entries as are necessary to list all employers that 
contributed more than five (5) percent of the plan's contributions.
    Line 13a. Enter the name of the contributing employer to the plan.
    Line 13b. Enter the EIN number of the contributing employer to the 
plan. Do not enter a social security number in lieu of an EIN. The Form 
5500 is open to public inspection, and the contents are public 
information and are subject to publication on the Internet. Because of 
privacy concerns, the inclusion of a social security number on this 
line may result in the rejection of the filing.
    EINs may be obtained by applying for one on IRS Form SS-4, 
Application for Employer Identification Number. You can obtain an IRS 
Form SS-4 by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) or at the IRS Web 
Site at http://www.irs.gov. The EBSA does not issue EINs.
    Line 13c. Dollar Amount Contributed. Enter the total dollar amount 
contributed to the plan by the employer for all covered workers in all 
locations for the plan year. Do not include the portion of an 
aggregated contribution that is for another plan, such as a welfare 
benefit plan, a defined contribution pension plan or another defined 
benefit pension plan.
    Line 13d. Collective Bargaining Agreement Expiration Date. Enter 
the date on which the employer's collective bargaining agreement 
expires. If the employer has more than one collective bargaining 
agreement requiring contributions to the plan, check the box and 
include, as an attachment, a summary of each applicable expiration 
date.
    Line 13e. Contribution Rate Information. Enter the information in 
(e)(1) and (e)(2). If the employer uses different contribution rates 
for different classifications of employees or different places of 
business, check the box and instead of completing items (e)(1) and 
(e)(2), include, as an attachment, a list of each applicable 
contribution rate with a description of the rate, providing the 
information in (e)(1) and (e)(2); skip line 13(e)(1) and 13(e)(2).
    Line 13(e)(1). Contribution Rate (dollars and cents). Enter the 
employer's contribution rate per contribution base unit (e.g., if the 
contribution rate is $xx.xx per covered hour worked, enter $xx.xx). If 
the employer's contribution rate changed during the plan year, enter 
the last contribution rate in effect for the plan year.
    Line 13e(2). Base Unit Measure. Check the contribution base unit on 
which the contribution rate is based. If the contribution rate is not 
measured on an hourly, weekly, or unit-of-production basis, check 
``other'' and indicate the basis of measurement.
    Lines 14-17--[RESERVED]

Part VI--Additional Information for Single-Employer and Multiemployer 
Defined Benefit Pension Plans

    Lines 18 and 19--[RESERVED]

     List of Plan Characteristic Codes for Form 5500 Lines 8a and 8b
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Code
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Defined Benefit Pension Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1A..........................  Benefits are primarily pay related.
1B..........................  Benefits are primarily flat dollar
                               (includes dollars per year of service).
1C..........................  Cash balance or similar plan--Plan has a
                               ``cash balance'' formula. For this
                               purpose, a ``cash balance'' formula is a
                               benefit formula in a defined benefit plan
                               by whatever name (e.g., personal account
                               plan, pension equity plan, life cycle
                               plan, cash account plan, etc.) that
                               rather than, or in addition to,
                               expressing the accrued benefit as a life
                               annuity commencing at normal retirement
                               age, defines benefits for each employee
                               in terms more common to a defined
                               contribution plan such as a single sum
                               distribution amount (e.g., 10 percent of
                               final average pay times years of service,
                               or the amount of the employee's
                               hypothetical account balance).
1D..........................  Floor offset plan--Plan benefits are
                               subject to offset for retirement benefits
                               provided by an employer-sponsored defined
                               contribution plan.

[[Page 64849]]

 
1E..........................  Code section 401(h) arrangement--Plan
                               contains separate accounts under Code
                               section 401(h) to provide employee health
                               benefits.
1F..........................  Code section 414(k) arrangement--Benefits
                               are based partly on the balance of the
                               separate account of the participant (also
                               include appropriate defined contribution
                               pension feature codes).
1G..........................  Covered by PBGC--Plan is covered under the
                               PBGC insurance program (see ERISA section
                               4021).
1H..........................  Plan covered by PBGC that was terminated
                               and closed out for PBGC purposes--Before
                               the end of the plan year (or a prior plan
                               year), (1) the plan terminated in a
                               standard (or distress) termination and
                               completed the distribution of plan assets
                               in satisfaction of all benefit
                               liabilities (or all ERISA Title IV
                               benefits for distress termination); or
                               (2) a trustee was appointed for a
                               terminated plan pursuant to ERISA section
                               4042.
1I..........................  Frozen Plan--As of the last day of the
                               plan year, the plan provides that no
                               participant will get any new benefit
                               accrual (whether because of service or
                               compensation).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Defined Contribution Pension Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2A..........................  Age/Service Weighted or New Comparability
                               or Similar Plan--Age/Service Weighted
                               Plan: Allocations are based on age,
                               service, or age and service. New
                               Comparability or Similar Plan:
                               Allocations are based on participant
                               classifications and a classification(s)
                               consists entirely or predominantly of
                               highly compensated employees; or the plan
                               provides an additional allocation rate on
                               compensation above a specified threshold,
                               and the threshold or additional rate
                               exceeds the maximum threshold or rate
                               allowed under the permitted disparity
                               rules of Code section 401(l).
2B..........................  Target benefit plan.
2C..........................  Money purchase (other than target
                               benefit).
2D..........................  Offset plan--Plan benefits are subject to
                               offset for retirement benefits provided
                               in another plan or arrangement of the
                               employer.
2E..........................  Profit-sharing.
2F..........................  ERISA section 404(c) plan--This plan, or
                               any part of it, is intended to meet the
                               conditions of 29 CFR 2550.404c-1.
2G..........................  Total participant-directed account plan--
                               Participants have the opportunity to
                               direct the investment of all the assets
                               allocated to their individual accounts,
                               regardless of whether 29 CFR 2550.404c-1
                               is intended to be met.
2H..........................  Partial participant directed account plan--
                               Participants have the opportunity to
                               direct the investment of a portion of the
                               assets allocated to their individual
                               accounts, regardless of whether 29 CFR
                               2550.404c-1 is intended to be met.
2I..........................  Stock bonus.
2J..........................  Code section 401(k) feature--A cash or
                               deferred arrangement described in Code
                               section 401(k) that is part of a
                               qualified defined contribution plan that
                               provides for an election by employees to
                               defer part of their compensation or
                               receive these amounts in cash.
2K..........................  Code section 401(m) arrangement--Employee
                               contributions are allocated to separate
                               accounts under the plan or employer
                               contributions are based, in whole or in
                               part, on employee deferrals or
                               contributions to the plan. Not applicable
                               if plan is 401(k) plan with only QNECs
                               and/or QMACs. Also not applicable if Code
                               section 403(b)(1), 403(b)(7), or 408
                               arrangements/accounts annuities.
2L..........................  Code section 403(b)(1) arrangement.
2M..........................  Code section 403(b)(7) accounts.
2N..........................  Code section 408 accounts and annuities--
                               See Limited Pension Plan Reporting
                               instructions for pension plan utilizing
                               individual Code section 408(b) retirement
                               accounts or annuities as the funding
                               vehicle for providing benefits.
2O..........................  ESOP other than a leveraged ESOP.
2P..........................  Leveraged ESOP--An ESOP that acquires
                               employer securities with borrowed money
                               or other debt-financing techniques.
2Q..........................  The employer maintaining this ESOP is an S
                               corporation.
2R..........................  Participant-directed brokerage accounts
                               provided as an investment option under
                               the plan.
2S..........................  Plan provides for automatic enrollment in
                               plan that has employee contributions
                               deducted from payroll.
2T..........................  Total or partial participant-directed
                               account plan--plan uses default
                               investment account for participants who
                               fail to direct assets in their account.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Other Pension Benefit Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3B..........................  Plan covering Self-Employed Individuals.
3C..........................  Plan not intended to be qualified--A plan
                               not intended to be qualified under Code
                               sections 401, 403, or 408.
3D..........................  Master plan--A pension plan that is made
                               available by a sponsor for adoption by
                               employers; that is the subject of a
                               favorable opinion letter; and for which a
                               single funding medium (for example, a
                               trust or custodial account) is
                               established for the joint use of all
                               adopting employers.
3E..........................  Prototype plan--A pension plan that is
                               made available by a sponsor for adoption
                               by employers; that is the subject of a
                               favorable opinion or notification letter;
                               and under which a separate funding medium
                               (for example, a separate trust or
                               custodial account) is established for
                               each participating employer.
3F..........................  Plan sponsor(s) received services of
                               leased employees, as defined in Code
                               section 414(n), during the plan year.
3H..........................  Plan sponsor(s) is (are) a member(s) of a
                               controlled group (Code sections 414(b),
                               (c), or (m)).
3I..........................  Plan requiring that all or part of
                               employer contributions be invested and
                               held, at least for a limited period, in
                               employer securities.
3J..........................  U.S.-based plan that covers residents of
                               Puerto Rico and is qualified under both
                               Code section 401 and section 8565 of
                               Puerto Rico Code.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Welfare Benefit Features
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4A..........................  Health (other than vision or dental).
4B..........................  Life Insurance.
4C..........................  Supplemental unemployment.
4D..........................  Dental.
4E..........................  Vision.
4F..........................  Temporary disability (accident and
                               sickness).

[[Page 64850]]

 
4G..........................  Prepaid legal.
4H..........................  Long-term disability.
4I..........................  Severance pay.
4J..........................  Apprenticeship and training.
4K..........................  Scholarship (funded).
4L..........................  Death benefits (include travel accident
                               but not life insurance).
4P..........................  Taft-Hartley Financial Assistance for
                               Employee Housing Expenses.
4Q..........................  Other.
4R..........................  Unfunded, fully insured, or combination
                               unfunded/fully insured welfare plan that
                               will not file a Form 5500 for next plan
                               year pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.104-20.
4S..........................  Unfunded, fully insured, or combination
                               unfunded/fully insured welfare plan that
                               stopped filing Form 5500s in an earlier
                               plan year pursuant to 29 CFR 2520.104-20.
4T..........................  10 or more employer plan under Code
                               section 419A(f)(6).
4U..........................  Collectively bargained welfare benefit
                               arrangement under Code section
                               419A(f)(5).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

ERISA Compliance Quick Checklist

    Compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) 
begins with knowing the rules. Plan administrators and other plan 
officials can use this checklist as a quick diagnostic tool for 
assessing a plan's compliance with certain important ERISA rules; it is 
not a complete description of all ERISA's rules and it is not a 
substitute for a comprehensive compliance review. Use of this checklist 
is voluntary, and it is not to be filed with your Form 5500.
    If you answer ``No'' to any of the questions below, you should 
review your plan's operations because you may not be in full compliance 
with ERISA's requirements.
    1. Have you provided plan participants with a summary plan 
description, summaries of any material modifications of the plan, and 
annual summary financial reports?
    2. Do you maintain copies of plan documents at the principal office 
of the plan administrator for examination by participants and 
beneficiaries?
    3. Do you respond to written participant inquires for copies of 
plan documents and information within 30 days?
    4. Does your plan include written procedures for making benefit 
claims and appealing denied claims, and are you complying with those 
procedures?
    5. Is your plan covered by a fidelity bond against losses due to 
fraud or dishonesty?
    6. Are the plan's investments diversified so as to minimize the 
risk of large losses?
    7. If the plan permits participants to select the investments in 
their plan accounts, has the plan provided them with enough information 
to make informed decisions?
    8. Has a plan official determined that the investments are prudent 
and solely in the interest of the plan's participants and 
beneficiaries, and evaluated the risks associated with plan investments 
before making the investments?
    9. Did the employer or other plan sponsor send participant 
contributions to the plan on a timely basis?
    10. Did the plan pay participant benefits on time and in the 
correct amounts?
    11. Did the plan give participants and beneficiaries 30 days 
advance notice before imposing a ``blackout period'' of at least three 
consecutive business days during which participants or beneficiaries of 
a 401(k) or other individual account pension plan were unable to change 
their plan investments, obtain loans from the plan, or obtain 
distributions from the plan?
    If you answer ``Yes'' to any of the questions below, you should 
review your plan's operations because you may not be in full compliance 
with ERISA's requirements.
    1. Has the plan engaged in any financial transactions with persons 
related to the plan or any plan official? (For example, has the plan 
made a loan to or participated in an investment with the employer?)
    2. Has the plan official used the assets of the plan for his/her 
own interest?
    3. Have plan assets been used to pay expenses that were not 
authorized in the plan document, were not necessary to the proper 
administration of the plan, or were more than reasonable in amount?
    If you need help answering these questions or want additional 
guidance about ERISA requirements, a plan official should contact the 
U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration 
office in your region or consult with the plan's legal counsel or 
professional employee benefit advisor.

                                            Quick Reference chart of Form 5500 Schedules and Attachments \1\
                [This chart provides only general guidance--please see specific Form 5500 instructions for complete filing requirements.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Large Pension Plan      Small Pension Plan      Large Welfare Plan     Small Welfare Plan            DFE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 5500..........................  Must complete.........  Must complete \3\.....  Must complete \2\....  Must complete \2\ \3\  Must complete.
Schedule A (Insurance Information).  Must complete if plan   Must complete if plan   Must complete if plan  Must complete if plan  Must complete if
                                      has insurance           has insurance           has insurance          has insurance          MTIA, 103-12 IE, or
                                      contracts.              contracts.              contracts.             contracts.             GIA has insurance
                                                                                                                                    contracts.
Schedule MB (Actuarial Information)  Must complete if multi- Must complete if multi- Not required.........  Not required.........  Not required.
                                      employer defined        employer defined
                                      benefit plan or money   benefit plan or money
                                      purchase plan subject   purchase plan subject
                                      to minimum funding      to minimum funding
                                      standards \4\.          standards \4\.

[[Page 64851]]

 
Schedule SB (Actuarial Information)  Must complete if        Must complete if        Not required.........  Not required.........  Not required.
                                      single-employer or      single-employer or
                                      multiple-employer       multiple-employer
                                      defined benefit plan.   defined benefit plan.
Schedule C Service Provider          Must complete if        Not required..........  Must complete if       Not required.........  MTIAs, GIAs, and 103-
 Information.                         service provider was                            service provider was                          12 IEs must complete
                                      paid $5,000 or more                             paid $5,000 or more                           Part I if service
                                      and/or an accountant                            and/or an accountant                          provider paid $5,000
                                      or actuary was                                  or actuary was                                or more. GIAs and
                                      terminated.                                     terminated.                                   103-12 IEs must
                                                                                                                                    complete Part II if
                                                                                                                                    accountant was
                                                                                                                                    terminated.
Schedule D DFE/Participating Plan    Must complete Part I    Must complete Part I    Must complete Part I   Must complete Part I   All DFEs must
 Information.                         if plan participated    if plan participated    if plan participated   if plan participated   complete Part II,
                                      in a CCT, PSA, MTIA,    in a CCT, PSA, MTIA,    in a CCT, PSA, MTIA,   in a CCT, PSA, MTIA,   and DFEs that invest
                                      or 103-12 IE.           or 103-12 IE.           or 103-12 IE.          or 103-12 IE.          in a CCT, PSA, or
                                                                                                                                    103-12 IE must also
                                                                                                                                    complete Part I.
Schedule G (Financial Schedules)...  Must complete if        Not required..........  Must complete if       Not required.........  Must complete if
                                      Schedule H, lines 4b,                           Schedule H, lines                             Schedule H, lines
                                      4c, or ad are ``yes''.                          4b, 4c, or 4d are                             4b, 4c, or 4d for a
                                                                                      ``Yes'' \2\.                                  GIA, MTIA or 103-12
                                                                                                                                    IE are ``Yes.''
Schedule H (Financial Information).  Must complete \5\.....  Not required..........  Must complete \2\ \5\  Not required.........  All DFEs must
                                                                                                                                    complete Parts I,
                                                                                                                                    II, and III. MTIAs,
                                                                                                                                    GIAs and 103-12 IEs
                                                                                                                                    must also complete
                                                                                                                                    Part IV.\5\
Schedule I (Small Plan Financial     Not required..........  Must complete \3\.....  Not required.........  Must complete \3\....  Not required.
 Information).
Schedule R (Pension Plan             Must complete \6\.....  Must complete 3 6.....  Not required.........  Not required.........  Not required.
 Information).
Accountant's Report................  Must attach...........  Not required..........  Must attach..........  Not required.........  Must attach for a GIA
                                                                                                                                    or 103-12 IE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This chart provides only general guidance. Not all rules and requirements are reflected. Refer to specific Form 5500 instructions for complete
  information on filing requirements (e.g., Who Must File and What to File). For example, a pension plan is exempt from filing any schedules if the plan
  uses Code section 408 individual retirement accounts as the sole funding vehicle for providing benefits. See Limited Pension Plan Reporting.
\2\ Unfunded, fully insured and combination unfunded/fully insured welfare plans covering fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year
  that meet the requirements of 29 CFR 2520.104-20 are exempt from filing an annual report. (See Who Must File). Such a plan with 100 or more
  participants must file an annual report, but is exempt under 29 CFR 2520.104-44 from the accountant's report requirement and completing Schedule H,
  but MUST complete Schedule G, Part III, to report any nonexempt transactions. See What To File.
\3\ Small pension benefit plans and small welfare plans not exempt from filing an annual return/report may be eligible to file the Form 5500-SF. (See
  Who May File of the instructions for the Form 5500-SF).
\4\ Certain money purchase defined contribution plans are required to complete Schedule MB in accordance with the instructions. Also see instructions
  for line 5 of Schedule R and line 12a of 5500-SF.
\5\ Schedules of assets and reportable (5%) transactions also must be filed with the Form 5500 if Schedule H, line 4i or 4j is ``Yes.''
\6\ A pension plan is exempt from filing Schedule R if each of the following conditions is met:
<bullet> The plan is not a defined benefit plan or otherwise subject to the minimum funding standards of Code section 412 or ERISA section 302.
<bullet> No plan benefits that would be reportable on line 1 of Part I of this Schedule R were distributed during the plan year. See the instructions
  for Part I, line 1, below.
<bullet> No benefits, as described in the instructions for Part I, line 2, below, were paid during the plan year other than by the plan sponsor or plan
  administrator. (This condition is not met if benefits were paid by the trust or any other payor(s) which are reportable on IRS Form 1099-R,
  Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., using an EIN other than that of the plan
  sponsor or plan administrator reported on line 2b or 3b of Form 5500.)
<bullet> Unless the plan is a profit-sharing, ESOP or stock bonus plan, no plan benefits of living or deceased participants were distributed during the
  plan year in the form of a single sum distribution. See the instructions for Part I, line 3, below.
<bullet> The plan is not an ESOP.
<bullet> The plan is not a multiemployer defined benefit plan.


                           OMB Control Numbers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Agency                               OMB No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee Benefits Security Administration...............       1210-0110
                                                               1210-0089
Internal Revenue Service................................       1545-1610
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation....................       1212-0057
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 64852]]

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

    We ask for the information on this form to carry out the law as 
specified in ERISA and in Code sections 6058(a) and 6059(a). You are 
required to give us the information. We need it to determine whether 
the plan is operating according to the law.
    You are not required to provide the information requested on a form 
that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays 
a valid OMB control number. Books and records relating to a form or its 
instructions must be retained as long as their contents may become 
material in the administration of the Internal Revenue Code or are 
required to be maintained pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA. The Form 
5500 return/reports are open to public inspection and are subject to 
publication on the Internet.
    The time needed to complete and file the forms listed below 
reflects the combined requirements of the Internal Revenue Service, 
Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. These 
times will vary depending on individual circumstances. The estimated 
average times are:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Pension plans                           Welfare plans
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Large               Small               Large               Small
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 5500.......................  1 hr., 54 min.....  1 hr., 19 min.....  1 hr., 45 min.....  1 hr., 14 min
Schedule A......................  2 hr., 52 min.....  2 hr., 51 min.....  3 hr., 39 min.....  2 hr., 43 min.
Schedule SB.....................  6 hr., 38 min.....  6 hr., 49 min.....  N/A...............  N/A.
Schedule MB.....................  7 hr., 52 min.....  4 hr., 14 min.....  N/A...............  N/A.
Schedule C......................  3 hr., 4 min......  N/A...............  3 hr., 38 min.....  N/A.
Schedule D......................  1 hr., 39 min.....  20 min............  1 hr., 52 min.....  20 min.
Schedule G......................  11 hr., 29 min....  N/A...............  11 hr.............  N/A.
Schedule H......................  7 hr., 42 min.....  N/A...............  8hr., 35 min......  N/A.
Schedule I......................  N/A...............  2 hr., 5 min......  N/A...............  1 hr., 55 min.
Schedule R......................  1 hr., 43 min.....  1 hr., 5 min......  N/A...............  N/A.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time 
estimates or suggestions for making these forms simpler, we would be 
happy to hear from you. You can write to the Internal Revenue Service, 
Tax Products Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 
Constitution Ave., NW., IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224. DO NOT send any 
of these forms or schedules to this address. The forms and schedules 
must be filed electronically. See How to File--Electronic Filing 
Requirement.

Forms 5500, 5500-SF, and 5500-EZ Codes for Principal Business Activity

    This list of principal business activities and their associated 
codes is designed to classify an enterprise by the type of activity in 
which it is engaged. These principal activity codes are based on the 
North American Industry Classification System.\25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ The codes will be updated periodically from one Form year 
to another to reflect changes in the North American Industry 
Classification System. See, e.g., North American Industry 
Classification System--Update for 2007, 70 FR 12390 (Mar. 11, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

Crop Production

111100 Oilseed & Grain Farming
111210 Vegetable & Melon Farming (including potatoes & yams)
111300 Fruit & Tree Nut Farming
111400 Greenhouse, Nursery, & Floriculture Production
111900 Other Crop Farming (including tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, hay, 
peanut, sugar beet, & all other crop farming)

Animal Production

112111 Beef Cattle Ranching & Farming
112112 Cattle Feedlots
112120 Dairy Cattle & Milk Production
112210 Hog & Pig Farming
112300 Poultry & Egg Production
112400 Sheep & Goat Farming
112510 Animal Aquaculture (including shellfish & finfish farms & 
hatcheries)
112900 Other Animal Production

Forestry and Logging

113110 Timber Tract Operations
113210 Forest Nurseries & Gathering of Forest Products
113310 Logging

Fishing, Hunting and Trapping

114110 Fishing
114210 Hunting & Trapping

Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry

115110 Support Activities for Crop Production (including cotton 
ginning, soil preparation, planting, & cultivating)
115210 Support Activities for Animal Production
115310 Support Activities For Forestry

Mining

211110 Oil & Gas Extraction
212110 Coal Mining
212200 Metal Ore Mining
212310 Stone Mining & Quarrying
212320 Sand, Gravel, Clay, & Ceramic & Refractory Minerals Mining & 
Quarrying
212390 Other Nonmetallic Mineral Mining & Quarrying
213110 Support Activities for Mining

Utilities

221100 Electric Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution
221210 Natural Gas Distribution
221300 Water, Sewage, & Other Systems
221500 Combination Gas & Electric

Construction

Construction of Buildings

236110 Residential Building Construction
236200 Nonresidential Building Construction Heavy and Civil Engineering 
Construction
237100 Utility System Construction
237210 Land Subdivision
237310 Highway, Street, & Bridge Construction
237990 Other Heavy & Civil Engineering Construction Specialty Trade 
Contractors
238100 Foundation, Structure, & Building Exterior Contractors 
(including framing carpentry, masonry, glass, roofing, & siding)
238210 Electrical Contractors
238220 Plumbing, Heating, & Air-Conditioning Contractors
238290 Other Building Equipment Contractors
238300 Building Finishing Contractors (including drywall, insulation, 
painting, wallcovering, flooring, tile, & finish carpentry)
238900 Other Specialty Trade Contractors (including site preparation)

[[Page 64853]]

Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

312110 Soft Drink & Ice Mfg
312120 Breweries
312130 Wineries
312140 Distilleries
312200 Tobacco

Manufacturing

Textile Mills and Textile Product Mills

313000 Textile Mills
314000 Textile Product Mills

Apparel Manufacturing

315100 Apparel Knitting Mills
315210 Cut & Sew Apparel Contractors
315220 Men's & Boys' Cut & Sew Apparel Mfg
315230 Women's & Girls' Cut & Sew Apparel Mfg
315290 Other Cut & Sew Apparel Mfg
315990 Apparel Accessories & Other Apparel Mfg

Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing

316110 Leather & Hide Tanning & Finishing
316210 Footwear Mfg (including rubber & plastics)
316990 Other Leather & Allied Product Mfg

Wood Product Manufacturing

321110 Sawmills & Wood Preservation
321210 Veneer, Plywood, & Engineered Wood Product Mfg
21900 Other Wood Product Mfg

Paper Manufacturing

322100 Pulp, Paper, & Paperboard Mills
322200 Converted Paper Product Mfg

Printing and Related Support Activities

323100 Printing & Related Support Activities

Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing

324110 Petroleum Refineries (including integrated)
324120 Asphalt Paving, Roofing, & Saturated Materials Mfg
324190 Other Petroleum & Coal Products Mfg

Chemical Manufacturing

325100 Basic Chemical Mfg
325200 Resin, Synthetic Rubber, & Artificial & Synthetic Fibers & 
Filaments Mfg
325300 Pesticide, Fertilizer, & Other Agricultural Chemical Mfg
325410 Pharmaceutical & Medicine Mfg
325500 Paint, Coating, & Adhesive Mfg
325600 Soap, Cleaning Compound, & Toilet Preparation Mfg
325900 Other Chemical Product & Preparation Mfg

Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing

326100 Plastics Product Mfg
326200 Rubber Product Mfg

Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing

327100 Clay Product & Refractory Mfg
327210 Glass & Glass Product Mfg
327300 Cement & Concrete Product Mfg
327400 Lime & Gypsum Product Mfg
327900 Other Nonmetallic Mineral Product Mfg

Primary Metal Manufacturing

331110 Iron & Steel Mills & Ferroalloy Mfg
331200 Steel Product Mfg from Purchased Steel
331310 Alumina & Aluminum Production & Processing
331400 Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Production & Processing
331500 Foundries Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
332110 Forging & Stamping
332210 Cutlery & Handtool Mfg
332300 Architectural & Structural Metals Mfg
332400 Boiler, Tank, & Shipping Container Mfg
332510 Hardware Mfg
332610 Spring & Wire Product Mfg
332700 Machine Shops; Turned Product; & Screw, Nut, & Bolt Mfg
332810 Coating, Engraving, Heat Treating, & Allied Activities
332900 Other Fabricated Metal Product Mfg

Machinery Manufacturing

333100 Agriculture, Construction, & Mining Machinery Mfg
333200 Industrial Machinery Mfg
333310 Commercial & Service Industry Machinery Mfg
333410 Ventilation, Heating, Air-Conditioning, & Commercial 
Refrigeration Equipment Mfg
333510 Metalworking Machinery Mfg
333610 Engine, Turbine & Power Transmission Equipment Mfg
333900 Other General Purpose Machinery Mfg Computer and Electronic 
Product Manufacturing
334110 Computer & Peripheral Equipment Mfg
334200 Communications Equipment Mfg
334310 Audio & Video Equipment Mfg
334410 Semiconductor & Other Electronic Component Mfg
334500 Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, & Control Instruments 
Mfg
334610 Manufacturing & Reproducing Magnetic & Optical Media

Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing

335100 Electric Lighting Equipment Mfg
335200 Household Appliance Mfg
335310 Electrical Equipment Mfg
335900 Other Electrical Equipment & Component Mfg

Transportation Equipment Manufacturing

336100 Motor Vehicle Mfg
336210 Motor Vehicle Body & Trailer Mfg
336300 Motor Vehicle Parts Mfg
336410 Aerospace Product & Parts Mfg
336510 Railroad Rolling Stock Mfg
336610 Ship & Boat Building
336990 Other Transportation Equipment Mfg

Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing

337000 Furniture & Related Product Mfg

Miscellaneous Manufacturing

339110 Medical Equipment & Supplies Mfg
339900 Other Miscellaneous Mfg

Wholesale Trade Merchant

Wholesalers, Durable Goods

423100 Motor Vehicle & Motor Vehicle Parts & Supplies
423200 Furniture & Home Furnishings
423300 Lumber & Other Construction Materials
423400 Professional & Commercial Equipment & Supplies
423500 Metals & Minerals (except Petroleum)
423600 Electrical & Electronic Goods
423700 Hardware, Plumbing & Heating Equipment & Supplies
423800 Machinery, Equipment, & Supplies
423910 Sporting & Recreational Goods & Supplies
423920 Toy & Hobby Goods & Supplies
423930 Recyclable Materials
423940 Jewelry, Watches, Precious Stones, & Precious Metals
423990 Other Miscellaneous Durable Goods

Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

424100 Paper & Paper Products
424210 Drugs & Druggists' Sundries
424300 Apparel, Piece Goods, & Notions
424400 Grocery & Related Products
424500 Farm Product Raw Materials
424600 Chemical & Allied Products

[[Page 64854]]

424700 Petroleum & Petroleum Products
424800 Beer, Wine, & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages
424910 Farm Supplies
424920 Books, Periodicals, & Newspapers
424930 Flower, Nursery Stock, & Florists' Supplies
424940 Tobacco & Tobacco Products
424950 Paint, Varnish, & Supplies
424990 Other Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods

Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers

425110 Business to Business Electronic Markets
425120 Wholesale Trade Agents & Brokers

Retail Trade

Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers

441110 New Car Dealers
441120 Used Car Dealers
441210 Recreational Vehicle Dealers
441221 Motorcycle Dealers
441222 Boat Dealers
441229 All Other Motor Vehicle Dealers
441300 Automotive Parts, Accessories, & Tire Stores

Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores

442110 Furniture Stores
442210 Floor Covering Stores
442291 Window Treatment Stores
442299 All Other Home Furnishings Stores

Electronics and Appliance Stores

443111 Household Appliance Stores
443112 Radio, Television, & Other Electronics Stores
443120 Computer & Software Stores
443130 Camera & Photographic Supplies Stores

Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers

444110 Home Centers
444120 Paint & Wallpaper Stores
444130 Hardware Stores
444190 Other Building Material Dealers
444200 Lawn & Garden Equipment & Supplies Stores

Food and Beverage Stores

445110 Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores
445120 Convenience Stores
445210 Meat Markets
445220 Fish & Seafood Markets
445230 Fruit & Vegetable Markets
445291 Baked Goods Stores
445292 Confectionery & Nut Stores
445299 All Other Specialty Food Stores
445310 Beer, Wine, & Liquor Stores

Health and Personal Care Stores

446110 Pharmacies & Drug Stores
446120 Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, & Perfume Stores
446130 Optical Goods Stores
446190 Other Health & Personal Care Stores

Gasoline Stations

447100 Gasoline Stations (including convenience stores with gas)

Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores

448110 Men's Clothing Stores
448120 Women's Clothing Stores
448130 Children's & Infants' Clothing Stores
448140 Family Clothing Stores
448150 Clothing Accessories Stores
448190 Other Clothing Stores
448210 Shoe Stores
448310 Jewelry Stores
448320 Luggage & Leather Goods Stores

Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book, and Music Stores

451110 Sporting Goods Stores
451120 Hobby, Toy, & Game Stores
451130 Sewing, Needlework, & Piece Goods Stores
451140 Musical Instrument & Supplies Stores
451211 Book Stores
451212 News Dealers & Newsstands
451220 Prerecorded Tape, Compact Disc, & Record Stores

General Merchandise Stores

452110 Department Stores
452900 Other General Merchandise Stores

Miscellaneous Store Retailers

453110 Florists
453210 Office Supplies & Stationery Stores
453220 Gift, Novelty, & Souvenir Stores
453310 Used Merchandise Stores
453910 Pet & Pet Supplies Stores
453920 Art Dealers
453930 Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
453990 All Other Miscellaneous Store

Retailers (including tobacco, candle, & trophy shops)

Nonstore Retailers

454110 Electronic Shopping & Mail-Order Houses
454210 Vending Machine Operators
454311 Heating Oil Dealers
454312 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (bottled gas) Dealers
454319 Other Fuel Dealers
454390 Other Direct Selling Establishments (including door-to-door 
retailing, frozen food plan providers, party plan merchandisers, & 
coffee-break service providers)

Transportation and Warehousing Air, Rail, and Water Transportation

481000 Air Transportation
482110 Rail Transportation
483000 Water

Transportation

Truck Transportation

484110 General Freight Trucking, Local
484120 General Freight Trucking, Long-distance
484200 Specialized Freight Trucking

Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation

485110 Urban Transit Systems
485210 Interurban & Rural Bus Transportation
485310 Taxi Service
485320 Limousine Service
485410 School & Employee Bus Transportation
485510 Charter Bus Industry
485990 Other Transit & Ground Passenger Transportation

Pipeline Transportation

486000 Pipeline Transportation Scenic & Sightseeing Transportation
487000 Scenic & Sightseeing

Transportation Support Activities for Transportation

488100 Support Activities for Air Transportation
488210 Support Activities for Rail Transportation
488300 Support Activities for Water Transportation
488410 Motor Vehicle Towing
488490 Other Support Activities for Road Transportation
488510 Freight Transportation Arrangement
488990 Other Support Activities for Transportation Couriers and 
Messengers
492110 Couriers
492210 Local Messengers & Local Delivery

Warehousing and Storage

493100 Warehousing & Storage (except lessors of miniwarehouses & self-
storage units)

Information Publishing Industries (except Internet)

511110 Newspaper Publishers
511120 Periodical Publishers
511130 Book Publishers
511140 Directory & Mailing List Publishers

[[Page 64855]]

511190 Other Publishers
511210 Software Publishers Motion Picture and Sound Recording 
Industries
512100 Motion Picture & Video Industries (except video rental)
512200 Sound Recording Industries Broadcasting (except Internet)
515100 Radio & Television Broadcasting
515210 Cable & Other Subscription Programming

Internet Publishing and Broadcasting

516110 Internet Publishing & Broadcasting Telecommunications
517000 Telecommunications (including paging, cellular, satellite, cable 
& other program distribution, resellers, & other telecommunications)

Internet Service Providers, Web Search Portals, and Data Processing 
Services

518111 Internet Service Providers
518112 Web Search Portals
518210 Data Processing, Hosting, & Related Services Other Information 
Services
519100 Other Information Services (including news syndicates & 
libraries)

Finance and Insurance Depository Credit Intermediation

522110 Commercial Banking
522120 Savings Institutions
522130 Credit Unions
522190 Other Depository Credit Intermediation

Nondepository Credit Intermediation

522210 Credit Card Issuing
522220 Sales Financing
522291 Consumer Lending
522292 Real Estate Credit (including mortgage bankers & originators)
522293 International Trade Financing
522294 Secondary Market Financing
522298 All Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation Activities Related 
to Credit Intermediation
522300 Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (including loan 
brokers, check clearing, & money transmitting)

Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and 
Related Activities

523110 Investment Banking & Securities Dealing
523120 Securities Brokerage
523130 Commodity Contracts Dealing
523140 Commodity Contracts Brokerage
523210 Securities & Commodity Exchanges
523900 Other Financial Investment Activities (including portfolio 
management & investment advice)

Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

524140 Direct Life, Health, & Medical Insurance & Reinsurance Carriers
524150 Direct Insurance & Reinsurance (except Life, Health & Medical) 
Carriers
524210 Insurance Agencies & Brokerages
524290 Other Insurance Related Activities (including third-party 
administration of insurance and pension funds)

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

525100 Insurance & Employee Benefit Funds
525910 Open-End Investment Funds (Form 1120-RIC)
525920 Trusts, Estates, & Agency Accounts
525930 Real Estate Investment Trusts (Form 1120-REIT)
525990 Other Financial Vehicles (including mortgage REITs & closed-end 
investment funds)
    ``Offices of Bank Holding Companies'' and ``Offices of Other 
Holding Companies'' are located under Management of Companies (Holding 
Companies).

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Real Estate

531110 Lessors of Residential Buildings & Dwellings (including equity 
REITs)
531114 Cooperative Housing (including equity REITs)
531120 Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (except Miniwarehouses) 
(including equity REITs)
531130 Lessors of Miniwarehouses & Self-Storage Units (including equity 
REITs)
531190 Lessors of Other Real Estate Property (including equity REITs)
531210 Offices of Real Estate Agents & Brokers
531310 Real Estate Property Managers
531320 Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
531390 Other Activities Related to Real Estate

Rental and Leasing Services

532100 Automotive Equipment Rental & Leasing
532210 Consumer Electronics & Appliances Rental
532220 Formal Wear & Costume Rental
532230 Video Tape & Disc Rental
532290 Other Consumer Goods Rental
532310 General Rental Centers
532400 Commercial & Industrial Machinery & Equipment Rental & Leasing

Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except copyrighted works)

533110 Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except copyrighted 
works)

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Legal Services

541110 Offices of Lawyers
541190 Other Legal Services Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, 
and Payroll Services
541211 Offices of Certified Public Accountants
541213 Tax Preparation Services
541214 Payroll Services
541219 Other Accounting Services Architectural, Engineering, and 
Related Services
541310 Architectural Services
541320 Landscape Architecture Services
541330 Engineering Services
541340 Drafting Services
541350 Building Inspection Services
541360 Geophysical Surveying & Mapping Services
541370 Surveying & Mapping (except Geophysical) Services
541380 Testing Laboratories Specialized Design Services
541400 Specialized Design Services (including interior, industrial, 
graphic, & fashion design)

Computer Systems Design and Related Services

541511 Custom Computer Programming Services
541512 Computer Systems Design Services
541513 Computer Facilities Management Services
541519 Other Computer Related Services

Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

541600 Management, Scientific, & Technical Consulting Services
541700 Scientific Research & Development Services
541800 Advertising & Related Services
541910 Marketing Research & Public Opinion Polling
541920 Photographic Services
541930 Translation & Interpretation Services
541940 Veterinary Services
541990 All Other Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services

Management of Companies (Holding Companies)

551111 Offices of Bank Holding Companies
551112 Offices of Other Holding Companies

[[Page 64856]]

Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation 
Services

Administrative and Support Services

561110 Office Administrative Services
561210 Facilities Support Services
561300 Employment Services
561410 Document Preparation Services
561420 Telephone Call Centers
561430 Business Service Centers (including private mail centers & copy 
shops)
561440 Collection Agencies
561450 Credit Bureaus
561490 Other Business Support Services (including repossession 
services, court reporting, & stenotype services)
561500 Travel Arrangement & Reservation Services
561600 Investigation & Security Services
561710 Exterminating & Pest Control Services
561720 Janitorial Services
561730 Landscaping Services
561740 Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Services
561790 Other Services to Buildings & Dwellings
561900 Other Support Services (including packaging & labeling services, 
& convention & trade show organizers)

Waste Management and Remediation Services

562000 Waste Management & Remediation Service

Educational Services

611000 Educational Services (including schools, colleges, & 
universities)

Health Care and Social Assistance Offices of Physicians and Dentists

621111 Offices of Physicians (except mental health specialists)
621112 Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists
621210 Offices of Dentists Offices of Other Health Practitioners
621310 Offices of Chiropractors
621320 Offices of Optometrists
621330 Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)
621340 Offices of Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapists, & 
Audiologists
621391 Offices of Podiatrists
621399 Offices of All Other Miscellaneous Health Practitioners 
Outpatient Care Centers
621410 Family Planning Centers
621420 Outpatient Mental Health & Substance Abuse Centers
621491 HMO Medical Centers
621492 Kidney Dialysis Centers
621493 Freestanding Ambulatory Surgical & Emergency Centers
621498 All Other Outpatient Care Centers Medical and Diagnostic 
Laboratories
621510 Medical & Diagnostic Laboratories Home Health Care Services
621610 Home Health Care Services Other Ambulatory Health Care Services
621900 Other Ambulatory Health Care Services (including ambulance 
services & blood & organ banks)

Hospitals

622000 Hospitals Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
623000 Nursing & Residential Care Facilities Social Assistance
624100 Individual & Family Services
624200 Community Food & Housing, & Emergency & Other Relief Services
624310 Vocational Rehabilitation Services
624410 Child Day Care Services

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, 
and Related Industries

711100 Performing Arts Companies
711210 Spectator Sports (including sports clubs & racetracks)
711300 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, & Similar Events
711410 Agents & Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, & Other 
Public Figures
711510 Independent Artists, Writers, & Performers Museums, Historical 
Sites, and Similar Institutions
712100 Museums, Historical Sites, & Similar Institutions Amusement, 
Gambling, and Recreation Industries
713100 Amusement Parks & Arcades
713200 Gambling Industries
713900 Other Amusement & Recreation Industries (including golf courses, 
skiing facilities, marinas, fitness centers, & bowling centers)

Accommodation and Food Services Accommodation

721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) & Motels
721120 Casino Hotels
721191 Bed & Breakfast Inns
721199 All Other Traveler Accommodation
721210 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks & Recreational Camps
721310 Rooming & Boarding Houses Food Services and Drinking Places
722110 Full-Service Restaurants
722210 Limited-Service Eating Places
722300 Special Food Services (including food service contractors & 
caterers)
722410 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)

Other Services

Repair and Maintenance

811110 Automotive Mechanical & Electrical Repair & Maintenance
811120 Automotive Body, Paint, Interior & Glass Repair
811190 Other Automotive Repair & Maintenance (including oil change & 
lubrication shops & car washes)
811210 Electronic & Precision Equipment Repair & Maintenance
811310 Commercial & Industrial Machinery & Equipment (except Automotive 
& Electronic) Repair & Maintenance
811410 Home & Garden Equipment & Appliance Repair & Maintenance
811420 Reupholstery & Furniture Repair
811430 Footwear & Leather Goods Repair
811490 Other Personal & Household Goods Repair & Maintenance

Personal and Laundry Services

812111 Barber Shops
812112 Beauty Salons
812113 Nail Salons
812190 Other Personal Care Services (including diet & weight reducing 
centers)
812210 Funeral Homes & Funeral Services
812220 Cemeteries & Crematories
812310 Coin-Operated Laundries & Drycleaners
812320 Drycleaning & Laundry Services (except Coin-Operated)
812330 Linen & Uniform Supply
812910 Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
812920 Photofinishing
812930 Parking Lots & Garages
812990 All Other Personal Services

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations

813000 Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, & Similar 
Organizations (including condominium and homeowners associations)
813930 Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations
921000 Governmental Instrumentality or Agency

Statutory Authority

    Accordingly, pursuant to the authority in sections 101, 103, 104, 
109, 110, and 4065 of ERISA and section 6058 of the Code, the Form 5500 
Annual Return/Report and the instructions thereto are amended as set 
forth herein, including the addition of the proposed Short Form 5500 
and the replacement of the Schedule B with Schedules SB and MB.


[[Page 64857]]


    Signed at Washington, DC, this 30th day of October 2007.
Bradford P. Campbell,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor.
Joseph Grant,
Director, Employee Plans, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, 
Internal Revenue Service.
Charles E.F. Millard,
Interim Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 07-5521 Filed 11-15-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P