Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Notices 10513

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submission of

responses.

III. Current Actions

This notice requests comments on the

extension of the ICR included in PTE–

85–68. The ICR included in this

exemption is intended to ensure that the

conditions of ERISA section 408 have

been satisfied with respect to

transactions involving customer notes.

The Department is not proposing or

implementing changes to the existing

ICR at this time.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved collection of

information

Agency: Department of Labor, Pension

and Welfare Benefits Administration.

Title: Prohibited Transaction

Exemption 85–68.

OMB Number: 1210–0094.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households; Business or other for-profit;

Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 120.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Responses: 960.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 960.

Total Burden Cost (Operating and

Maintenance): $0.00.

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for OMB

approval of the information collection

request; they will also become a matter

of public record.

Dated: February 6, 2001.

Gerald B. Lindrew,

Deputy Director, Office of Policy and

Research, Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration.

[FR Doc. 01–3832 Filed 2–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration

Proposed Extension of Information

Collection Request; Comment

Request; 29 CFR 2550.408b–1

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as

part of its continuing effort to reduce

paperwork and respondent burden,

provides the general public and Federal

agencies with an opportunity to

comment on proposed and/or

continuing collections of information in

accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) 44

U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). This program

helps to ensure that requested data can

be provided in the desired format,

reporting burden (time and financial

resources) is minimized, collection

instruments are clearly understood, and

the impact of collection requirements on

respondents can be properly assessed.

Currently, the Pension and Welfare

Benefits Administration is soliciting

comments concerning the proposed

extension of the information collection

provisions of the regulation relating to

loans to plan participants and

beneficiaries who are parties in interest

with respect to the plan (29 CFR

2550.408b–1). A copy of the proposed

information collection request (ICR) can

be obtained by contacting the person

listed below in the ADDRESSES section.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before April 16, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Gerald B. Lindrew,

Department of Labor, Pension and

Welfare Benefits Administration, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20210, (202) 219–4782 (this is not a

toll-free number), FAX (202) 219–4745.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Employee Retirement Income

Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) prohibits

a fiduciary with respect to a plan from

causing the plan to engage in the direct

or indirect lending of money or other

extension of credit between the plan a

party in interest. ERISA section

408(b)(1) exempts loans made by a plan

to parties in interest who are

participants and beneficiaries of the

plan from this prohibition provided that

certain requirements are satisfied. One

such requirement is that loans to

participants must be made in

accordance with specific provisions

regarding such loans set forth in the

plan. In final regulations published in

the Federal Register on July 20, 1989

(54 FR 30520), the Department of Labor

provided additional guidance on section

408(b)(1)(C), which requires that loans

must be made in accordance with

specific provisions set forth in the plan.

This ICR relates to the specific

provisions which must be included in

plan documents for those plans which

permit loans to participants.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

The Department of Labor is

particularly interested in comments

which:

• Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarify the information to be collected;

and

• Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submissions

of responses.

III. Current Actions

This notice requests comments on the

extension of the ICR included in 29 CFR

2550.408b–1. The ICR ensures that

participants and beneficiaries are

provided with adequate information

with respect to matters affecting their

benefits. The Department is not

proposing or implementing changes to

the existing ICR at this time. This

existing collection of information

should be continued because it ensures

that participants and beneficiaries are

provided with adequate information

with respect to matters affecting their

benefits. This ICR also provides

additional guidance concerning the

statutory requirement that loans to

participants be made in accordance with

specific written plan provisions.

Type of Review: Extension.

Agency: Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Regulation Relating to Loans to

Plan Participants and Beneficiaries who

are Parties in Interest with Respect to

the Plan.

OMB Number: 1210–0076.

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit, Not-for-profit institutions,

Individuals.

Total Respondents: 1,300.

Frequency: On occasion.

Total Responses: 1,300.

Average Time Per Response: 3 hours.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintenance): $281,000.

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection request; they will

also become a matter of public record.

10514 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Notices

1For purposes of this exemption, references to

specific provisions of Title I of the Act unless

otherwise specified, refer to the corresponding

provisions of the Code.

Dated: February 6, 2001.

Gerald B. Lindrew,

Deputy Director, Office of Policy and

Research, Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration.

[FR Doc. 01–3833 Filed 2–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–29–M

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration

[Application No. D–10584, et al.]

Proposed Exemptions; New York Life

Insurance Company (NYLIC)

AGENCY: Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of proposed exemptions.

SUMMARY: This document contains

notices of pendency before the

Department of Labor (the Department) of

proposed exemptions from certain of the

prohibited transaction restrictions of the

Employee Retirement Income Security

Act of 1974 (the Act) and/or the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).

Written Comments and Hearing

Requests

All interested persons are invited to

submit written comments or request for

a hearing on the pending exemptions,

unless otherwise stated in the Notice of

Proposed Exemption, within 45 days

from the date of publication of this

Federal Register Notice. Comments and

requests for a hearing should state: (1)

The name, address, and telephone

number of the person making the

comment or request, and (2) the nature

of the person’s interest in the exemption

and the manner in which the person

would be adversely affected by the

exemption. A request for a hearing must

also state the issues to be addressed and

include a general description of the

evidence to be presented at the hearing.

ADDRESSES: All written comments and

request for a hearing (at least three

copies) should be sent to the Pension

and Welfare Benefits Administration,

Office of Exemption Determinations,

Room N–1513, U.S. Department of

Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20210. Attention:

Application No. lll, stated in each

Notice of Proposed Exemption. The

applications for exemption and the

comments received will be available for

public inspection in the Public

Documents Room of the Pension and

Welfare Benefits Administration, U.S.

Department of Labor, Room N–5638,

200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20210.

Notice to Interested Persons

Notice of the proposed exemptions

will be provided to all interested

persons in the manner agreed upon by

the applicant and the Department

within 15 days of the date of publication

in the Federal Register. Such notice

shall include a copy of the notice of

proposed exemption as published in the

Federal Register and shall inform

interested persons of their right to

comment and to request a hearing

(where appropriate).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed exemptions were requested in

applications filed pursuant to section

408(a) of the Act and/or section

4975(c)(2) of the Code, and in

accordance with procedures set forth in

29 CFR Part 2570, Subpart B (55 FR

32836, 32847, August 10, 1990).

Effective December 31, 1978, section

102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of

1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred

the authority of the Secretary of the

Treasury to issue exemptions of the type

requested to the Secretary of Labor.

Therefore, these notices of proposed

exemption are issued solely by the

Department.

The applications contain

representations with regard to the

proposed exemptions which are

summarized below. Interested persons

are referred to the applications on file

with the Department for a complete

statement of the facts and

representations.

New York Life Insurance Company

(NYLIC), Located In New York, NY

[Application No. D–10584]

Proposed Exemption

The Department of Labor is

considering granting an exemption

under the authority of section 408(a) of

the Act and section 4975(c)(2) of the

Code and in accordance with the

procedures set forth in 29 C.F.R. part

2570, subpart B (55 FR 32836, 32847,

August 10, 1990).1

I. Transactions

If the exemption is granted, the

restrictions of section 406(a)(1)(A)

through (D) and 406(b) of the Act and

the sanctions resulting from the

application of section 4975 of the Code,

by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A)

through (F) of the Code shall not apply

to the following transactions, if the

conditions set forth in Section II and

Section III, below, are satisfied:

(a) The receipt, directly or indirectly,

by a sales agent (Sales Agent or Sales

Agents), as defined in Section IV(l)

below, of a sales commission from

NYLIC in connection with the purchase,

with plan assets, of an insurance

contract (the Insurance Contract or

Insurance Contracts), as defined in

Section IV(h) below;

(b) The receipt of a sales commission

by NYLIC, as principal underwriter for

a mutual fund registered under the

Investment Company Act of 1940, in

connection with the purchase, with plan

assets, of securities issued by such

mutual fund (the NYLife Fund or

NYLife Funds), as defined in Section

IV(c) below;

(c) The effecting by NYLIC, as

principal underwriter, of a transaction

for the purchase, with plan assets, of

securities issued by a NYLife Fund, and

the effecting by a Sales Agent of a

transaction for the purchase, with plan

assets, of an Insurance Contract; and

(d) The purchase, with plan assets, of

an Insurance Contract from NYLIC.

II. General Conditions

(a) The transactions are effected by

NYLIC in the ordinary course of

NYLIC’s business as an insurance

company, or as a principal underwriter

to a NYLife Fund, or in the case of a

Sales Agent, in the ordinary course of

the Sales Agent’s business as a Sales

Agent.

(b) The transactions are on terms at

least as favorable to the plan as an arm’s

length transaction with an unrelated

party would be.

(c) The combined total of all fees,

sales commissions, and other

consideration received by NYLIC or a

Sales Agent: (1) For the provision of

services to the plan, and (2) in

connection with a purchase of an

Insurance Contract or securities issued

by a NYLife Fund, is not in excess of

‘‘reasonable compensation’’ within the

contemplation of section 408(b)(2) and

(c)(2) of the Act and section 4975(d)(2)

and (d)(10) of the Code. If such total is

in excess of ‘‘reasonable compensation’’

the ‘‘amount involved’’ for purposes of

the civil penalties of section 502(i) of

the Act and excise taxes imposed by

section 4975(a) and (b) of the Code is

the amount of compensation in excess

of ‘‘reasonable compensation.’’

III. Specific Conditions

(a) NYLIC or the Sales Agent is not—

(1) A trustee of the plan (other than

a non-discretionary trustee who does

not render investment advice with

respect to any assets of the plan or a

trustee to a pooled trust (the Pooled

Trust), as defined in Section IV(g)