Source: https://www.lexisnexis.com/lexis-practice-advisor/the-journal/b/lpa/archive/2018/04/18/locating-missing-retirement-plan-participants.aspx
Timestamp: 2019-01-23 19:58:14
Document Index: 240376182

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 1104', '§ 1', '§ 2550', '§ 4050', 'art 4050', 'art 4050', '§ 4050', '§ 404']

While it may seem unlikely that a participant would not remain vigilant about his or her retirement benefits, there are a variety of reasons individuals become missing participants. Such reasons include:
No updated address. In keeping with the trend of increased workforce mobility, a participant may terminate employment and fail to provide the employer or plan with a new address.
Participant unable to locate the plan. As a result of corporate transactions, the sponsor of the plan of which a participant previously was a member may change, or the plan may be merged into another plan. Thus, the participant may not know how to locate the plan.
Participant dies. The participant dies but no beneficiary comes forward.
Locating missing participants is particularly important in ERISA-governed plans because it implicates the fiduciary duties of responsible parties. To assist plan fiduciaries in these efforts, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the PBGC have provided detailed guidance on steps to take to locate missing participants in both defined contribution plans (DC plans) and defined benefit plans (DB plans). This guidance is summarized in the following sections.
Missing Participants in Terminating Defined Contribution Plans
When terminating a defined contribution plan, the plan sponsor and plan fiduciaries must notify participants that the plan is being terminated and benefits are being distributed. This requirement implicates ERISA § 404(a)’s prudent man standard of care for plan fiduciaries. ERISA § 404(a) (29 U.S.C. § 1104). While the decision to terminate a plan is a settlor decision and not a fiduciary decision, the fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA govern the implementation of plan termination, including steps to locate missing participants, and the choice of distribution options for a missing participant’s account balance. DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2014-01 (Aug. 14, 2014) (FAB 2014-01). Further, the IRS has ruled that in the context of a terminating plan, all of a plan’s assets must be distributed as soon as administratively feasible after plan termination. Rev. Rul. 89-87; Prop. Treas. Reg. § 1.412(b)–4(d)(1).
DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2014-01
FAB 2014-01 sets forth guidance on what the DOL considers reasonable efforts to locate missing participants when terminating defined contribution plans such that if such efforts are taken, the terminating plan’s fiduciary duties will generally be deemed satisfied. Under earlier guidance, the DOL required that plan fiduciaries utilize the Social Security Administration’s and the IRS’s address forwarding services to locate plan participants or beneficiaries. Those programs were discontinued given expanded internet search options.
FAB 2014-01 requires that the following actions be taken to locate missing participants in a DC plan (in no particular order):
Use certified mail. Certified mail is an easy way to find out, at little cost, whether a participant or beneficiary can be located in order to distribute benefits. The DOL has provided a model notice that may be used for mailings made to locate missing participants and beneficiaries. The model, which relates to terminated defined contribution plans, need not be followed and use of other notices will satisfy the safe harbor.
Check related plan and employer records. The plan sponsor should check the employer records and the records of another of the employer’s plans, such as the group health plan, for address and beneficiary information. Where there are privacy concerns, the plan fiduciary engaged can request that the employer or other plan fiduciary contact or forward a letter to the missing participant or beneficiary.
Check with the designated plan beneficiary. Try to identify and contact any individual that the missing participant designated as a beneficiary to find updated contact information for the missing participant. If this raises privacy concerns, the plan fiduciary can request that the designated beneficiary contact or forward a letter to the missing participant or beneficiary.
Use free electronic search tools. Plan fiduciaries must make reasonable use of internet search tools that do not charge a fee to search for a missing participant or beneficiary. The DOL has identified these services to include internet search engines, public record databases (such as those for licenses, mortgages, and real estate taxes), obituaries, and social media.
The above list is required for any distribution regardless of the participant’s account balance. However, if taking all those steps does not yield results, the plan fiduciary must make a cost-benefit analysis, weighing the facts and circumstances, to determine whether further steps are necessary.
When determining whether further steps are necessary, the plan fiduciary must take into account:
The size of participant’s account balance
The cost of further search efforts
DOL FAB 2014-01 lists the following as possible additional search methods:
Analogous services that may involve charges
Distributing Accounts on Behalf of Missing Participants Who Cannot Be Located
Because all assets must be distributed for a terminating plan, if none of the fiduciary’s search efforts are successful, the fiduciary’s next step is to decide how to distribute the account on behalf of the missing participant. Prior to the expansion of the PBGC missing participant program, the main approach was to follow the safe harbor distribution rules for terminating individual account plans (e.g., 401(k) plans) under 29 C.F.R. § 2550-404a-3 and the safe harbor for automatic rollovers of mandatory cashout distributions, as contemplated by FAB 2014-01. Now, the PBGC program, described further below, is also available.
Charging Plan Accounts for Missing Participant Search Expenses
If the plan fiduciary determines that a search method that involves costs is warranted, an additional decision to consider is whether to charge the participant’s account for such fees. The DOL permits the charge to individual participants in the case of charges related to distributions and the accounts of separated vested participants, so long as the amount and nature of the charges are prudent. DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2003-03 (May 19, 2002). If participant accounts will be reduced for search fees, you should make sure the plan terms and the plan’s fee disclosures are consistent with this practice.
PBGC Missing Participants Program for DC Plans
The PBGC developed a program over 20 years ago to locate and preserve benefits for missing participants in most terminating single-employer defined benefit plans, pursuant to ERISA § 4050. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 authorized the PBGC to establish a more expansive program available to defined contribution and other plans not covered by the former program. After consulting with the DOL and IRS and issuing proposed rules in 2016, the PBGC issued final rules for its revised and expanded program. The new program is applicable for plan terminations on and after January 1, 2018 and is set forth in revised Part 4050 of C.F.R. Title 29.
DC Plan Eligibility and Optional Participation
The program is generally open to most qualified DC plans (whether single-employer, multiple-employer, or multiemployer) and plans treated as individual account plans, including applicable 403(b) plans, but excluding non-ERISA plans (e.g., non-electing church plans). However, the program is specifically limited to terminating plans and is not available for ongoing plans.
Unlike for defined benefit plans, participation by DC plans is optional. In addition, DC plan fiduciaries can decide whether to participate as either a transferring plan or notifying plan:
Transferring plans send the PBGC funds equal to the amount of the missing participant’s distributable account balance at the termination of the plan (the so-called benefit transfer amount) so that the PBGC can pay the benefit to the missing participant if and when they are located. Under an all-ornothing rule, a transferring plan must transfer funds for all of the plan’s missing participants.
Notifying plans make other arrangements for the benefit amounts (such as a rollover to an IRA pursuant to FAB 2014-01) but enlist the PBGC’s assistance in helping to locate the missing participants. Notifying plans send the PBGC information on the entity responsible for providing the benefit to share with the participant (or other eligible claimant) once found.
In addition, missing participants will be added to the PBGC’s publicly available unclaimed pension benefit database, which will now be unified for DB and DC plans participating in the PBGC program. This searchable database incorporates names of missing participants and plan information, such as the plan name, type, and termination dates and company name and address.
Importantly, the program is available not only for missing participants who cannot be located, but also for participants who (1) do not make a distribution election after receiving notice or (2) do not accept a lump sum payment. The program is only available for participants who are missing. Nonacceptance of a lump sum includes the failure to cash the distribution check by any applicable cash-by date that is at least 45 days after issuance of the check (or, in the absence of a cash-by date, by the check’s stale date under the UCC or state law, as applicable).
Generally, the requirements to participate in the DC plan program are:
Diligent search. Conduct a diligent search for all missing participants that cannot be located (or, for a notifying plan, those for whom information will be provided to the PBGC), conducted in accordance with FAB 2014-01, as described in the discussion above, not more than nine months before making the missing participant filing (discussed below).
Obtaining a PBGC case number. Request a case number by emailing the PBGC per the missing participant filing instructions.
Missing participant filing. File a completed missing participants form (Form MP-200 and appropriate schedule) with the PBGC to provide relevant plan and participant information, benefit amount and beneficiary information for transferring plans, and responsible entity information for notifying plans, all in accordance with the applicable instructions (the PBGC website has draft forms and instructions, including drafts of Form MP-200 and Missing Participants Program Filing Instructions for DC Plans).
Transfer of funds and fees (for transferring plans). Send the benefit transfer amount to the PBGC as provided in the missing participant instructions to cover the cost of providing the benefit and, if applicable, an administration fee (expected to be $35 per missing participant with benefits over $250).
Supplemental information. Respond to any PBGC request for supplemental information relating to the missing participants within 30 days.
Missing Participants in Terminating Defined Benefit Plans
Upon the termination of a defined benefit pension plan which is subject to Title IV of ERISA (i.e., a PBGC-insured plan), a plan sponsor must fully distribute all plan assets before the defined benefit plan can be terminated. Title IV contains extensive rules for terminating DB plans, including requiring covered plan administrators to either procure an irrevocable commitment from an insurer to provide for a missing participant’s benefit or transfer the benefit liability to the PBGC. The PBGC established its missing participants program to facilitate, monitor, and ensure compliance with these obligations.
In 2017, the PBGC issued final regulations to open the program to other DB plans previously excluded from coverage as well as to DC plans. In addition, the procedures for single-employer DB plans were significantly simplified. The PBGC’s final rulemaking restructures C.F.R. Part 4050 in four subparts that address different types of plans:
DC plans, discussed earlier in this article
Certain DB plans not covered by ERISA Title IV (small professional services DB plans)
Multiemployer DB plans
The following section provides an overview of the new program for DB plans, applicable for plan terminations on and after January 1, 2018. The program is limited to the context of terminating plans and is not available to ongoing plans having missing participants, even where a distribution is required. Separate rules apply for DB plans experiencing a distress termination that are not fully funded.
PBGC Missing Participants Program for DB Plans
Under the program, the PBGC either accepts a transfer of missing participant pension benefits from terminated DB plans to pay the distributees once located or helps connect missing participants with the insurance company responsible for their annuity contracts, as well as monitors the program and audit compliance.
Another significant change for the new program is to explicitly treat certain unresponsive individuals as missing participants, instead of as individuals who cannot be located. Specifically, the definition of missing now includes individuals who:
Cannot be located after a diligent search
Are subject to a mandatory cash-out lump-sum distribution and do not respond to the distribution notice
Are subject to a mandatory cash-out lump-sum distribution and do not accept payment or are deemed not to by failing to cash the distribution check by any applicable cash-by date that is at least 45 days after issuance of the check (or, in the absence of a cash-by date, by the check’s stale date under the UCC or state law, as applicable)
Missing participants are also added to the PBGC's unclaimed pension benefit database, which is publicly available and will be unified for both DB and DC plans participating in the PBGC program. The searchable database lists missing participants' names, as well as plan information, including plan name, type, termination dates, company name and address.
DB Plan Mandatory Participation and General Requirements
DB plans that are PBGC-insured are required to follow the program rules during the termination process for all missing participants (including participants deemed to be missing because they fail to respond to a distribution notice or accept a mandatory lump-sum distribution). This means that for each missing participant at the close-out of the plan, they must either transfer the applicable benefit transfer amount (based on the value of the accrued benefit) to the PBGC or procure an annuity for the missing participant and convey information about the annuity provider to the PBGC. Unlike for transferring DC plans, there is no all-or-nothing rule, so different missing participants can be treated differently.
The preceding paragraph does not apply to small professional services DB plans (having 25 or fewer participants) (SPS plans), which are not PBGC-insured. The program for these plans is optional under rules similar to DC plan participation discussed earlier.
Generally, the requirements for DB plans are:
Diligent search. Conduct a diligent search for all missing participants that cannot be located (or, for a notifying SPS plan, those for whom information will be provided to the PBGC) not more than nine months before making the missing participant filing under new rules (described below).
Determining benefit transfer amount or purchasing annuity for each missing participant. For plans transferring funds to the PBGC for any missing participant, the benefit transfer amount is a present value of the individual’s benefit, determined as explained below. For all other missing participants, the plan must purchase an irrevocable commitment from an insurer to provide the benefit to the missing participant.
Missing participant filing. File a completed missing participants form (Form MP-100 and appropriate schedule(s)) with the PBGC to provide relevant plan and participant information; benefit amount, form, and beneficiary information (for benefits transferred to the PBGC); and insurance company information (for reporting annuities to the PBGC), all in accordance with the applicable instructions (the PBGC website has draft forms and instructions, including drafts of Form MP-100 and Missing Participants Program Filing Instructions for SingleEmployer DB Plans).
Transfer of funds and fees (if applicable): For any benefit transfer amounts, DB plans must convey the funds to the PBGC as provided in the missing participant instructions and, if applicable, pay an administration fee (expected to be $35 per missing participant with benefits over $250).
Supplemental information: Respond to any PBGC request for supplemental information relating to the missing participants within 30 days.
In order for a terminating DB plan to utilize the PBGC’s missing participant program, and before it can distribute funds to terminate, the plan administrator must perform a diligent search for each missing participant who cannot be located.
The new program substantially modifies this requirement for conducting a diligent search, modelling the new rules on the DOL’s FAB 2014-01. For DB plans, the required method depends on whether the missing participant’s benefit is valued at over $50 per month:
Commercial locator method for benefits over threshold. The DB plan must engage a commercial locator service that, as a minimum, uses information from a database maintained by a consumer reporting agency. Many companies specialize in helping plan administrators locate lost participants.
Records search method for benefits under threshold. Undertake all of the following, to the extent reasonably feasible and affordable:
Search plan records
Search plan sponsor and employer records
Search records of other employee benefit plans in which the missing participant participated
Contact any identified beneficiaries of the missing participant
Conduct internet searches, such as through search engines, network databases, public record databases, and social media websites
29 C.F.R. § 4050.104.
Missing Participants Filings
For the new program, the applicable version of Form MP replaces the Schedule MP that DB plans filed with the PBGC for a standard plan termination prior to 2018. Form MP-100 for single-employer DB plans, Form MP-300 for SPS DB plans, and Form MP-400 for multiemployer DB plans, are all available with corresponding instructions and Excel templates in draft form on the PBGC website. Similar to the Schedule MP attachments, the new forms contain:
Schedule A for providing information on annuities the plan purchased for one or more missing participants
Schedule B for providing information about benefit transfer amounts to the PBGC
Filers may use Excel templates furnished by the PBGC in lieu of completing the schedules.
Additional forms must be provided that are related to the termination of the plan and not specifically to missing participants, and thus are outside the scope of this article.
Best Practices in Administering Qualified Plans
Plan administrators who are unable to locate participants and beneficiaries to provide notices, plan information, and plan benefits must make a diligent effort to locate these individuals to fulfill their fiduciary obligations. Some of this work can be done in advance of a distribution event based on returned mailings sent to a participant or beneficiary. Conducting a diligent search has been facilitated by the increased resources available via the internet and through readily available commercial locator services. The following list offers missing participant best practices to help responsible parties fulfill their fiduciary duties and facilitate plan administration.
Adopt a policy to identify and locate missing participants that is designed and implemented in a consistent and nondiscriminatory manner, and in accordance with ERISA § 404(a) requirements.
Consult any third-party administrators to confirm that they have, and that they implement, a reasonable missing participant’s policy and are following appropriate procedures.
Review the plan for records on a regular basis to identify retirees with deferred vested benefits, as well as terminated vested participants, and consider periodic communications to verify accurate mailing addresses.
Keep accurate records of all efforts to locate missing participants and instruct third-party service providers to do the same.
Document reasons for using more expensive search services (if plan assets will be used to pay for such services).
Monitor forfeitures resulting from failure to locate missing participants (where the plan allows this) and consider modifying or using newer locator procedures if the number of forfeitures increases.
Periodically review data by comparing plan records to a database such as the Social Security Death Index or the National Change of Address database.
In the context of a business transaction, like a merger or acquisition, request information regarding missing participants and beneficiaries and verify that participant and beneficiary lists are readable or transferable to the acquiring sponsor’s information systems or those of its vendor.
In the context of a change in recordkeepers or vendors, verify that the successor third-party service provider has access to complete participant and beneficiary lists.
Include a reminder on all plan communications (e.g., summary plan description and annual notices) for participants to update their contact information, with easyto-follow instructions.
Read the complete Practice Note on locating missing plan participants in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation module of Lexis Practice Advisor.