Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

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**2020**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2020-01A 01/24/2020 3(1)	Alexander T. Renfro, JD, LLM The Law Office of Alexander Renfro 3200 West End Avenue, Suite 500 Nashville, TN 37204	Whether LP Management's limited partnership programs are employee welfare benefit plans within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA, and, if so, whether the arrangements constitute single-employer group health plans sponsored by the limited partnerships as an "employer." This advisory opinion has been set aside by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Data Marketing Partnership v. Scalia, Case No. 19-800, 2020 WL 5759966 (N.D. Tex. Sep. 28, 2020). The government is currently considering whether to appeal.

**2019**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2019-01A 07/08/2019 3(40) 3(5)	Alden J. Bianchi Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. One Financial Center Boston, MA 02111	Whether the Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation Cooperative Group Health Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA that is maintained by a "group or association of employers" within the meaning of section 3(5) of ERISA and whether it is a MEWA that is fully insured within the meaning of sections 3(40) and 514(b)(6)(A) of ERISA.

**2018**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2018-01A 11/05/2018 3(21)(A) 4975	J. Spencer Williams Founder, President and CEO Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC 3545 Whitehall Park Drive, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28273	This advisory opinion concerns the status of certain parties as fiduciaries within the meaning of section 3(21)(A) of ERISA and section 4975(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a result of actions undertaken as part of a Retirement Clearinghouse Auto Portability Program designed to help employees consolidate certain small accounts in plans and IRAs when they change jobs.

**2017**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2017-02AC 05/16/2017 3(40) 3(5)	Darcy L. Hitesman Hitesman & Wold 12900 – 63^rdAvenue North Maple Grove, MN 55369	Whether a sub-group of employer members of a trade association could constitute a “group or association of employers” within the meaning of section 3(5) of ERISA capable of sponsoring a multiple employer plan, and whether a group health plan proposed by the sub-group would constitute a multiple employer welfare arrangement within the meaning of section 3(40) of ERISA.
2017-01A 01/13/2017 3(1) 3(40)	Vanessa A. Scott, Esq. Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP 700 Sixth Street NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20001-3980	This advisory opinion concerns how the definition of employee welfare benefit plan and the definition of multiple employer welfare arrangement might apply to a program of administrative services.

**2015**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2015-02A 10/19/2015 401(b)	Nancy S. Gerrie McDermott Will & Emery 227 West Monroe Street Chicago, Illinois 60606-5096	Whether stop-loss insurance policies purchased by a plan sponsor to manage risk associated with a self-insured contributory welfare plan would constitute plan assets.
2015-01A 10/19/2015 3(1) 3(4)	Christopher Chediak Weintraub Tobin 400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor Sacramento, California 95814	Whether a long term disability program is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of ERISA 3(1) sponsored by the California Law Enforcement Association as an "employees' beneficiary association" within the meaning of ERISA 3(4).

**2013**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2013-05A 11/01/2013 PTE 84-14	Susan M. Camillo, Esq. Dechert LLP 200 Clarendon Street, 27th Floor Boston, MA 02116-5021	Whether certain deferred prosecution agreements entered into by an investment manager's affiliate constitute criminal "convictions" for purposes of Section I(g) of PTE 84-14, thereby disqualifying the investment manager from acting as a qualified professional asset manager under PTE 84-14.
2013-04A 09/09/2013 PTE 77-4	Melanie Franco Nussdorf, Esq. Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036	Whether the delivery of a "summary prospectus" satisfies certain disclosure requirements of PTE 77-4.
2013-03A 07/03/2013 2510.3-101 404 406	Stephen M. Saxon Andree M. St. Martin Groom Law Group, Chartered 1701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20006-5811	This advisory opinion concerns the application of ERISA plan asset and fiduciary obligations to contractual arrangements between plans and service providers whereby a plan obtains credits or rights to share in revenue sharing payments the service provider receives as a result of plan investments.