It is the end of January 2022 and we still don’t have the PBGC’s Final Final Rules, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t making some progress. According to the latest update from the PBGC’s website, there are now 24 pension plans that have filed applications to receive the Special Financial Assistance (SFA), including a second plan, Ironworkers Local 17 Pension Fund, that has been filed as an “MPRA eligibility suspension” claimant. In addition to the filing activity, we now know that five applications have been approved and two of those have actually received payment. Terrific!
I’ve expressed my concern that we have all this activity going on without final rules from the PBGC pertaining to implementation, but I’m told that there will be no changes to the law that necessitate a “clawback” of the SFA. That is great news. We can only hope that any amendments to the current interpretation leads to the ability of these plans to secure more of the promised benefits. With only 24 plans having filed to date, there is much more to come. We’ll keep you updated.
Ryan ALM Blog 
Why the delay with final rule? I keep hearing delaying until investments reports are received, is that accurate? Under FOA, shouldn’t retirees know where their money is invested?
Hi Ray – Good morning. I hope that you had a nice weekend. I won’t begin to guess why the PBGC hasn’t published its final rules.
All of these plans have custodians that price portfolios daily. They may have some private investments (debt, equity, real estate, etc) that take a bit of time to value, but they should have a general understanding of their current assets. Not knowing what they have may delay the initial filing of the application, but it shouldn’t have any bearing on those that have already been filed.
I appreciate the ongoing dialogue. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Russ
Thank you for keeping me informed on my pension.
I’m a retired Teamster
Good morning, Rod. You are welcome. I will do what I can to help you and all retirees who have been harmed throughout the years. I don’t have much juice, but I certainly have ideas that can be shared wherever and however. Have a great day. Russ
About 15 plans revised their application, I thought Pbgc was going to make application process friendly and if a plan revised their application, they wouldn’t have to jump through hoops?
This is directly from the legislation:
(c) APPLICATIONS FOR SPECIAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Within 120 days of the date of enactment of this section, the corporation shall issue regulations or guidance setting forth requirements for special financial assistance applications under this section. In such regulations or guidance, the corporation shall—
‘‘(1) limit the materials required for a special financial assistance application to the minimum necessary to make a determination on the application;
I guess that they failed to read this requirement!
I sense they just wasn’t ready mentally or physically to handle a daunting task, those that helped craft the bill and experts on the matter like yourself Kamp should’ve been used.