ERISA Section 4043 requires plans or sponsors to notify the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) upon the occurrence of
certain company or plan events that may put pensions at risk.
Reportable events provide PBGC an opportunity to assess a
company's or plan's financial problems, encourage plan
continuation, or, if necessary, maximize participant recovery upon
a termination.
Last fall, PBGC published its final rules, making significant
updates to the reportable events structure. Under the new rules,
the PBGC believes it is better able to monitor and address
situations most likely to result in problems for the pension
insurance system. In addition, PBGC predicts 94 percent of plans
and sponsors will be exempt from many reporting requirements,
resulting in an overall reduction in reporting.
