CIGNA 401(a)(9) amendment

[traveler]

Does anyone have a copy of the Code Section 401(a)(9) final regulations interim amendment that CIGNA would have adopted in 2003 for its Basic Plan Document No. 03? I have an IRS auditor asking for a copy of it.

As an alternative, does anyone have a name and contact information for someone at Prudential (the successor to CIGNA) that might be able to provide me with the document?

[Guest Sieve]

I assume this is a prototype plan. Won't the auditor drop his/her request based simply on the fact that (i) it's CIGNA, (ii) it's a prototype plan, (iii) we just might not have gotten it in the mail due to the volume of plans it was sent to, and (iv) it exists, we just don't have a copy and can't seem to find one?

[QDROphile]

I think the question was an existential question. Are we free? Oops. Wrong existential question. Is there any way to show that the amendment ever existed anywhere at any time by producing a copy (not even the original) now? If some amendment document can be produced from some source, then you can start telling a story about how this plan was actually amended by it. Without the doucment, you move from the existential realm to the metaphysical.

But why do you need an amendment document? Plan terms don't have to be documented until the end of this year. Until then, you can amend in your mind and operate in good fatih compliance.

[Kevin C]

I think the question is did CIGNA amended at the prototype level or did they send an amendment for each sponsor to adopt? The adoption deadline was the end of the 2003 year, I think. If CIGNA amended the prototype, they just need to get a copy of the amendment.

Our prototype document provider's final 401(a)(9) reg amendment included a section for selecting options about how the rules would apply. It had to be adopted by each plan sponsor.

[traveler]

Kevin, you are on point with the question. I'm trying to determine if Cigna amended at the prototype level, in which case a copy of the amendment will satisfy the auditor, or did Cigna send out interim amendments to each adopting employer which required the adopting employer to take action in order to have a valid interim amendment.

Does anyone know how CIGNA amended its Basic Plan Document 03?

[traveler]

I was just given a copy of CIGNA's 401(a)(9) amendments which did not need to be signed by the employer who used that prototype. If anyone else needs a copy of it, send me an email.