Merged plans and Schedule SSA

[Lori Friedman]

A plan merges into another existing plan. Transferor terminates by transferring 100% of its assets, obligations, and participants to Transferee. Transferee is the surviving plan.

How do you prepare Schedule SSA?

1. Do both Transferee (Entry Code C) and Transferor (Entry Code D) report the previously terminated individuals entitled to future benefits? The Form 5500 instructions indicate that both plans should disclose the same information; in effect, "mirroring" each other. Yet, for some reason, both the PPC "5500 Deskbook" and Stephen W. Forbe's "5500 Filing Guide" emphatically state that only Transferee should report the individuals. What's your opinion? How have you handled this situation?

2. Is it practical, reasonable, or even possible to disclose this information? Transferor is an enormous DBP that's always reported a large number of names on each year's Schedule SSA. I don't know if it's feasible to indentify all of the previously-disclosed individuals who will now be receiving future benefits from Transferee.

Thank you.

[J Simmons]

Where is the infeasibility out provision of ERISA? (I'm sincerely hoping you can direct me to it!) Large though it may be, you could have a clerk begin with a list of the names of the DBP participants whose benefits will be transferred, and then cross off those that have been reported on prior Schedule SSAs. Voila, the result is who now needs to be reported incident to the merger.

Since it is just mirror information, once assembled for the transferee plan, it would not be that difficult to add the page 2's of Schedule SSA that that were prepared for the transferee plan and submit them on behalf of the transferor plan as well. That way you are meeting the strict terms of the instructions.