SAR and Final 5500

In the event a defined contribution or 403(b) plan terminates in 2018 and all assets are distributed by 12/1/2018, a final 5500 will be due 7 months following the date of complete distribution of assets so by 7/31/19. However, will an SAR need to be distributed in connection with this final 2018 5500? The DOL regulations state the SAR is furnished to each participant, but as of 7/31/19 there will not be any participants so can I assume an SAR does not have to be distributed?

Thanks! 

a) Obligation to furnish. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (g) of this section, the administrator of any employee benefit plan shall furnish annually to each participant of such plan and to each beneficiary receiving benefits under such plan (other than beneficiaries under a welfare plan) a summary annual report conforming to the requirements of this section. Such furnishing of the summary annual report shall take place in accordance with the requirements of §2520.104b-1 of this part.

Yes - a final SAR should be distributed

We do not furnish SAR under these circumstances as no one is "receiving benefits under such plan."

I know there have been debates back and forth on here in the past about whether it is needed or not (with more leaning on not sending).  The question of whether "to each participant of such plan" means a participant at any time during the year or only at the EOY (or upon plan termination).  We generate and send to employer to distribute, but I know the question will then be who does the employer send it to since there are no participants. 

I think the one thing that is universally agreed upon is the pointless nature of the SAR. 

Is there a rule that states the SAR is distributed to all participants who are participants when the 5500 is filed in which case there would be none?

Many practitioners observe that few recipients read a summary annual report.  But some courts might find that, without reading or even opening the SAR, a recipient is deemed to know the information stated in the SAR.  And some might find further that an SAR's recipient is deemed to know the information stated in the whole annual report the SAR refers to.  In some cases, that knowledge might invoke ERISA section 413(2)'s three-year statute of limitations to bar a fiduciary-breach claim.

I don't know anything about the hypothetical plan administration 30Rock describes, but an administrator (particularly if it fears exposure to a former participant's fiduciary-breach claim, even the expense of persuading a court to dismiss an ungrounded claim) might want its lawyer's advice about what protection the plan's fiduciaries might gain by "over-delivering" a final summary annual report.  If the plan's assets are not used to meet that expense, an employer might decide in its nonfiduciary business judgment whether the expense is worthwhile.

For one illustration (with a different context) about how knowledge can start the clock to time-bar a fiduciary-breach claim, I attach a recent court decision.

Bernaola v Checksmart Financial LLC corrected opinion.pdf

I agree with Madison71.  The regulation says, to each participant of the Plan.  It does not specify that the participant is a participant at the end of the year.  

I get that one would not provide beneficiaries who are not receiving benefits under the plan an SAR.

The SAR needs revamping, but until that happens it is what it is.

what would the damages be  to not receiving one..loss of peace of mind not knowing you won't receive anything else from the plan?