Excerpt: The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), in conjunction with the Coalition to Preserve the Defined Benefit System and the American Benefits Council, on October 1 submitted a letter to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Treasury identifying key transitional and procedural issues related to upcoming proposed regulations on hybrid plans. It is the organizations' understanding that Treasury and IRS may soon issue final regulations on substantially all of the hybrid plan amendments contained in the Pension Protection Act, and that the (1) requirement that a hybrid plan's interest crediting rate not exceed a market rate of return and (2) the rules regarding pension equity plans (PEPs) may be addressed separately in proposed regulations. The letter says that the organizations strongly support this three-part approach to hybrid plan guidance.  MORE >>