"While the IRS and Treasury had given plans time to eliminate whipsaw calculations in the past, it was never made explicitly clear that they were required to do so, [said] Richard Shea [of Covington & Burling LLP] ... 'Sponsors in this situation are really, really angry. Their view is for a period of almost 20 years they were told, if your interest crediting rate isn't one of the rates in Notice 96-8, you must do whipsaw and if you don't, your plan is bad,' Shea said. But now, they're being told that if they use whipsaw, they have a problem. To say that and 'then not to provide transition relief when it's actually needed adds insult to injury.' "

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