Department of Labor November 21, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains a notice of a proposed amendment to a class exemption from certain prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and from certain taxes imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The proposed amendment to the class exemption, PTE 2003-39 (68 FR 75632, Dec. 31, 2003), would apply to transactions engaged in by a plan in connection with the settlement of litigation, including bankruptcy litigation. This amendment is being proposed in response to requests from practitioners and independent fiduciaries who sought an expansion of the types of consideration that plans could accept in connection with the settlement of litigation. The proposed exemption, if granted, would affect all employee benefit plans, the participants and beneficiaries of such plans, and parties in interest with respect to those plans engaging in the described transactions.