[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70070-70071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32403]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
Cross-Trades of Securities by Investment Managers
AGENCY: Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of hearing.
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SUMMARY: This document provides notice of a public hearing regarding
standards and safeguards upon which exemptive relief should be
conditioned for cross-trades of securities by investment managers with
respect to any account, portfolio or fund holding ``plan assets''
subject to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of Part 4 of Title I
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(ERISA). The public hearing will focus primarily on the area of
``active'' cross-trading of securities by investment managers. The
Department is also publishing today in the Federal Register a Notice of
Proposed Class Exemption relating to cross-trades of securities by
``passively'' managed funds.
DATES: The hearing will be held on February 10, 2000, and on February
11th if necessary, beginning at 10 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. each day.
ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held in Room N-5437, of the Department
of Labor Building, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis J. Campagna or E.F. Williams,
Office of Exemption Determinations, Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-5649, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20210, (202) 219-8883 or 219-8194,
respectively (these are not toll free numbers); or Michael Schloss,
Plan Benefits Security Division, Office of Solicitor, (202) 219-4600,
ext. 105 (not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 20, 1998, the Department of Labor
(the Department) published a notice (the Notice) in the Federal
Register (63 FR 13696) requesting information to assist it in
determining upon what standards and safeguards exemptive relief for
cross-trades by investment managers should be conditioned. In that
Notice, the Department invited all interested persons to submit written
comments concerning its request for information on or before May 19,
1998. The Department received a total of 29 written comments on the
Notice, many
[[Page 70071]]
of which were from major industry groups and plan fiduciaries.
In response, in part, to the information received by the Department
to the Notice, the Department has published in today's Federal Register
a separate notice of proposed class exemption which would, if granted,
provide an exemption for cross-trades of securities by Index and Model-
Driven Funds. In the notice of proposed class exemption, the Department
states that it is not proposing relief for cross-trades of securities
by actively-managed plan accounts or funds at the present time. In
actively-managed programs, trading decisions are made by individuals
that have been hired to select particular securities as professional
investment managers for ``actively-managed'' accounts. The Department
notes in the proposed class exemption that information obtained from
investment managers in response to the Notice regarding cross-trade
practices and procedures for actively-managed accounts will be
considered separately.
In view of the importance of this issue, the Department has decided
to hold a public hearing regarding potential future individual or class
exemptions for the cross-trades of securities by investment managers
for actively-managed plan accounts or pooled funds containing ``plan
assets'' subject to Title I of ERISA.
This hearing will be held on February 10, 2000, and February 11th
if necessary, beginning at 10 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., in Room N-5437
of the Department of Labor Building, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20210.
Any interested person who wishes to be assured of an opportunity to
present oral comments at the hearing should submit the following
information by January 20, 2000: (1) A written request to be heard; and
(2) An outline (preferably five copies) of the topics to be discussed,
indicating the time allocated to each topic. The request to be heard
and accompanying outline should be sent to the Office of Exemption
Determinations, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, Room N-5649, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20210, and marked ``Attention: Cross-Trades of
Securities by Investment Managers Hearing.'' Individuals who did not
file written comments regarding the Notice published by the Department
in the Federal Register on March 20, 1998 may nonetheless submit a
request to make oral comments at the hearing.
The Department will prepare an agenda indicating the order of
presentation of oral comments at the hearing. In the absence of special
circumstances, each commentator will be allotted fifteen minutes in
which to complete his or her presentation and answer questions that may
be posed by a panel of Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
employees. Information about the agenda may be obtained on or after
January 27, 2000, by telephoning Fil Williams of the Office of
Exemption of Determinations at (202) 219-8194 (this is not a toll free
number).
Individuals not listed in the agenda will be allowed to make oral
comments at the hearing to the extent time permits. Those individuals
who make oral comments at the hearing should be prepared to answer
questions regarding their comments. The hearing will be transcribed.
Individuals with disabilities, who need special accommodations,
should notify Mr. Williams on or before January 20, 2000.
Notice of Public Hearing
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held on
February 10, 2000, and February 11th if necessary, regarding potential
future individual or class exemptions for cross-trades of securities by
investment managers for actively-managed plan accounts or pooled funds
containing ``plan assets'' subject to ERISA. The hearing will be held
beginning at 10 a.m. in Room N-5437 of the Department of Labor
Building, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20210.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 9th day of December, 1999.
Alan D. Lebowitz,
Deputy Assistant Security of Program Operations, Pension and Welfare
Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 99-32403 Filed 12-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P
