[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 90 (Friday, May 9, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25559-25561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12169]
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FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD
5 CFR Part 1640
Periodic Participant Statements
AGENCY: Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Executive Director of the Federal Retirement Thrift
Investment Board (Board) proposes to amend the Board's interim
regulations concerning periodic information to be furnished to
participants in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). The regulations
implement various provisions of the Federal Employees' Retirement
System Act of 1986 (FERSA), as amended. The proposed rule would clarify
the types of periodic information provided to participants in the TSP,
conform definitions in the interim regulations to those found in the
Board's other regulations, and otherwise make the proposed regulations
easier to read.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 9, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Merritt A. Willing, Federal
Retirement Thrift Investment Board, 1250 H Street, N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Merritt A. Willing on (202) 942-1661.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board administers the Thrift Savings
Plan (TSP), a defined contribution plan for Federal employees
established by the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986
(FERSA), Pub. L. 99-335, 100 Stat. 514 (codified, as amended, largely
at 5 U.S.C. 8401-8479). The TSP is a tax-deferred retirement savings
plan for Federal employees that is similar to cash or deferred
arrangements established under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue
Code. The requirement that periodic statements be provided to
participants by the TSP is found at 5 U.S.C. 8439(c). On June 1, 1987,
the Board published an interim rule with request for comments in the
Federal Register (52 FR 20371) which implemented the periodic statement
provision of FERSA. The Board has received comments from employees and
[[Page 25560]]
agencies suggesting that the Board issue periodic statements more than
twice a year. The Board considered these comments but decided not to
issue statements more often than is required by statute because of the
administrative cost associated with additional statements, which is an
expense borne by all TSP participants.
Section 1640.1 contains definitions of words or terms used
throughout the regulation. Some of the definitions contained in the
interim regulations would be amended by the proposed rule to conform
them to the Board's other regulations issued at 5 CFR chapter VI.
Section 1640.2 requires the Board to provide information to each
TSP participant at least once every six months, no later than 30 days
before the last month of an open season.
Sections 1640.3 and 1640.4 set forth the type of information that
will be furnished to a participant regarding the status of his or her
individual account during the reporting period.
Section 1640.5 describes the information to be furnished to
participants relating to investments in the three investment funds
described in 5 U.S.C. 8438. Two types of information are provided: (1)
a description of the investment fund, and (2) a five-year history of
the performance of that type of investment.
Section 1640.6 provides that individual account statements will be
mailed to TSP participants by the Board's record keeper. Information
regarding the TSP investments may either be mailed to TSP participants
or included with other informational material that is distributed in a
way reasonably designed to reach TSP participants.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
I certify that these regulations will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. They will
affect only internal Government procedures related to the TSP.
Paperwork Reduction Act
I certify that these regulations do not require additional
reporting under the criteria of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
Pursuant to the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, section 201,
Pub. L. 104-4, 109 Stat. 48, 64, the effect of these regulations on
State, local, and tribal governments and on the private sector has been
assessed. This regulation will not compel the expenditure in any one
year of $100 million or more by any State, local, and tribal
governments in the aggregate or by the private sector. Therefore, a
statement under section 202, 109 Stat. 48, 64-65, is not required.
Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office
Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), the Board submitted a report
containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate,
the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the
United States before the publication of this rule in today's Federal
Register. This rule is not a major rule as defined in section 804(2).
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 1640
Employee Benefit Plans, Government employees, Pensions, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Retirement.
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.
Roger W. Mehle,
Executive Director.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 1640 of chapter VI
of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations is proposed to be amended
as follows:
PART 1640--PERIODIC PARTICIPANT STATEMENTS
1. The authority citation for part 1640 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 8439(c)(1) and (c)(2), 5 U.S.C. 8474 (b)(5)
and (c)(1).
2. Section 1640.1 is amended by removing the definitions of
``Employee contribution,'' ``Employer basic contribution,'' ``Employer
matching contribution,'' ``Source,'' ``Thrift Savings Fund,'' ``Thrift
Savings Plan or Plan,'' and ``Thrift Savings Plan Service Office,'' by
revising the definitions of ``C Fund,'' ``Executive Director,'' ``F
Fund,'' ``G Fund,'' ``Individual account,'' ``Investment fund,'' ``Open
season,'' and ``Participant,'' and by adding, in alphabetical order,
three new definitions to read as follows:
Sec. 1640.1 Definitions.
* * * * *
C Fund means the Common Stock Index Investment Fund established
under 5 U.S.C. 8438(b)(1)(C);
Executive Director means the Executive Director of the Board
described in 5 U.S.C. 8474;
F Fund means the Fixed Income Investment Fund established under 5
U.S.C. 8438(b)(1)(B);
G Fund means the Government Securities Investment Fund established
under 5 U.S.C. 8438(b)(1)(A);
Individual account means the account established for a participant
in the Thrift Savings Plan under 5 U.S.C. 8439(a);
Investment fund means either the G Fund, the F Fund, or the C Fund,
or any other Thrift Savings Plan investment fund created after [the
effective date of the final rule];
Open season means the period during which participants may choose
to begin making contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan, to change or
discontinue the amount they are currently contributing to the Thrift
Savings Plan (without losing the right to recommence contributions the
next open season), or to allocate prospective contributions to the
Thrift Savings Plan among the investment funds;
Participant means any person with an individual account in the
Thrift Savings Plan, or who would have an account in the Thrift Savings
Plan but for an employing agency error;
Record keeper means the entity that is engaged by the Board to
perform record keeping services for the Thrift Savings Plan. As of [the
effective date of the final rule], the record keeper is the National
Finance Center, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, United States
Department of Agriculture, located in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Source of contributions means either agency automatic (1%)
contributions under 5 U.S.C 8432(c)(1) or 8432(c)(3), agency matching
contributions under 5 U.S.C. 8432(c)(2), or employee contributions
under 5 U.S.C. 8351, or 8440(a) through 8440d;
Thrift Savings Plan means the Federal Retirement Thrift Savings
Plan established by the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of
1986 (FERSA), Public Law 99-335, 100 Stat. 514, which has been
codified, as amended, largely at 5 U.S.C. 8401-8479.
3. Section 1640.2 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1640.2 Duty to provide information.
The Executive Director will provide the information prescribed in
Secs. 1640.3 and 1640.5 at least once every six months, and not later
than thirty (30) days before the last month of an open season.
4. Section 1640.3 is amended by revising the introductory text and
paragraphs (c)(2), (d) and (e) to read as follows:
Sec. 1640.3 Statement of individual account.
The Executive Director will furnish each participant with the
following information concerning that participant's individual account:
* * * * *
[[Page 25561]]
(c) * * *
(2) The amounts of contributions and earnings in the C Fund, the F
Fund, and the G Fund, by source of contribution;
(d) All transactions made in accordance with Sec. 1640.4 and
affecting the individual account which occurred during the period
covered by the statement;
(e) Any other information that the Executive Director determines
should be in the statement.
5. Section 1640.4 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1640.4 Account transactions.
(a) Where relevant, the following transactions will be reported in
each individual account statement:
(1) Contributions;
(2) Earnings posted;
(3) Withdrawals;
(4) Forfeitures;
(5) Loan Activity;
(6) Transfers among investment funds;
(7) Adjustments to prior transactions; and
(8) Any other transaction that the Executive Director deems will
affect the status of the individual account.
(b) Where relevant, the statement will contain the following
information concerning each transaction identified in paragraph (a) of
this section:
(1) Type of transaction;
(2) Pay date of the pay period in which the transaction was
reflected in the participant's salary payment;
(3) Investment funds affected;
(4) Date the transaction was processed;
(5) Source of the contribution;
(6) Amount of the transaction; and
(7) Any other information the Executive Director deems relevant.
6. Section 1640.5 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1640.5 Investment fund information.
For each open season, the Executive Director will furnish each
participant with a statement concerning each of the investment funds.
This statement will contain the following information concerning each
investment fund:
(a) A summary description of the type of investments to be made by
the fund, written in a manner that will allow the participant to make
an informed decision; and
(b) The performance history of the type of investments to be made
by the fund, covering the five-year period preceding the date of the
evaluation.
7. Section 1640.6 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1640.6 Method of providing information.
(a) Individual account statement. The information concerning each
participant's individual account described in Secs. 1640.3 and 1640.4
will be sent to the participant at the participant's last known
address, by first class mail. It is the participant's responsibility to
provide his or her current address to his or her agency or, in the case
of a separated employee, to the record keeper.
(b) Investment information. The investment information described in
Sec. 1640.5 will be furnished to each participant either:
(1) By mailing the information to the participant by the method
described in paragraph (a) of this section; or
(2) By including that information in material published by the
Board and distributed in a manner reasonably designed to reach the
participant. This includes distributing the material through the
participant's agency or, in the case of a separated employee, through
the record keeper.
[FR Doc. 97-12169 Filed 5-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6760-01-P
