Sample No Action Letter - Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program printable pdf download

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program

Sample No Action Letter

U.S. Department of Labor

Employee Benefits Security Administration

May 2006

Applicant (Plan Official)

Address

Dear Applicant (Plan Official):

Re: VFC Program Application No. xx–xxxxxx

The Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), has responsibility for

administration and enforcement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as

amended (ERISA). EBSA has established a Voluntary Fiduciary Correction (VFC) Program to encourage the

correction of breaches of fiduciary responsibility and the restoration of losses to the plan participants and

beneficiaries.

In accordance with the requirements of the VFC Program, you have identified the following transactions as

breaches, or potential breaches, of Part 4 of Title I of ERISA, and you have submitted documentation to

EBSA that demonstrates that you have taken the corrective action indicated.

[Briefly recap the violation and correction. Example: Failure to deposit participant contributions to the

XYZ Corp. 401(k) plan within the time frames required by ERISA, from ______(date) to ______(date). All

participant contributions were deposited by ______ (date) and lost earnings on the delinquent

contributions were deposited and allocated to participants’ plan accounts on ______ (date).]

Because you have taken the above-described corrective action that is consistent with the requirements of

the VFC Program, EBSA will take no civil enforcement action against you with respect to this breach.

Specifically, EBSA will not recommend that the Solicitor of Labor initiate legal action against you, and

EBSA will not impose the penalties in section 502(l) or section 502(i) of ERISA on the amount you have

repaid to the plan.

EBSA’s decision to take no further action is conditioned on the completeness and accuracy of the

representations made in your application. You should note that this decision will not preclude EBSA from

conducting an investigation of any potential violations of criminal law in connection with the transaction

identified in the application or investigating the transaction identified in the application with a view

toward seeking appropriate relief from any other person.

[If the transaction is a prohibited transaction for which no exemptive relief is available, add the following

language: Please also be advised that pursuant to section 3003(c) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. section 1203(c),

the Secretary of Labor is required to transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury information indicating that

a prohibited transaction has occurred. Accordingly, this matter will be referred to the Internal Revenue

Service.]

In addition, you are cautioned that EBSA’s decision to take no further action is binding on EBSA only.

Any other governmental agency, and participants and beneficiaries, remain free to take whatever action

they deem necessary.

If you have any questions about this letter, you may contact the Regional VFC Program Coordinator at

applicable address and telephone number

Sample No Action Letter - Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program