- 13 -
C. Regulations
As pointed out above, Congress intended a bifurcated
enforcement of ERISA. President Carter issued Reorganization
Plan No. 4 of 1978 (the 1978 Plan), 3 C.F.R. 332 (1979), 92 Stat.
3790. The 1978 Plan allocates the responsibility of
administering the provisions of ERISA between the Secretary of
the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor. Section 102 of the 1978
Plan gives the Secretary of Labor authority with respect to
regulations, rulings, opinions, and exemptions under section
4975 * * *
EXCEPT for (i) subsections 4975(a), (b), (c)(3), * * *
(e)(1), and (e)(7) of the Code; (ii) to the extent necessary
for the continued enforcement of subsections 4975(a) and (b)
* * *; and (iii) exemptions with respect to transactions
that are exempted by subsection 404(c) of ERISA from the
provisions of part 4 of Subtitle B of Title I of ERISA * * *
Section 102 of the 1978 Plan also provides that the Secretary of
the Treasury shall still have responsibility to audit qualified
retirement plans and to enforce the section 4975 excise tax as
provided in section 105 of the 1978 Plan. Section 105 of the
1978 Plan binds the Secretary of Treasury to the “regulations,
rulings, opinions, and exemptions issued by the Secretary of
Labor”.
In October of 1992 the Department of Labor issued final
regulations that provide:
Prohibited Transactions. The relief provided by section
404(c) of the Act and this section applies only to the
provisions of part 4 of title I of the Act. Therefore,
nothing in this section relieves a disqualified person from
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011