Following an audit by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has updated documentation required in order to apply for Special Financial Assistance (SFA). 
The OIG recently issued “Audit of PBGC’s Review of Initial Special Financial Assistance Applications,” a report calling on the PBGC to refine applications used to request SFA funds. In the audit, the OIG looked at the PBGC’s procedures in reviewing SFA applications and focused on three in particular. Consequently, it said that the PBGC should:
- better document its analysis of potential application issues and management concurrence regarding the resolution of those issues to better ensure management oversight; and
- develop and implement additional controls to assess plan calculations for previously suspended benefits and a plan’s reported CBU history.
The Updates
The forms the PBGC has updated include:
- Template 10;
- General SFA Application Filing Instructions;
- SFA Application Amendment Cover Letter; and
- Lock-in Application.
The updated forms reflect changes to the application instructions requiring the submission of census data. The PBGC wants this information in order for it to perform an independent death audit to identify deceased pension plan participants and the submission of an assumptions summary.
The PBGC also has provided a process for plans to request expedited processing of revised applications and a process for plans to submit revised lock-in applications in limited circumstances.
The updated forms are available here: https://www.pbgc.gov/arp-sfa/more-resources?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
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