Law360 quoted McGuireWoods associate Robert Wynne in a July 14, 2021, article on the new interim regulations released by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC).
Titled “New PBGC Regs Leave Employers Scratching Their Heads,” the article noted that while the regulations describe how a $94 billion financial assistance program for troubled union pension plans will work, the impact on employer withdrawals is unclear.
A number of factors have made funding for union pension plans an issue for years. Although a Biden administration fix in the American Rescue Plan addressed pension insolvencies, it did not specify the impact on employers that want to withdraw from those plans.
“PBGC was clear in stating that they do not want these special financial assistance payments to indirectly subsidize employer withdrawals, so I suspect it will tend to have the result of the liability being greater, but it’s hard to say at this point, and it remains to be seen how it all will play out,” Wynne said.
For more on this topic, read Wynne’s July 13, 2021, client alert, New Withdrawal Liability Rules for Pension Bailout Recipients.