(a) General. Under the authority of section 110 of the Act, this section sets forth an alternative method of compliance for certain successor pension plans in which some participants and beneficiaries not only have their rights set out in the plan, but also retain eligibility for certain benefits under the terms of a former plan which has been merged into the successor. This section is applicable only to plan mergers which occur after the issuance by the successor plan of the initial summary plan description under the Act. Under the alternative method, the plan administrator of the successor plan is not required to describe relevant provisions of merged plans in summary plan descriptions of the successor plan furnished after the merger to that class of participants and beneficiaries still affected by the terms of the merged plans.
(b) Scope and application. This alternative method of compliance is available only if:
(1) The plan administrator of the successor plan furnishes to the participants covered under the predecessor plan and beneficiaries receiving pension benefits under the merged plan within 90 days after the effective date of the merger:
(i) A copy of the most recent summary plan description of the successor plan;
(ii) A copy of any summaries of material modifications to the successor plan not incorporated in the most recent summary plan description; and
(iii) A separate statement containing a brief description of the merger, a description of the provisions of, and benefits provided by, the merged and successor plans which are applicable to the participants and beneficiaries of the merged plan; and a notice that copies of the merged and successor plan documents, as well as the plan merger documents (including the portions of any corporate merger documents which describe or control the plan merger), are available for inspection and that copies may be obtained upon written request for a duplication charge (pursuant to § 2520.104b-30); and
(2) After the merger, the plan administrator, in all subsequent summary plan descriptions furnished pursuant to § 2520.104b-2(a) -
(i) Clearly and conspicuously identifies the class of participants and beneficiaries affected by the provisions of the merged plan, and
(ii) States that the documents described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section are available for inspection and that copies may be obtained upon written request for a duplication charge (pursuant to § 2520.104b-30).
[42 FR 37182, July 19, 1977, as amended at 67 FR 776, Jan. 7, 2002]