(a) Required information. An application for special financial assistance must include all of the following actuarial and financial information:
(1) For each plan year from the 2018 plan year until the most recent plan year for which the Form 5500 is required to be filed, the projection of expected benefit payments as required to be attached to the Form 5500 Schedule MB if the response to the question at line 8b(1) of the Form 5500 Schedule MB is “Yes”.
(2) For a plan that has 10,000 or more participants as required to be entered on line 6f of the plan's most recently filed Form 5500, a listing of the 15 largest contributing employers and the contribution amounts for each for the most recently completed plan year.
(3) Historical plan financial information for each of the most recent 10 plan years immediately preceding the date the plan's application was filed that separately identifies: Total contributions; total contribution base units; average contribution rates; number of active participants at the beginning of each plan year; and other sources of non-investment income, including, if applicable, withdrawal liability payments collected, contributions from reciprocity agreements, and other sources of contributions or income not already identified.
(4) Information used to determine the amount of the requested special financial assistance, based on a deterministic projection, including all of the following information -
(i) Interest rate required under § 4262.4(e)(1), including supporting details on how it was determined.
(ii) Fair market value of plan assets determined as of the SFA measurement date; a certification from the plan sponsor with respect to the accuracy of this amount, including information that substantiates the asset value and any projections to the SFA measurement date (including details and supporting rationale); and a reconciliation of the fair market value of plan assets from the date of the most recent plan financial statement to the SFA measurement date showing contributions, withdrawal liability payments, benefit payments, administrative expenses, and investment income.
(iii) Special financial assistance determined as a lump sum as of the SFA measurement date.
(iv) For each plan year in the SFA coverage period: The projected amount of contributions, projected withdrawal liability payments, and other payments expected to be made to the plan.
(v) For each plan year in the SFA coverage period: Benefit payments described in § 4262.4(b)(1) attributable to the reinstatement of benefits under § 4262.15 that were previously suspended through the SFA measurement date and any benefits restored under 26 CFR 1.432(e)(9)-1(e)(3).
(vi) For each plan year in the SFA coverage period: Benefit payments described in § 4262.4(b)(1) (excluding the payments in paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section), separately for current retirees and beneficiaries in pay status, terminated participants not yet in pay status, current active participants, and new entrants.
(vii) For each plan year in the SFA coverage period: Administrative expenses expected to be paid using plan assets, excluding the amount owed PBGC under section 4261 of ERISA.
(viii) For each plan year in the SFA coverage period: The projected investment income based on the interest rate required under § 4262.4(e)(1) and the projected fair market value of plan assets at the end of each plan year.
(ix) The present value as of the SFA measurement date of each of the items provided under paragraph (a)(4)(iv) through (viii) of this section.
(5) Projected contributions and withdrawal liability payments used to calculate the requested special financial assistance amount in § 4262.4, including total contributions, contribution base units, average contribution rate(s), reciprocal contributions (if applicable), additional contributions from the rehabilitation plan, and any other contributions, and number of active participants at the beginning of each plan year. For withdrawal liability, separate projections for withdrawn employers and for future assumed withdrawals.
(6) A description of the development of the assumed future contributions and future withdrawal liability payments in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.
(7) For a plan that has 350,000 or more participants reported on line 6f of its most recently filed Form 5500, the participant census data utilized by the plan actuary in developing the cash flow projections included in the application.
(b) Information required for changed assumptions. An application for a plan that proposes to change any assumption used in the plan's most recently completed certification of plan status before January 1, 2021, must include all of the following information:
(1) A table identifying which assumptions used in demonstrating the plan's eligibility for special financial assistance or in calculating the amount of special financial assistance differ from those assumptions used in the plan's most recently completed certification of plan status before January 1, 2021, and detailed narrative explanations (with supporting rationale and information) as to why any assumption used in the certification is no longer reasonable and why the changed assumption is reasonable.
(2) Deterministic cash flow projection (“Baseline”) in accordance with the special financial assistance instructions on PBGC's website at www.pbgc.gov that shows the amount of special financial assistance that would be determined if all underlying assumptions used in the projection were the same as those used in the actuarial certification of plan status last completed before January 1, 2021 (excluding the plan's interest rate, which must be the same as the interest rate required under § 4262.4(e)(1)). For purposes of this paragraph (b)(2), certain changes in assumptions as described in the special financial assistance instructions on PBGC's website at www.pbgc.gov should be reflected in the Baseline projection.
(3) In accordance with the special financial assistance instructions on PBGC's website at www.pbgc.gov, a reconciliation of the change in the requested special financial assistance due to each changed assumption from the Baseline to the requested special financial assistance amount in paragraph (a)(4)(iii) of this section, showing, for each assumption change from the Baseline, a deterministic projection calculated in the same manner as the requested amount in § 4262.4.
(c) Information required for certain events. An application for a plan with respect to which an event described in § 4262.4(f) occurs on or after July 9, 2021, must include the applicable information related to the event specified in special financial assistance instructions on PBGC's website at www.pbgc.gov.