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U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
August 2003
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Applicant (Plan Official)
Address
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Dear Applicant (Plan Official):
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Re: VFC Program Application No. xx–xxxxxx The
Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), has
responsibility for administration and enforcement of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). EBSA has
established a Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program to encourage the
correction of breaches of fiduciary responsibility and the restoration of
losses to the plan participants and beneficiaries.
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In accordance with the requirements of the VFC Program,
you have identified the following transactions as breaches, or potential
breaches, of Part 4 of Title I of ERISA, and you have submitted
documentation to EBSA that demonstrates that you have taken the corrective
action indicated. [Briefly recap the violation and correction. Example:
Failure to deposit participant contributions to the XYZ Corp. 401(k) plan
within the time frames required by ERISA, from (date) to (date). All
participant contributions were deposited by (date) and lost earnings on the
delinquent contributions were deposited and allocated to participants’
plan accounts on (date).]
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Because you have taken the above - described corrective
action that is consistent with the requirements of the VFC Program, EBSA
will take no civil enforcement action against you with respect to this
breach. Specifically, EBSA will not recommend that the Solicitor of Labor
initiate legal action against you, and EBSA will not impose the penalty in
section 502(l) of ERISA on the amount you have repaid to the plan.
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EBSA’s decision to take no further action is
conditioned on the completeness and accuracy of the representations made in
your application. You should note that this decision will not preclude EBSA
from conducting an investigation of any potential violations of criminal law
in connection with the transaction identified in the application or
investigating the transaction identified in the application with a view
toward seeking appropriate relief from any other person.
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[If the transaction is a prohibited transaction for which
no exemptive relief is available, add the following language: Please also be
advised that pursuant to section 3003(c) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. section
1203(c), the Secretary of Labor is required to transmit to the Secretary of
the Treasury information indicating that a prohibited transaction has
occurred. Accordingly, this matter will be referred to the Internal Revenue
Service.]
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In addition, you are cautioned that EBSA’s decision to
take no further action is binding on EBSA only. Any other governmental
agency, and participants and beneficiaries, remain free to take whatever
action they deem necessary. If you have any questions about this letter, you
may contact the Regional VFC Program Coordinator at applicable address and
telephone number.
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