The Regulation on Statutory Exemption
for Cross-Trading of Securities (29 CFR 2550.408b-19) implements
the content requirements for the written cross-trading policies and
procedures required under section 408(b)(19)(H) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as added by section
611(g) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Pub. L. 109-280
(PPA). Section 611(g)(1) of the PPA created a statutory exemption,
added to section 408(b) of ERISA as subsection 408(b)(19), that
exempts from the prohibitions of sections 406(a)(1)(A) and
406(b)(2) of ERISA those cross-trading transactions involving the
purchase and sale of a security between a account holding assets of
a pension plan and any other account managed by the same investment
manager, provided that certain conditions are satisfied. The
information collection provisions of the Department's final
cross-trading policies and procedure regulation (29 CFR
2550.408b-19) carry out the Congressional directive to specify the
contents of the policies and procedures required under the
statutory exemption. The Department believes the collections are
necessary to safeguard plan assets by requiring that investment
managers relying on the statutory exemption effect cross-trades in
accordance with policies and procedures that are fair and equitable
to all accounts participating in the cross-trading program. The
information collection provisions of the regulation, along with
other requirements of the statutory exemption, are also intended to
ensure that plan fiduciaries have adequate information to make an
informed decision regarding the plan's initial and continued
participation in the investment manager's cross-trading
program.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.