Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption for Certain Transactions Between Investment Companies and Employee Benefit Plans (PTE 1977-4)
Extension without change of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
01/16/2026
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
04/30/2026
319,848
297,552
27,046
25,208
0
0
PTE 77-4, which was originally granted on April 8, 1977, exempts from the prohibited transaction restrictions the purchase and sale by an employee benefit plan of shares from a registered, open-end investment company (mutual fund) when a fiduciary of the plan (e.g., an investment manager) is also the investment advisor for the investment company.
There are three disclosure requirements incorporated within the class exemption. The first requirement is intended to put the plan on notice of possible fees associated with the redemption of open-end mutual fund shares. It requires disclosure of any redemption fees in the current prospectus of the open-end mutual fund (the prospectus in effect at the time of the planâs acquisition or disposal of such shares). The class exemption permits a plan to pay a redemption fee on the sale, by redemption, of open-end mutual fund shares only if the fee is paid to the open-end mutual company and the above noted disclosure is made.
The second requirement is that, at the time of the purchase or sale of such mutual fund shares, an independent fiduciary receive a copy of the current prospectus issued by the open-end mutual fund and full written disclosure of the investment advisory fees charged to or paid by the plan and the open-end mutual fund to the investment advisor. Pursuant to advisory opinion 2013-04A, the Department interprets the term âprospectusâ in PTE 77-4 to include a âsummary prospectusâ if the summary prospectus meets the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commissionâs revised disclosure provisions for mutual funds including a summary prospectus rule that were published in 2009 Pursuant to the SECâs revised disclosure provisions, mutual funds also are required to send the full prospectus to the investor upon an investorâs request, and to provide the full prospectus on-line at a specified internet site.
The third requirement is that the independent fiduciary be notified of any changes in the fees and approves in writing the planâs purchase or sale of affected mutual fund shares, or the planâs continued possession of any such mutual fund shares that it had acquired before the fee changes.
US Code:
26 USC 4975
Name of Law: Internal Revenue Code of 1986
US Code:
29 USC 1108
Name of Law: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
There are no program changes for this submission. The Department has updated the wage rates, the number of pension plans, the number of mutual fund complexes. As a result, the number of responses has increased by 22,296 responses. Furthermore, the hour burden has increased by 1,838 hours.
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.