MISSING PARTICIPANTS.

SEC. 776. MISSING PARTICIPANTS. (a) In General.—Subtitle C of title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1341 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section: “SEC. 4050. MISSING PARTICIPANTS. “(a) General Rule.— (1) Payment to the corporation.— A plan administrator satisfies section 4041(b)(3)(A) in the case of a missing participant only if the plan administrator— “(A) transfers the participants designated benefit to the corporation or purchases an irrevocable commitment from an insurer in accordance with clause (i) of section 4041(b)(3)(A), and “(B) provides the corporation such information and certifications with respect to such designated benefits or irrevocable commitments as the corporation shall specify. “(2) Treatment of transferred assets.—A transfer to the corporation under this section shall be treated as a transfer of assets from a terminated plan to the corporation as trustee, and shall be held with assets of terminated plans for which the corporation is trustee under section 4042, subject to the rules set forth in that section. “(3) Payment by the corporation.— After a missing participant whose designated benefit was transferred to the corporation is located— “(A) in any case in which the plan could have distributed the benefit of the missing participant in a single sum without participant or spousal consent under section 205(g), the corporation shall pay the participant or beneficiary a single sum benefit equal to the designated benefit paid the corporation plus interest as specified by the corporation, and “(B) in any other case, the corporation shall pay a benefit based on the designated benefit and the assumptions prescribed by the corporation at the time that the corporation received the designated benefit. The corporation shall make payments under subparagraph (B) available in the same forms and at the same times as a guaranteed benefit under section 4022 would be available to be paid, except that the corporation may make a benefit available in the form of a single sum if the plan provided a single sum benefit (other than a single sum described in subsection (b)(2)(A)). “(b) Definitions.— For purposes of this section— “(1) Missing participant.—The term ‘missing participant’ means a participant or beneficiary under a terminating plan whom the plan administrator cannot locate after a diligent search. “(2) Designated benefit.— The term ‘designated benefit’ means the single sum benefit the participant would receive— “(A) under the plan’s assumptions, in the case of a distribution that can be made without participant or spousal consent under section 205(g); “(B) under the assumptions of the corporation in effect on the date that the designated benefit is transferred to the corporation, in the case of a plan that does not pay 108 STAT. 5048any single sums other than those described in subparagraph (A); or “(C) under the assumptions of the corporation or of the plan, whichever provides the higher single sum, in the case of a plan that pays a single sum other than those described in subparagraph (A). “(c) Regulatory Authority.—The corporation shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including rules relating to what will be considered a diligent search, the amount payable to the corporation, and the amount to be paid by the corporation.” (b) Conforming Title IV Amendments.— (1) Amendment to section 4003.—Section 4003(a) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1303(a)) is amended in the second sentence by inserting before the period the following: “and whether section 4050(a) has been satisfied”. (2) Amendment to section 4005.—Section 4005(b)(2)(A) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1305(b)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting “or benefits payable under section 4050” after “section 4022A”. (3) Amendment to section 4041.—Section 4041(b)(3)(A)(ii) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1341(b)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “A transfer of assets to the corporation in accordance with section 4050 on behalf of a missing participant shall satisfy this subparagraph with respect to such participant” (c) Conforming ERISA Amendments.— (1) The table of contents contained in section 1 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item related to section 4049 the following new item: “Sec. 4050. Missing participants. (2) Section 206 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1056) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(f) Missing Participants in Terminated Plans.—In the case of a plan covered by title IV, the plan shall provide that, upon termination of the plan, benefits of missing participants shall be treated in accordance with section 4050.” (d) Conforming Internal Revenue Code Amendments.—Section 401(a), as amended by section 766 of this Act, is further amended by inserting after paragraph (33) the following new paragraph: “(34) Benefits of missing participants on plan termination.—In the case of a plan covered by title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, a trust forming part of such plan shall not be treated as failing to constitute a qualified trust under this section merely because the pension plan of which such trust is a part, upon its termination, transfers benefits of missing participants to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in accordance with section 4050 of such Act.” (e) Effective Date.—The provisions of this section shall be effective with respect to distributions that occur in plan years commencing after final regulations implementing these provisions are prescribed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.