29 U.S.C. § 1411 — Mergers and transfers between multiem-

Page 720 TITLE 29—LABOR § 1411 (A) as of the commencement of liquidation or dissolution, and (B) after reducing the liquidation or dis- solution value of the employer by the amount determined under paragraph (1). (c) Property not subject to enforcement of liabil- ity; precondition To the extent that the withdrawal liability of an employer is attributable to his obligation to contribute to or under a plan as an individual (whether as a sole proprietor or as a member of a partnership), property which may be exempt from the estate under section 522 of title 11 or under similar provisions of law, shall not be sub- ject to enforcement of such liability. (d) Insolvency of employer; liquidation or dis- solution value of employer For purposes of this section— (1) an employer is insolvent if the liabilities of the employer, including withdrawal liabil- ity under the plan (determined without regard to subsection (b)), exceed the assets of the em- ployer (determined as of the commencement of the liquidation or dissolution), and (2) the liquidation or dissolution value of the employer shall be determined without regard to such withdrawal liability. (e) One or more withdrawals of employer attrib- utable to same sale, liquidation, or dissolu- tion In the case of one or more withdrawals of an employer attributable to the same sale, liquida- tion, or dissolution, under regulations pre- scribed by the corporation— (1) all such withdrawals shall be treated as a single withdrawal for the purpose of applying this section, and (2) the withdrawal liability of the employer to each plan shall be an amount which bears the same ratio to the present value of the withdrawal liability payments to all plans (after the application of the preceding provi- sions of this section) as the withdrawal liabil- ity of the employer to such plan (determined without regard to this section) bears to the withdrawal liability of the employer to all such plans (determined without regard to this section). (Pub. L. 93–406, title IV, § 4225, as added Pub. L. 96–364, title I, § 104(2), Sept. 26, 1980, 94 Stat. 1243; amended Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 204(a)(1), (2), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 886, 887.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 109–280, § 204(a)(2), amended subpar. (B) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (B) read as follows: ‘‘the unfunded vested bene- fits attributable to employees of the employer.’’ Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–280, § 204(a)(1), added table and struck out former table which provided for a por- tion of: 30 percent of the amount if the liquidation or dissolution value of the employer after the sale or ex- change is not more than $2,000,000; $600,000, plus 35 per- cent of the amount in excess of $2,000,000, if the employ- er’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $2,000,000, but not more than $4,000,000; $1,300,000, plus 40 percent of the amount in excess of $4,000,000, if the em- ployer’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $4,000,000, but not more than $6,000,000; $2,100,000, plus 45 percent of the amount in excess of $6,000,000, if the em- ployer’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $6,000,000, but not more than $7,000,000; $2,550,000, plus 50 percent of the amount in excess of $7,000,000, if the em- ployer’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $7,000,000, but not more than $8,000,000; $3,050,000, plus 60 percent of the amount in excess of $8,000,000, if the em- ployer’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $8,000,000, but not more than $9,000,000; $3,650,000, plus 70 percent of the amount in excess of $9,000,000, if the em- ployer’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $9,000,000, but not more than $10,000,000; and $4,350,000, plus 80 percent of the amount in excess of $10,000,000, if the employer’s liquidation or dissolution value is more than $10,000,000. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2006 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 204(a)(3), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 887, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this subsection [amending this section] shall apply to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2007.’’ PART 2—MERGER OR TRANSFER OF PLAN ASSETS OR LIABILITIES § 1411. Mergers and transfers between multiem- ployer plans (a) Authority of plan sponsor Unless otherwise provided in regulations pre- scribed by the corporation, a plan sponsor may not cause a multiemployer plan to merge with one or more multiemployer plans, or engage in a transfer of assets and liabilities to or from an- other multiemployer plan, unless such merger or transfer satisfies the requirements of sub- section (b). (b) Criteria A merger or transfer satisfies the require- ments of this section if— (1) in accordance with regulations of the cor- poration, the plan sponsor of a multiemployer plan notifies the corporation of a merger with or transfer of plan assets or liabilities to an- other multiemployer plan at least 120 days be- fore the effective date of the merger or trans- fer; (2) no participant’s or beneficiary’s accrued benefit will be lower immediately after the ef- fective date of the merger or transfer than the benefit immediately before that date; (3) the benefits of participants and bene- ficiaries are not reasonably expected to be subject to suspension under section 1426 of this title; and (4) an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of each of the affected plans has been performed during the plan year preceding the effective date of the merger or transfer, based upon the most recent data available as of the day before the start of that plan year, or other valuation of such assets and liabil- ities performed under such standards and pro- cedures as the corporation may prescribe by regulation. (c) Actions not deemed violation of section 1106(a) or (b)(2) of this title The merger of multiemployer plans or the transfer of assets or liabilities between multi- Page 721 TITLE 29—LABOR § 1412 employer plans, shall be deemed not to con- stitute a violation of the provisions of section 1106(a) of this title or section 1106(b)(2) of this title if the corporation determines that the merger or transfer otherwise satisfies the re- quirements of this section. (d) Nature of plan to which liabilities are trans- ferred A plan to which liabilities are transferred under this section is a successor plan for pur- poses of section 1322a(b)(2)(B) of this title. (e) Facilitated mergers (1) In general When requested to do so by the plan spon- sors, the corporation may take such actions as it deems appropriate to promote and facilitate the merger of two or more multiemployer plans if it determines, after consultation with the Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate se- lected under section 1304 of this title, that the transaction is in the interests of the partici- pants and beneficiaries of at least one of the plans and is not reasonably expected to be ad- verse to the overall interests of the partici- pants and beneficiaries of any of the plans. Such facilitation may include training, tech- nical assistance, mediation, communication with stakeholders, and support with related requests to other government agencies. (2) Financial assistance In order to facilitate a merger which it de- termines is necessary to enable one or more of the plans involved to avoid or postpone insol- vency, the corporation may provide financial assistance (within the meaning of section 1431 of this title) to the merged plan if— (A) one or more of the multiemployer plans participating in the merger is in crit- ical and declining status (as defined in sec- tion 1085(b)(4) of this title); (B) the corporation reasonably expects that— (i) such financial assistance will reduce the corporation’s expected long-term loss with respect to the plans involved; and (ii) such financial assistance is necessary for the merged plan to become or remain solvent; (C) the corporation certifies that its abil- ity to meet existing financial assistance ob- ligations to other plans will not be impaired by such financial assistance; and (D) such financial assistance is paid exclu- sively from the fund for basic benefits guar- anteed for multiemployer plans. Not later than 14 days after the provision of such financial assistance, the corporation shall provide notice of such financial assist- ance to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. (Pub. L. 93–406, title IV, § 4231, as added Pub. L. 96–364, title I, § 104(2), Sept. 26, 1980, 94 Stat. 1244; amended Pub. L. 113–235, div. O, title I, § 121(a), Dec. 16, 2014, 128 Stat. 2794.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2014—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 113–235 added subsec. (e). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2014 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 113–235, div. O, title I, § 121(b), Dec. 16, 2014, 128 Stat. 2794, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this section [amending this section] shall apply with respect to plan years beginning after December 31, 2014.’’ EFFECTIVE DATE Part effective Sept. 26, 1980, except as specifically provided, see section 1461(e) of this title. § 1412. Transfers between a multiemployer plan and a single-employer plan (a) General authority A transfer of assets or liabilities between, or a merger of, a multiemployer plan and a single- employer plan shall satisfy the requirements of this section. (b) Accrued benefit of participant or beneficiary not lower immediately after effective date of transfer or merger No accrued benefit of a participant or bene- ficiary may be lower immediately after the ef- fective date of a transfer or merger described in subsection (a) than the benefit immediately be- fore that date. (c) Liability of multiemployer plan to corpora- tion where single-employer plan terminates within 60 months after effective date of transfer; amount of liability, exemption, etc. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), a multiemployer plan which transfers liabil- ities to a single-employer plan shall be liable to the corporation if the single-employer plan ter- minates within 60 months after the effective date of the transfer. The amount of liability shall be the lesser of— (A) the amount of the plan asset insuffi- ciency of the terminated single-employer plan, less 30 percent of the net worth of the em- ployer who maintained the single-employer plan, determined in accordance with section 1362 or 1364 of this title, or (B) the value, on the effective date of the transfer, of the unfunded benefits transferred to the single-employer plan which are guaran- teed under section 1322 of this title. (2) A multiemployer plan shall be liable to the corporation as provided in paragraph (1) unless, within 180 days after the corporation receives an application (together with such information as the corporation may reasonably require for pur- poses of such application) from the multiem- ployer plan sponsor for a determination under this paragraph— (A) the corporation determines that the in- terests of the plan participants and bene- ficiaries and of the corporation are adequately protected, or