PBGC Relaunches Opinion Letter Program for Compliance Assistance

PBGC Press Releases

Published March 17th, 2026

Detected March 18th, 2026

Summary

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has relaunched its Opinion Letter Program to provide compliance assistance. This program allows the public to ask questions about how PBGC would apply laws to specific factual situations, with responses issued by the Office of the General Counsel.

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What changed

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has announced the relaunch of its Opinion Letter Program, a compliance assistance initiative. This program allows the public, including employers and financial advisers, to request letters from PBGC's Office of the General Counsel clarifying how Title IV of ERISA and related laws apply to specific factual circumstances. The agency aims to provide clear and consistent guidance to the pension community.

Regulated entities interested in seeking clarification should consult the PBGC website for instructions on how to request an opinion letter. While these letters provide the PBGC's views, they are non-binding. The program is intended to help the pension community ensure greater retirement security for workers and retirees by understanding and complying with PBGC regulations.

What to do next

Review PBGC website for instructions on requesting an opinion letter
Consider utilizing the Opinion Letter Program for specific compliance questions regarding ERISA Title IV

Source document (simplified)

This page has not been translated. Please go to PBGC.gov's Spanish home page for more information available in Spanish.

Esta página no ha sido traducida. Por favor vaya a la página principal del sitio de español de PBGC para ver información disponible en español.

PBGC relaunches Opinion Letter Program to expand compliance assistance

For Immediate Release Date

March 17, 2026

WASHINGTON — The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) today announced the relaunch of its Opinion Letter Program. This initiative provides meaningful compliance assistance to the public by answering questions about how PBGC would apply the law to specific factual circumstances.

“The Opinion Letter Program is a crucial tool in the Corporation’s ongoing efforts to provide the public with clear and consistent guidance,” PBGC Director Janet Dhillon said. “We want the pension community to view PBGC as a resource that helps them provide greater retirement security for the nation’s workers, retirees, and their families.”

PBGC’s Office of the General Counsel will issue opinion letters in response to requests received from the public. These opinion letters will provide the Corporation’s views on the meaning of the provisions of Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and their application to individual fact patterns.

PBGC’s website provides instructions for requesting an opinion letter from the Corporation. Interested parties can also see all opinion letters in a searchable database.

About PBGC

PBGC protects the retirement security of about 30 million American workers, retirees, and beneficiaries in both single-employer and multiemployer private sector pension plans. The agency’s two insurance programs are legally separate and operationally and financially independent. PBGC is directly responsible for the benefits of nearly 1.4 million participants and beneficiaries in failed single-employer pension plans. The Single-Employer Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. The Multiemployer Program is financed by insurance premiums and investment income. Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer monies.

Press Release Number: 26-003