Proposed Class Exemption for Acquisition and Sale of REIT Shares by Individual Account Plans Sponsored by Trust REITS

Résumé

This document contains a notice of a proposed class exemption from certain prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and from certain taxes imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). If granted, the proposed exemption would permit the acquisition, holding or sale of publicly traded shares of beneficial interest in a real estate investment trust (REIT), that is structured under state law as a business trust (Trust REIT), by individual account plans sponsored by the REIT or its affiliates. The proposed exemption, if granted, would affect participants and beneficiaries of employee benefit plans involved in such transactions, as well as the REITs and their affiliates that sponsor such plans.