Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Provision of Investment Advice to Individual Retirement and Similar Plans

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Section 601 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the PPA) (Pub. L. 109-280) amended section 408 of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) to add an exemption from certain prohibited transactions restrictions of ERISA and from certain taxes imposed by the Code for the provision of "investment advice" to participants and beneficiaries of covered employee benefit plans, and certain related transactions, if the investment advice is provided under an "eligible investment advice arrangement." The exemption conditions relief upon satisfaction of a number of requirements more fully described in the statutory provisions. In particular, to be covered, the investment advice must be provided under an eligible investment advice arrangement that uses a computer model, which meets the requirements of the exemption. The purpose of this document is to solicit information from the public concerning the feasibility of the application of computer model investment advice programs for Individual Retirement Accounts and similar types of plans (hereinafter, IRAs).\1\ The PPA directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation wit