(a) General. No Federal savings association or service corporation thereof shall sponsor an employee pension plan which, because of unreasonable costs or any other reason, could lead to material financial loss or damage to the sponsor. For purposes of this section, an employee pension plan is defined in section 3(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. The prospective obligation or liability of a plan sponsor to each plan participant shall be stated in or determinable from the plan, and, for a defined benefit plan, shall also be based upon an actuarial estimate of future experience under the plan.

(b) Funding. Actuarial cost methods permitted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, shall be used to determine plan funding.

(c) Plan amendment. A plan may be amended to provide reasonable annual cost-of-living increases to retired participants: Provided, That

(1) Any such increase shall be for a period and amount determined by the sponsor's board of directors, but in no event shall it exceed the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and

(2) No increase shall be granted unless:

(i) Anticipated charges to net income for future periods have first been found by such board of directors to be reasonable and are documented by appropriate resolution and supporting analysis; and

(ii) The increase will not reduce the association's regulatory capital below its regulatory capital requirement.

(d) Termination. The plan shall permit the sponsor's board of directors and its successors to terminate such plan. Notice of intent to terminate shall be filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) at least 60 days prior to the proposed termination date.

(e) Records. Each Federal savings association or service corporation maintaining a plan not subject to recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, shall establish and maintain records containing the following:

(1) Plan description;

(2) Schedule of participants and beneficiaries;

(3) Schedule of participants and beneficiaries' rights and obligations;

(4) Plan's financial statements; and

(5) Except for defined contribution plans, an opinion signed by an enrolled actuary (as defined by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) affirming that actuarial assumptions in the aggregate are reasonable, take into account the plan's experience and expectations, and represent the actuary's best estimate of the plan's projected experiences.

[76 FR 49047, Aug. 9, 2011, as amended at 85 FR 42643, July 14, 2020]