(a) The rules of procedure set forth in this subpart apply to applications for prohibited transaction exemptions issued by the Department under the authority of:

(1) Section 408(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA);

(2) Section 4975(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code); or

Note 1 to paragraph (a)(2).

See H.R. Rep. No. 1280, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 310 (1974), and also section 102 of Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978 (3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 332, reprinted in 5 U.S.C. app. at 672 (2006), and in 92 Stat. 3790 (1978)), effective December 31, 1978, which generally transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue administrative exemptions under section 4975(c)(2) of the Code to the Department.

(3) The Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986 (FERSA) (5 U.S.C. 8477(c)(3)).

(b) Under the rules of procedure in this subpart, the Department may conditionally or unconditionally exempt any fiduciary or transaction, or class of fiduciaries or transactions, from all or part of the restrictions imposed by ERISA section 406 and the corresponding restrictions of the Code and FERSA. While administrative exemptions granted under the rules in this subpart are ordinarily prospective in nature, it is possible that an applicant may obtain retroactive relief for past prohibited transactions if, among other things, the Department determines that appropriate safeguards were in place at the time the exemption transaction was consummated, and no plan participants or beneficiaries were harmed by the exemption transaction.

(c) The rules in this subpart govern the filing and processing of applications for both individual and class exemptions that the Department may propose and grant pursuant to the authorities cited in paragraph (a) of this section. The Department may also propose and grant exemptions on its own motion, in which case the procedures relating to publication of notices, hearings, evaluation, and public inspection of the administrative record, and modification or revocation of previously granted exemptions will apply.

(d) The issuance of an administrative exemption by the Department under the procedural rules in this subpart does not relieve a fiduciary or other party in interest or disqualified person with respect to a plan from the obligation to comply with certain other provisions of ERISA, the Code, or FERSA, including any prohibited transaction provisions to which the exemption does not apply, and the general fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA, if applicable, which require, among other things, fiduciaries to discharge their duties respecting the plan solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan and in a prudent fashion; nor does it affect the requirements of Code section 401(a), including that the plan must operate for the exclusive benefit of the employees of the employer maintaining the plan and their beneficiaries, or the rules with respect to other Code provisions, including that an administrative exemption with respect to a contribution to a pension plan does not affect the deductibility of the contribution under Code section 404.

(e) The Department will not propose or issue exemptions upon oral request alone, nor will the Department grant exemptions orally. An applicant for an administrative exemption may request and receive oral feedback from Department employees in preparing an exemption application, which will not be binding on the Department in its processing of an exemption application or in its examination or audit of a plan.

(f) The Department will generally treat any exemption application that is filed solely under ERISA section 408(a) or solely under Code section 4975(c)(2) as an exemption request filed under both ERISA section 408(a) and Code section 4975(c)(2) if it relates to a plan that is subject to both ERISA and the Code and the exemption transaction would be prohibited by both ERISA and the corresponding Code provisions.

(g) The Department issues an administrative exemption at its sole discretion based on the statutory criteria set forth in ERISA section 408(a) and Code section 4975(c)(2). The existence of previously issued administrative exemptions is not determinative of whether the Department will propose future exemptions for applications with the same or similar facts, or whether a proposed exemption will contain the same conditions as a previously issued administrative exemption. Previously issued administrative exemptions, however, may inform the Department's determination of whether to propose future exemptions based on the unique facts and circumstances of each application.