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Compliance August 10, 2007
PBGC Takes Over GA Manufacturer's Plan
August 10, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.COM) - The nation's
private-sector pension insurer has taken over the pension
plan covering more than 1,400 workers and retirees at a
Clarkesville, Georgia, button and zipper maker.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
A news release from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) said it stepped in because Scovill Fasteners failed to pay about $14.7 million in legally required pension contributions.
The announcement said the agency also
determined that the company could no longer afford its
pension plan. Scovill owns units in Canada, China and
Mexico. Its operations in Nottingham, U.K., closed in
2006.
According to PBGC estimates, the Scovill Fasteners Inc.
Retirement Plan for Salaried Employees is about 30%
funded, with a little more than $10 million in assets to
cover some $34.8 million in benefit liabilities. The
agency expects to be responsible for the entire $24.5
million shortfall.
The PBGC will take over the assets and use insurance
funds to pay guaranteed benefits earned under the plan,
which terminated as of April 30, 2005. The PBGC became
trustee of the plan on July 17, 2007.
Under federal pension law, the maximum guaranteed pension
at age 65 for participants in plans that terminate in
2005 is $45,614 per year.