Notice2026-03826
Exemption Involving the Liberty Latin America 401(k) Savings Plan (the Plan or the Applicant) Located in Denver, CO
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 26, 2026
Effective
September 10, 2020
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentEmployee Benefits Security Administration
Abstract
This document provides notice of an individual exemption from certain prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). This exemption permits the Plan's acquisition, holding and sale of certain stock rights the Plan received from Liberty Latin America Ltd. in September 2020.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9640-9642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03826]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
[Prohibited Transaction Exemption 26-01; Application No. D-12061]
Exemption Involving the Liberty Latin America 401(k) Savings Plan
(the Plan or the Applicant) Located in Denver, CO
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of exemption.
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SUMMARY: This document provides notice of an individual exemption from
certain prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (the Code). This exemption permits the Plan's acquisition, holding
and sale of certain stock rights the Plan received from Liberty Latin
America Ltd. in September 2020.
DATES: Exemption date: This final exemption will be in effect as of
September 10, 2020, through September 25, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Vaughan, Office of Exemption
Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, (202) 693-8565 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Plan previously submitted an exemption
application to the Department requesting retroactive exemptive relief,
for the period beginning September 10, 2020, and ending September 25,
2020, for: (1) the acquisition by the Plan from Liberty Latin America
Ltd. (LLA), a party in interest to the Plan, of certain stock rights
(the Rights) to purchase shares of Series C Liberty Latin America Ltd.
(the Series C LLA Stock), in connection with a Rights offering by LLA
(the Rights Offering); (2) the Plan's holding of the Rights during the
subscription period of the Rights Offering (the Rights Offering
Period); and (3) the sale, at the direction of the 401(k) Committee
(the Committee) of LiLAC Communications, Inc., of any unexercised and
unsold Rights held by Plan participants towards the end of the Rights
Offering Period (collectively, the Covered Transactions). Plan
participants acquired the Rights at no additional cost and could then
sell the Rights at their fair market value or exercise the Rights to
purchase Series C LLA Stock, at a discount.
After reviewing the Plan's application for an exemption, the
Department
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tentatively determined that the Covered Transactions would be in the
interest of, and protective of, the Plan and its participants and
beneficiaries, and would also be administratively feasible. On November
26, 2025, the Department published a proposed exemption that would
permit the Covered Transactions subject to certain conditions (the
Proposed Exemption).\1\ The Proposed Exemption invited interested
persons to submit comments and hearing requests (where appropriate) to
the Department regarding the Proposed Exemption. No comment or hearing
request was received by the Department.
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\1\ See 90 FR 54393.
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Based on the record and representations made by the Applicant, the
Department has determined to grant the Proposed Exemption. The
exemption contains certain minor, non-substantive edits intended to
clarify the exemption and/or correct ministerial errors. The terms of
the exemption are set forth in Sections I and II below.
The Department makes the requisite findings under ERISA section
408(a) that the exemption is: (1) administratively feasible for the
Department; (2) in the interest of the Plan and its participants and
beneficiaries; and (3) protective of the rights of the participants and
beneficiaries of the Plan, based on the Applicant's adherence to all
the conditions of the exemption at all times.\2\ Accordingly, affected
parties should be aware that the conditions incorporated in this
exemption are, taken individually and as a whole, necessary for the
Department to grant the relief requested by the Applicant. This
exemption provides only the relief specified herein and does not
provide relief from violations of any law other than the prohibited
transaction provisions of ERISA and the Code.
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\2\ Any references hereinafter to sections of ERISA shall be
deemed to refer to the corresponding sections of the Code, unless
indicated otherwise.
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The complete application file (D-12061) will remain available for
public inspection in the Public Disclosure Room of the Employee
Benefits Security Administration, Room N-1515, U.S. Department of
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210 reachable by
telephone at (202) 693-8673. For a more complete statement of the facts
and representations supporting the Department's decision to grant this
exemption, please refer to the Proposed Exemption.
General Information
The attention of interested persons is directed to the following:
(1) The fact that a transaction is the subject of an exemption
under ERISA section 408(a) and/or Code section 4975(c)(2) does not
relieve a fiduciary or other party in interest or disqualified person
from certain other provisions of ERISA and/or the Code, including any
prohibited transaction provisions to which the exemption does not apply
and the general fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA section
404, which, among other things, require a fiduciary to discharge their
duties respecting the plan solely in the interest of the participants
and beneficiaries of the plan and in a prudent fashion in accordance
with ERISA section 404(a)(1)(B); nor does it affect the requirement of
Code section 401(a) that the plan must operate for the exclusive
benefit of the employees of the employer maintaining the plan and their
beneficiaries;
(2) As required by ERISA section 408(a), the Department hereby
finds that the exemption is (1) administratively feasible for the
Department, (2) in the interests of affected plans and of their
participants and beneficiaries, and (3) protective of the rights of
participants and beneficiaries of such plans;
(3) The exemption is supplemental to, and not in derogation of, any
other ERISA provisions, including statutory or administrative
exemptions and transitional rules. Furthermore, the fact that a
transaction is subject to an administrative or statutory exemption is
not dispositive of determining whether the transaction is in fact a
prohibited transaction; and
(4) The availability of this exemption is subject to the express
condition that the material facts and representations contained in the
application accurately describe all material terms of the transactions
that are the subject of the exemption and are true at all times.
The Department grants this exemption under the authority of ERISA
section 408(a) and Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 4975(c)(2), and
in accordance with the procedures set forth in the exemption procedure
regulation.\3\
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\3\ 29 CFR part 2570, subpart B (76 FR 66637, 66644, October 27,
2011). Effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization
Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the
authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of
the type requested by the Applicant to the Secretary of Labor.
Therefore, this notice of proposed exemption is issued solely by the
Department.
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Section I. Covered Transactions
If the conditions in Section II are met, the restrictions of ERISA
sections 406(a)(1)(E), 406(a)(2), 406(b)(1), 406(b)(2), and
407(a)(1)(A), and the excise tax imposed by Code section 4975(a) and
(b) (due to the operation of a parallel prohibited transaction
provision contained in Code section 4975(c)(1)(E)), for the period
beginning September 10, 2020, and ending September 25, 2020, will not
apply to:
(a) the acquisition by the Liberty Latin America 401(k) Savings
Plan (the Plan) of certain stock subscription rights (the Rights),
pursuant to a stock rights offering (the Rights Offering) by Liberty
Latin America Ltd. (LLA), for the purchase of shares of Series C LLA
common stock (Series C LLA Stock);
(b) the holding of the Rights by the Plan during the subscription
period of the Rights Offering (the Rights Offering Period); and
(c) the sale of any unexercised and unsold Rights held by Plan
participants, at the direction of the 401(k) Committee (the Committee)
of LiLAC Communications, Inc. (LiLAC), prior to the expiration of the
Rights Offering Period, provided the conditions set forth in Section II
are met.
Section II. Conditions
(a) The Plan's acquisition of the Rights resulted solely from an
independent corporate act of LLA as a corporate entity, without the
exercise of any discretion on the part of the Committee;
(b) All holders of Series A LLA common stock (Series A LLA Stock)
or Series C LLA Stock (individually or together, LLA Stock), including
the Plan, were issued the same proportionate number of Rights based on
the number of shares of LLA Stock held by each shareholder;
(c) For purposes of the Rights Offering, all holders of Series A
LLA Stock or Series C LLA Stock, including the Plan, were treated in a
like manner, with the exception that the oversubscription option
available under the Rights Offering was not available to participants
of the Plan;
(d) The acquisition of the Rights by the Plan was made in a manner
that was consistent with provisions of the Plan for the individually
directed investment of participant accounts;
(e) All decisions regarding the holding and disposition of the
Rights were made by the participants whose Plan accounts were credited
with the Rights, with the exception of the direction by the Committee
to the Plan's trustee, Fidelity Management Trust Company (the Trustee)
to sell any Rights that remained unexercised and unsold towards the end
of the Rights Offering. With respect to Rights sold at the direction of
the Committee, the sale must have been
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effected in a prudent manner on the open market so that the Plan
participants received at least fair market value for the Rights sold;
(f) The Plan did not pay any brokerage fees, commissions,
subscription fees, or other charges in connection with the acquisition
and holding of the Rights, except for the Securities Exchange
Commission fee and the commission paid to the Trustee's affiliate,
Fidelity Capital Markets, which were charged solely against the price
received by the Plan participant selling the Right. The Committee's
decision to allow this fee and commission must have been prudent,
consistent with their duties under ERISA Section 404, and the fee and
commission must have been reasonable, consistent with ERISA Section
408(b)(2);
(g) The Plan did not pay any fees in connection with the Plan's
request for this exemption;
(h) The Plan fiduciary responsible for overseeing the Plan's
participation in the Rights Offering, prudently and loyally determined
on behalf of the Plan that: (1) the Plan's acquisition, holding, and
sale of the Rights could proceed, and (2) the Plan's participants
received at least the fair market value for the exercise and sales of
the Rights;
(i) LiLAC maintains for a period of six (6) years from the date of
the publication of the exemption, in a manner that is convenient and
accessible for audit and examination, the records necessary to enable
the persons described in paragraph (j)(1)-(4) below to determine
whether conditions of this exemption have been met, except that (1) a
prohibited transaction will not be considered to have occurred if, due
to circumstances beyond the control of LiLAC, the records are lost or
destroyed prior to the end of the six-year period, and (2) no party in
interest other than LiLAC shall be subject to the civil penalty that
may be assessed under ERISA section 502(i) if the records are not
maintained, or are not available for examination as required by
paragraph (j) below;
(j) Notwithstanding any provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b) of
ERISA section 504, the records referred to in paragraph (i) above shall
be unconditionally available at their customary location during normal
business hours to:
(1) any duly authorized employee or representative of the
Department or the Internal Revenue Service;
(2) LiLAC or any duly authorized representative of LiLAC;
(3) the Plan fiduciary or any duly authorized representative of the
Plan fiduciary; and
(4) any participant or beneficiary of the Plan, or any duly
authorized representative of such participant or beneficiary;
(k) The Plan must provide to the Department the records necessary
to demonstrate that the conditions of this exemption, as amended, have
been met, within 30 days from the date the Department requests such
records; and
(l) All the material facts and representations made by the Plan
that are set forth in the Summary of Facts and Representations in the
proposed exemption at 90 FR 54393 are true and accurate at all times.
If there is any material change in a transaction covered by the
exemption, or in a material fact or representation described by the
Plan in the application, the exemption will cease to apply as of the
date of the change.
Exemption date: The exemption will be in effect as of September 10,
2020, through September 25, 2020.
Signed at Washington, DC.
Christopher Motta,
Acting Director, Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2026-03826 Filed 2-25-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 26, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.