SECTION 12. DUTIES OF A

PRE-APPROVED PLAN SPONSOR

.01 Except in the case of a Church-related organization that sponsors a § 403(b) prototype plan intended to be a retirement income account under § 403(b)(9), a preapproved plan sponsor must maintain a written record of the eligible employers that have adopted the plan and, upon written request, must provide the Service a list of the names, addresses, and employer identification numbers of all eligible employers that, to the best of the sponsor’s knowledge, have adopted the plan, other than employers that ceased to maintain the plan as a prototype plan more than three years prior to the request.

.02 Unless the pre-approved plan sponsor has withdrawn its opinion or advisory letter application pursuant to section 18, notified the Service and adopting eligible employers that it is abandoning the plan pursuant to section 19, or been notified by the Service under section 20 that its opinion or advisory letter has been revoked, the pre-approved plan sponsor must continue to maintain the approved status of the plan

as provided in section 16. Thus, the preapproved plan sponsor must timely amend the plan for changes in the Code, regulations, revenue rulings, or other guidance published by the Service, and must apply for new opinion or advisory letters when required. The pre-approved plan sponsor must provide to the eligible employer the plan and any restatements thereof, all amendments and all opinion or advisory letters, and must comply with the notice requirements under this procedure and any other written guidance. The plan, restatements, amendments, and opinion or advisory letters may be provided to adopting eligible employers electronically.

.03 The pre-approved plan sponsor must have a procedure to notify adopting eligible employers of amendments and restatements of the plan and to inform the employers, when applicable, of the need to timely adopt the plan in the case of both initial adoption and restatement of the plan. The pre-approved plan sponsor must also notify adopting employers that failure to timely adopt the plan or restatement, when required, or failure to take into account plan amendments in the operation of the plan could result in adverse tax consequences.

.04 The filing of an application for an opinion or advisory letter for a § 403(b) pre-approved plan constitutes a representation that the pre-approved plan sponsor agrees to comply with the requirements of this revenue procedure. Failure to do so may result in the loss of eligibility to sponsor § 403(b) pre-approved plans and the revocation of opinion or advisory letters that have been issued to the pre-approved plan sponsor.

.05 Also see section 16.03 regarding a pre-approved plan sponsor’s duty to timely notify an adopting employer if the sponsor determines that the employer’s plan may no longer satisfy the requirements of § 403(b).