Section 2 Registration of trusts, funds or plans; form, etc.; approval; filing; time; proceedings; venue; violations; penalties - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 2. The trustees or plan administrators of all trusts, funds, pension plans, combination plans or profit-sharing retirement plans, which provide benefits for participants within the commonwealth, shall register such trusts, funds or plans with the board in accordance with the provisions of this section within ninety days after such trust or plan becomes subject to the provisions of this chapter.

The registration shall be in the form prescribed by the board and shall include certified copies of the trust indentures, contracts, corporate by-laws and any and all other documents creating or relating to the organization and operation of such trust or funds. If such documents in their entirety, in the opinion of the board, make adequate provision for the investment and operation of the trusts, the interests of the beneficiaries thereof, for the accounting for such trusts, or where applicable the protection of the contractual rights of the parties to the insurance contracts which constitute the fund, it shall approve them, except that trustees or plan administrator or such other officers as it shall deem necessary shall file bonds or deposit security for the faithful performance of their duties, in such manner and in such amounts as it shall determine. If the board shall not issue notice of disapproval within sixty days of filing the plan shall be deemed approved. If it shall disapprove any such documents in whole or in part the trustees or plan administrator of such fund shall have thirty days to file amendments. If after such opportunity for amendment, the board shall still not approve, the trustees or plan administrators may file a petition in equity in the probate court for the county in which the trust or fund has its principal place of business in the commonwealth, or if it has no principal place of business in the commonwealth, then in the probate court for Suffolk County, against the board. Either party shall have the same rights of appeal as other parties in equity in the probate court.

Any trustee or plan administrator neglecting to file its registration in the form and within the time specified may be required to forfeit five dollars for each day during which such neglect continues. The time for filing any registration may be extended by the board, upon application in writing to the board.

Any person violating the board approval provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each day of such violation, or by confinement in a jail or house of correction for not more than two years, or both.