PBGC, GM Leaders Negotiate Over Auto Maker's Pension Data

November 18, 2008: 02:38 PM EST

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp. (GM) and the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. are now negotiating over an exchange of financial information regarding the health of the auto maker's two pension programs.

"We have been in communication with General Motors to request up-to-date information on the financial condition of GM's pension plans, and GM is fully cooperating with our request," PBGC spokesman Marc Hopkins said. GM spokeswoman Julie Gibson said PBGC officials met late Monday with GM's head of pension funding to outline what financial information the auto maker would need to disclose.

"GM is in the process of putting that together," she said.

Both GM and the PBGC declined to comment on specifics. PBGC officials previously had said GM was not cooperating with its request.

But Hopkins said PBGC is looking for a "more accurate" picture of the auto maker's pension programs stability, which is necessary for the agency to effectively monitor the financial health of auto makers and gauge the impact a potential GM pension transfer could have on the agency.

"The PBGC actively monitors the financial status of the plans we insure," he said. Hopkins on Monday said the PBGC is "currently aware of the status of the other auto makers."

GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said last week that the company's pension program for hourly workers is underfunded by $500 million, while the company's plan for salaried workers is overfunded. She also said GM doesn't expect its two pension programs to become government liabilities in the short term.

Rashid-Merem said GM doesn't expect "any minimum funding requirements for both hourly and salary plans in the next three to four years" because of its overall pension status.

PBGC insures pension retirement savings for roughly 44 million workers.

Should GM collapse and the company become unable to fund its pensions, liabilities from the programs could lead to a significant increase in PBGC's $11 billion deficit at the end of fiscal 2008.

-By Darrell A. Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6684; darrell.hughes@ dowjones.com

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