EMPLOYEES’ 401(k) SAVINGS PLAN OF BANK OF MONTREAL/HARRIS
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2021 and 2020
NOTE 1 | DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN (continued) |
Contributions (continued)
BFC makes 401(k) matching contributions to the participants’ accounts each pay period, dollar for dollar, up to the first 5% of participants’ annual eligible pay (as defined), to the maximum annual compensation limit permitted by the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS; $290,000 in 2021 and $285,000 in 2020). Participants are immediately eligible to receive BFC’s matching contributions.
BFC makes employer non-elective contributions to the participants’ accounts each pay period, equal to 2% of participants’ annual eligible pay (as defined), to the maximum annual compensation limit permitted by the IRS ($290,000 in 2021 and $285,000 in 2020). Participants are immediately eligible to receive BFC’s non-elective contributions.
Participant Accounts
Each participant’s account is credited with their contributions, including eligible rollover contributions, allocations of the employer contributions and plan earnings. Allocations are based on participant earnings or account balances, as defined. Each participant may direct the investment of his or her account balance among the available investment options, in accordance with the provisions of the Plan. Participants who do not make an investment election are automatically invested in a Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA), an age-appropriate target date fund. A participant shares in the earnings and losses of the investment options in the ratio that his or her account invested in a fund bears to the total of all participants’ accounts invested in that fund.
Vesting
All participant and employer contributions are fully vested at all times, except for the employer’s non-elective contributions, which require participants to attain three years of credited service to be fully vested. The Plan provides that a participant vests fully in the non-elective contributions upon the date such participant ceases to be employed due to certain circumstances, such as long-term disability, death, or involuntary termination due to reduction in force.
Forfeitures
If a participant was not vested in their non-elective contribution account when their employment terminated, the balance of the participant’s non-elective contribution at the time of termination shall be forfeited upon the earlier of the time the participant receives a distribution of the entire non-forfeitable portion of all his or her account balances or the date the participant incurs five consecutive one-year breaks in service. Forfeitures shall be applied to pay Plan expenses as permitted or to reduce future non-elective contributions. The unallocated forfeitures balance as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $0, and forfeitures used to reduce Company contributions were $1,921,322 for 2021 and $1,802,854 for 2020.
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