SEC Company Response from LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP (LNC, LNC-PD) (CIK 0000059558) (LNC) — Mar 21, 2006
LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP (LNC, LNC-PD) (CIK 0000059558)
Date: March 21, 2006 · CIK: 0000059558 · Accession: 0000950159-06-000431
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-131943, 333-131997
Referenced dates: March 7, 2006
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CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
Lincoln Correspondence
March
21,
2006
Jeffrey
Riedler, Assistant Director
Division
of Corporation Finance
Mail
Stop
6010
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
100
F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
DC 20549-0213
Re: The
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company Agents’ Savings and Profit Sharing
Plan
(the
“Plan”) Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed February 17, 2006
File
No.
333-131997 and Lincoln National Corporation (the “Company”)
Registration
Statement on Form S-3 filed February 17, 2006 File No.
333-131943
Dear
Mr.
Riedler:
This
letter is in response to the Staff’s letters dated March 7, 2006 regarding the
above-referenced registration statements. Responses one through five address
the
comments raised in the Staff’s letter regarding File No. 333-131997 (the “Plan
Registration Statement”), and responses three and four also address the comments
raised in the Staff’s letter regarding File No. 333-131943 (the “Company
Registration Statement”).
1.
Required
signatures.
The registrant of the Plan Registration Statement is the Plan. The
Plan is
a 401(k) Plan. As stated on page 31 of the Prospectus, the Plan
administrator and named fiduciary are the Lincoln National Corporation’s
Benefits Committee (the “Benefits Committee”). The members of the Benefits
Committee are set forth on page 27 of the Prospectus. The Plan does
not
have a principle executive officer, principle financial officer,
controller or principle accounting officer, and the Plan does not
have a
board of directors. Accordingly, in the absence of any rules or
instructions, with respect to the signature of a plan registrant,
we used
the Form 11-K signature instructions as guidance. The Form 11-K requires
the trustee’s or plan administrator’s signature. The Benefits Committee
has delegated to its Chairman, Stephen Dover, the authority to sign
documents and registrations filed with the SEC. Because Mr. Dover
signed
the Form 11-K on behalf of the Plan, we had him sign the Plan Registration
Statement.
Supplementally,
we inform the staff that the post-effective amendment number 19 to
the
prior Form S-1 (File No. 33-04711) registering the Common Stock and
Plan
interests was signed, on behalf of the Plan, by Mr.
Dover.
2.
2005
Annual Report.
General Instruction VII.C. states, “to be eligible to use incorporation by
reference, the registrant must have filed an annual report required
under
Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act for its most recently
completed fiscal year.” We expect to file the Plan’s Form 11-K prior to
March 31, 2006 and we will file a pre-effective amendment to the
Form S-1
incorporating the Form 11-K for the year ended December 31, 2005.
Accordingly, we will ask for effectiveness at that
time.
3.
Plan
of Distribution.
Since the Plan is a 401(k) plan and the prospectus describes the
Plan, the
“plan of distribution” is covered under the sections in the prospectus
entitled “Distributions from the Plan,” “Participant Loans,” “Lump Sum
Distributions,” and “Periodic Payments of
Distributions”.
4.
Plan
Interests.
A
description of the plan interests is included under the section of
the
prospectus entitled “Plan Interests are Securities.” The section of the
prospectus states that plan participants “acquire an interest in the Plan
assets,” that the interest is a security and that “its acquisition entails
the risk of loss as well as the possibility of gain.” The section then
directs the participant to read the Plan prospectus which describe
the
Plan and investment options all of which is descriptive of the Plan
interests.
5.
Indeterminate
Plan Interests.
As stated in footnote no. 1 to the Plan Registration Statement, the
plan
interests being registered on that form relate to 3,000,000 shares
of
common stock being registered simultaneously on the Company’s Registration
Statement. Based on Rule 457(h)(2), we thought that the SEC Staff
did not
require a specific number of plan interests to be registered where
the
plan interests related to a specific number of shares of common stock
being registered at the same time. While the language of the rule
refers
to a single registration statement in which the stock and the related
interests are included, the two registration statements in this instance
are substantively a single one as a result of combining them under
Rule
429. If, however, the Staff requires a specific number of plan interests
to be stated in this instance, we will include 3,000,000 as the number
of
plan interests to be registered. We do not believe, however, that
a
separate registration fee should be paid for the plan interests because
of
the simultaneous registration of the common stock to which the interests
relate.
If
you have
any questions about our responses, please feel free to contact me at the above
telephone number
Very
truly yours,
/s/
Charles A. Brawley, III
Charles
A. Brawley, III
Vice
President and Associate General Counsel
cc:
Peter
J. Romeo, Esquire