Trust Updates Archive

Pensions Disclosure Department of Labor Employee Benefit Security Administration Trust Regulatory News A.M. Publishing Garbo Electronic Disclosure to Participants Allowed, Says DOL

(Sept. 14, 2011 --Chicago, IL) -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued an interim policy regarding the use of electronic media to satisfy disclosure requirements under the agency’s final participant-level fee disclosure regulation. The disclosure regulation goes into effect May 31,2012.

The new disclosure regulation requires plan sponsors to provide more information about plan and investment costs to participants who direct their own investments, primarily those in 401(k) and other individual account retirement plans.

The DOL’s technical release, issued yesterday, allows plan administrators to furnish required information electronically.

Electronic is defined to include the use of continuous access websites, if certain conditions and safeguards are met. The interim policy states that if the administrator complies with the conditions in the technical release, then the DOL will not take enforcement action based solely on a plan administrator’s use of electronic technologies to make the required disclosures under the regulation.

“This technical release responds to requests by some plan sponsors and service providers to expand the ability of ERISA plans to use modern electronic disclosure technologies to communicate with plan participants, according to Phyllis C. Borzi, Assistant Secretary of Labor, EBSA.

A copy of Technical Release 2011-03 is available at www.dol.gov/EBSA/pdftr11-03.pdf .

For more on this topic, see the upcoming issue of Trust Regulatory News.

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