DOL Proposes Limited Delay Of Initial Disclosures Required Under Participant Disclosure Regulation

June 29, 2011

By: John C. Godsoe

Effective for plan years beginning on or after November 1, 2011, fiduciaries of participant-directed individual account based retirement plans will be required to provide plan participants and beneficiaries with certain fee, expense and investment-related information. These rules are part of a final regulation issued by the United States Department of Labor ("DOL") on October 20, 2010. In a proposed regulation issued on June 1, 2011, the DOL proposed a 60-day extension of the time period that a plan administrator has to provide certain initial disclosures, once the final regulation becomes applicable to the plan. Given the limited duration of the delay, however, plan administrators should begin or continue to take steps to comply with the requirements of the final regulations.

Background

To the extent that a plan assigns investment responsibilities to participants and beneficiaries, the DOL takes the position that pursuant to ERISA’s fiduciary obligations such individuals should be provided with sufficient information regarding plan fees, expenses and designated investment alternatives so that they can make informed investment decisions. Participant-directed individual account plans that elect to comply with ERISA Section 404(c) in order to protect plan fiduciaries from liability based on the investment choices made by participants are currently required to disclose certain investment-related information. The final regulation expands on the current disclosure requirements in the current ERISA Section 404(c) regulation. Significantly, the new disclosure rules apply to all individual account participant-directed plans covered by the final regulation, regardless of whether such plan is intended to comply with ERISA Section 404(c).
 

Plans Affected By The Final Regulations

All participant-directed individual account plans subject to ERISA are covered by the final regulation, except for plans providing for individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities under Sections 408(k) or 408(p) of the Internal Revenue Code (i.e., simplified employee pension plans and simple retirement account plans).

Disclosures Required By The Final Regulations

The regulation divides the required disclosures into two general categories: (i) plan-related information; and (ii) investment-related information. A plan administrator will not be liable for the completeness or accuracy of information used to satisfy the disclosure requirements, if the plan administrator reasonably and in good faith relies on information provided by a plan service provider or the issuer of a designated investment alternative. The disclosure must be made available to all eligible employees, regardless of whether the employee has enrolled in the plan (all such individuals are considered participants for purposes of the final regulation), and to all beneficiaries who have the right to direct the investment of their accounts.

With some exceptions, the required information must be provided to plan participants and beneficiaries on or before the date on which they can first direct their investments and at least annually thereafter. With respect to plan-related disclosures, if there is a change to the information disclosed, each participant and beneficiary must be furnished a description of the change at least 30 days, but not more than 90 days, in advance of the effective date, unless the inability to provide such advance notice is due to unforeseeable events or circumstances beyond the control of the plan administrator, in which case the notice must be provided as soon as reasonably practicable. Under the recently issued proposed regulation, a plan administrator may delay the initial disclosure until 120 days after the final regulation first becomes applicable to a plan. For calendar year plans, this means the initial disclosure may be delayed until April 30, 2012. For a summary of the types of information which must be disclosed click here.

Recommended Action

Plan administrators subject to the requirements of the final regulations should begin to prepare for the implementation of the new disclosure requirements. Plan administrators will need to coordinate with investment providers, record-keepers, and other service providers in order to obtain required information for the disclosure and to organize and prepare the information in accordance with the requirements of the final regulation. Due to the breadth and complexity of these disclosure requirements, plan administrators should begin the process of developing compliant disclosure materials as soon as possible to ensure compliance by the effective date of the final regulation (for calendar year plans, January 1, 2012). Plan administrators also should be aware that compliance with the disclosure requirements of the final regulation does not relieve a plan fiduciary from its duty to prudently select and monitor plan service providers and designated investment alternatives.