Employee Benefits Security Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains a proposed regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) that, upon adoption, would require that contracts and arrangements between employee benefit plans and certain providers of services to such plans include provisions that will ensure the disclosure of information to assist plan fiduciaries in assessing the reasonableness of the compensation or fees paid for services that are rendered to the plan and the potential for conflicts of interest that may affect a service provider's performance of services. The proposed regulation will redefine what constitutes a ``reasonable contract or arrangement'' for purposes of the statutory exemption from certain prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA. The regulation, upon adoption, will affect employee benefit plan sponsors and fiduciaries and the service providers to such plans.

This document announces the availability of the Year 2007 Form M-1, Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and Certain Entities Claiming Exception. It is substantively identical to the 2006 Form M-1. The Form M-1 may again be filed electronically over the Internet.

This document contains a notice of a proposed amendment to a class exemption from certain prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and from certain taxes imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The proposed amendment to the class exemption, PTE 2003-39 (68 FR 75632, Dec. 31, 2003), would apply to transactions engaged in by a plan in connection with the settlement of litigation, including bankruptcy litigation. This amendment is being proposed in response to requests from practitioners and independent fiduciaries who sought an expansion of the types of consideration that plans could accept in connection with the settlement of litigation. The proposed exemption, if granted, would affect all employee benefit plans, the participants and beneficiaries of such plans, and parties in interest with respect to those plans engaging in the described transactions.

This document contains revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report forms, including the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and a new Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/ Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan (Short Form 5500 or Form 5500- SF), filed for employee pension and welfare benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code). The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report forms, including the schedules and attachments, are an important source of financial, funding, and other information about employee benefit plans for the Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and the Internal Revenue Service (the Agencies), as well as for plan sponsors, participants and beneficiaries, and the general public. The revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report forms contained in this document, including the new Short Form 5500, are intended to streamline the annual reporting process, reduce annual reporting burdens, especially for small businesses, update the annual reporting forms to reflect current issues and agency priorities, incorporate new reporting requirements contained in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and facilitate electronic filing. Some of the forms revisions will apply on a transitional basis for the 2008 reporting year before all of the forms revisions are fully implemented for the 2009 reporting year as part of the switch under the ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST) to a wholly electronic filing system (EFAST2). The forms revisions affect employee pension and welfare benefit plans, plan sponsors, administrators, and service providers to plans subject to annual reporting requirements under ERISA and the Code.

This document contains a final regulation that implements recent amendments to title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280, under which a participant in a participant directed individual account pension plan will be deemed to have exercised control over assets in his or her account if, in the absence of investment directions from the participant, the plan invests in a qualified default investment alternative. A fiduciary of a plan that complies with this final regulation will not be liable for any loss, or by reason of any breach, that occurs as a result of such investments. This regulation describes the types of investments that qualify as default investment alternatives under section 404(c)(5) of ERISA. Plan fiduciaries remain responsible for the prudent selection and monitoring of the qualified default investment alternative. The regulation conditions relief upon advance notice to participants and beneficiaries describing the circumstances under which contributions or other assets will be invested on their behalf in a qualified default investment alternative, the investment objectives of the qualified default investment alternative, and the right of participants and beneficiaries to direct investments out of the qualified default investment alternative. This regulation will affect plan sponsors and fiduciaries of participant directed individual account plans, the participants and beneficiaries in such plans, and the service providers to such plans.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and other federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to ensure that requested data is provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. By this notice, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting comments on the extension of the information collection requests (ICRs) included in the Interim Rules for Mental Health Parity as published in the Federal Register on December 22, 1997 (62 FR 66931) (Interim Rules). OMB approved the two separate ICRs under OMB control numbers 1210-0105 and 1210-0106, which expire on January 31, 2008, and October 31, 2008, respectively. Copies of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the office shown below in the addresses section of this notice.

This document contains an interim final rule that amends Interpretive Bulletin 95-1 to limit the application of the Bulletin to the selection of annuity providers for defined benefit plans. This interim final rule implements section 625 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Also appearing in today's Federal Register is a proposed regulation, entitled ``Selection of Annuity Providers for Individual Account Plans'', which, in the form of a safe harbor, provides guidance concerning the fiduciary considerations attendant to the selection of annuity providers and contracts for purposes of benefit distributions from individual account plans. The amendment to Interpretive Bulletin 95-1, as well as the proposed safe harbor for annuity selections, will affect plan sponsors and fiduciaries of individual account plans, and the participants and beneficiaries covered by such plans.

This document contains notices of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of proposed exemptions from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).

This proposed rule is a companion to the Department of Labor/ Employee Benefits Security Administration's (Department) direct final rule (published today in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of the Federal Register) amending the Department's civil penalty regulation under section 502(c)(7) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) to reflect recent amendments to section 502(c)(7) by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. These amendments authorize the Secretary of Labor to assess civil penalties not to exceed $100 per day for each violation of section 101(m) of ERISA. Section 101(m) of ERISA requires plan administrators of individual account plans to notify participants and beneficiaries of their right to sell the company stock in their accounts and reinvest the proceeds into other investments available under the plan. The Department is publishing these amendments as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Department views them as highly technical and anticipates no significant adverse comment. The Department has explained its reasons in the preamble to the direct final rule. If the Department receives no significant adverse comment during the comment period, no further action on this proposed rule will be taken. However, if the Department receives significant adverse comment, the Department will withdraw the direct final rule and it will not take effect. In that case, the Department will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. The Department will not institute a second comment period on this rule. Any parties interested in commenting must do so during this comment period.

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). A notice was published in the Federal Register of the pendency before the Department of a proposal to grant such exemption. The notice set forth a summary of facts and representations contained in the application for exemption and referred interested persons to the application for a complete statement of the facts and representations. The application has been available for public inspection at the Department in Washington, DC. The notice also invited interested persons to submit comments on the requested exemption to the Department. In addition the notice stated that any interested person might submit a written request that a public hearing be held (where appropriate). The applicant has represented that it has complied with the requirements of the notification to interested persons. No requests for a hearing were received by the Department. Public comments were received by the Department as described in the granted exemption. The notice of proposed exemption was issued and the exemption is being granted solely by the Department because, effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type proposed to the Secretary of Labor.

Notice is hereby given that the Department of Labor will hold a hearing regarding the feasibility of the application of computer model investment advice programs for Individual Retirement Accounts and similar types of plans.

This document contains notices of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of proposed exemptions from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the reporting burden on the public and helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. Currently, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the information collection provisions of its final rule at 29 CFR Part 2590, Health Care Continuation Coverage. A copy of the information collection request (ICR) may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the reporting burden on the public and helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. Currently, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the information collection provisions of Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 91-55. A copy of the information collection request (ICR) may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.