29 CFR Part 2520 - RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE

This document contains a final rule implementing the annual funding notice requirement of section 101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The final rule requires the administrators of defined benefit plans (single-employer and multiemployer) to furnish an annual funding notice to participants, beneficiaries, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and certain other persons. The rule enhances retirement security and increases pension plan transparency by ensuring that workers receive timely and accurate notification annually of the funded status of their defined benefit pension plans. This document also contains necessary conforming amendments to other regulations under ERISA, such as the summary annual report regulation.

This interim final rule describes revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan (together “Form 5500 Annual Return/Report”) to implement annual reporting changes for multiple-employer plans required by The Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act (CSEC Act), enacted on April 7, 2014. The Form 5500 annual return/report is filed by employee benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and sections 6047(e), 6057(b), 6058(a), and 6059 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The CSEC Act established additional annual reporting requirements for multiple-employer plans for plan years beginning after December 31, 2013, by adding new section 103(g) to Title I of ERISA. Specifically, the annual return/report of a multiple-employer plan must include a list of participating employers and a good faith estimate of the percentage of total contributions made by each participating employer during the plan year. This interim final rule also includes findings by the Department of Labor (Department) under the Administrative Procedure Act that good cause exists to adopt these revisions on an interim final basis without prior notice and public comments.

This document contains proposed regulations that would revise filing procedures for apprenticeship and training plan notices and “top hat” plan statements with the Secretary of Labor to require electronic submission of these notices and statements.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) is publishing this Notice as part of its review of the use of brokerage windows (including self-directed brokerage accounts or similar arrangements) in participant-directed individual account retirement plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Some plans offer participants access to brokerage windows in addition to, or in place of, specific investment options selected by the plans' fiduciaries. Through these arrangements, plan participants may be able to choose among the full range of investment options available in the investment marketplace. The Request for Information contained in this Notice will assist the Department in determining whether, and to what extent, regulatory standards or other guidance concerning the use of brokerage windows by plans are necessary to protect participants' retirement savings. It also will assist the Department in preparing any analyses that it may need to perform pursuant to Executive Order 12866, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

The Department of Labor is extending until August 7, 2013, the comment period for an advance notice of proposed rulemaking focusing on lifetime income illustrations given to participants in defined contribution pension plans, such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The ANPRM serves as a request for comments on specific language and concepts in advance of a proposed regulation.

The Department of Labor (Department) is developing proposed regulations regarding the pension benefit statement requirements under section 105 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). This advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) describes certain rules the Department is considering as part of the proposed regulations. The rules being considered are limited to the pension benefit statements required of defined contribution plans. First, the Department is considering a rule that would require a participant's accrued benefits to be expressed on his pension benefit statement as an estimated lifetime stream of payments, in addition to being presented as an account balance. Second, the Department also is considering a rule that would require a participant's accrued benefits to be projected to his retirement date and then converted to and expressed as an estimated lifetime stream of payments. This ANPRM serves as a request for comments on specific language and concepts in advance of proposed regulations. The Department intends to consider all reasonable alternatives to direct regulation, including whether there is a way short of a regulatory mandate that will ensure that participants and beneficiaries get constructive and helpful lifetime income illustrations.

This document contains final rules under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that implement reporting requirements for multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) and certain other entities that offer or provide benefits that consist of medical care (within the meaning of section 733(a)(2) of ERISA and 29 CFR 2590.701-2) for employees of two or more employers. These final rules amend the existing Form M-1 reporting rules by incorporating new provisions enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Affordable Care Act”). They also amend existing Form 5500 annual reporting rules for ERISA-covered plans subject to Form M-1 reporting rules. Elsewhere in this edition of the Federal Register , the Employee Benefits Security Administration is publishing final rules related to the Secretary of Labor's new enforcement authority with respect to MEWAs, a notice adopting final revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and its instructions to add new Form M-1 compliance questions, as well as an additional notice announcing the finalized revisions to the Form M-1 and its instructions. These improvements in reporting, together with stronger enforcement tools authorized by the Affordable Care Act, are designed to reduce MEWA fraud and abuse, protecting consumers from unpaid medical bills.