Agencies Seek Info on Effectiveness of Reporting and Disclosure Rules

The Treasury Department, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have announced that they will issue a joint request for information (RFI) seeking public input to help them review the effectiveness of existing reporting and disclosure requirements for retirement plans. 

SECURE 2.0

Section 319 of the SECURE 2.0 Act requires the DOL, Treasury, and PBGC to review the existing reporting and disclosure requirements for certain retirement plans under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). 

SECURE 2.0 includes provisions that amended ERISA and the IRC; a number of them relate to the reporting and disclosure requirements. For example, on August 11, 2023, the DOL published a separate RFI focusing on 10 specific sections of SECURE 2.0 that amend ERISA or otherwise affect reporting and disclosure under ERISA. At that time, the DOL said it intended to proceed with a separate initiative—in coordination with the Treasury and the PBGC—to formally seek input from stakeholders in accordance with Section 319 of the SECURE 2.0 Act.

The RFI

The RFI, which will be posted on each agency’s website and published in the Federal Register, includes 24 questions on a topics relevant to effective reporting and disclosure. These topics include:

• the number and frequency of disclosures workers received;
• information disclosed and its effectiveness, accessibility and understandability, including to non-English speakers;
• how plans obtain and update contact information for workers; 
• plans’ experiences completing and filing reports; and 
• what plans experienced in obtaining assistance from the agencies.  

Submitting Comments 

Comments must be received within 90 days after the RFI is published in the Federal Register. 

Comments are to be identified by RIN 1210–AC09 and may be submitted to one of these addresses:

• Electronically: send a comment to the federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. 
• By mail: Address a comment to “Attention: Request for Information – SECURE 2.0 Section 319 – Effectiveness of Reporting and Disclosure Requirements.”

Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N–5655, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.

How They Will Use the Data 

After the review, the agencies have until Dec. 29, 2025 to report to Congress concerning the effectiveness of the reporting and disclosure requirements. The report is to include recommendations on consolidating, simplifying, standardizing, and improving reporting and disclosure requirements in order to:

• reduce compliance burdens;
• ensure that plan participants and beneficiaries receive timely information;
• ensure that plan participants and beneficiaries better understand the information they need to monitor their plans, prepare for retirement, and receive benefits they earned. 

The report also is to consider:

• how participants and beneficiaries provide contact information;
• the methods by which plan sponsors and plans provide disclosure; and 
• the rate at which participants and beneficiaries receive, access, understand, and retain disclosures.