DOL Requests Continued Authority for Fee Disclosure Collection

OMB approval for collection of information about service provider fees and conflicts of interest expires today.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has sent an information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asking for an extension of approval to collect fee information from service providers.

Under section 408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), certain retirement plan service providers must disclose information about their compensation and potential conflicts of interest to responsible plan fiduciaries.

The DOL notes that failing to satisfy these requirements may result in a retirement plan receiving services prohibited by ERISA section 406(a)(1)(C), with consequences for both the responsible plan fiduciary and the covered service provider.

OMB authorization for a request to collect information must be renewed every three years: the current approval for this collection is scheduled to expire March 31, 2015. The DOL is asking the OMB to extend its Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) authorization for three more years, without any change to existing requirements.

The DOL is taking comments about its request until April 30. The text of the request is here.

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