The Interim Final Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) section 408(b)(2) regulation would provide relief for certain arrangements between plans and service providers that ERISA section 406(a)(1)(C) otherwise proscribes. To obtain this relief, the arrangement between a plan and a service provider must satisfy several criteria: the services must be necessary for the establishment or operation of the plan and the plan may pay no more than reasonable compensation for the services.
The Department is also issuing a prohibited transaction class exemption in conjunction with the interim final rule. The class exemption grants plan fiduciaries relief from liability for a prohibited transaction resulting from the service providerÂs failure to comply with section 408(b)(2). The Department recognizes that a plan fiduciary may on occasion unknowingly conclude a contract or arrangement that does not meet the requirements of the regulation for relief under ERISA section 408(b)(2), in the reasonable belief that the service provider has already divulged the requisite information. This act would constitute a prohibited transaction by both the service provider and the plan fiduciary, but for the availability of the proposed class exemption.
Under the interim final rule, for a contract or arrangement to be Âreasonable, a potential service provider must disclose to a plan in writing certain information before the plan may enter into, extend, or renew the contract or arrangement. Failure to comply with the proposed regulation would result in a prohibited transaction both under ERISA section 406(a) (1) (C) and under section 4975(c) (1) (C) of the Internal Revenue Code.
US Code:
29 USC 1108
Name of Law: Employee Retirement Income Security Act
The hour and cost burden result from new information collection requirements.
$0
No
No
Uncollected
Uncollected
No
Uncollected
Chris Cosby 202 693-8540
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.