Investment Advice to Participants and Beneficiaries

Forms and Documents

Forms and supporting documents for this ICR

Document	Type	Status	Availability
1210-0134 Investment Advice 1-19-24_clean.docx	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2024-02-26	Repair queued
30-day FRN (1210-0134) published.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2021-02-04	Repair queued
29 U.S. Code § 1108 - Exemptions from prohibited transactions.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2021-02-02	Repair queued
29 CFR § 2550.408g-1 - Investment advice - participants and beneficiaries. _ CFR _ US Law _ LII _ Legal Information Institute.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2021-02-02	Repair queued
60-day FRN (1210-0134) published.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2021-01-19	Repair queued

IC Document Collections

Information collection document groups

IC ID	Collection	Type	Status	Form
199015	Audit Requirement		Modified
199014	Computer Model Certification Requirements		Modified
185726	Investment Advice to Participants and Beneficiaries Disclosures		Modified

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 1210-0134	ICR Reference No: 202401-1210-004
Status: Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 202012-1210-006
Agency/Subagency: DOL/EBSA	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Investment Advice to Participants and Beneficiaries
Type of Information Collection: Extension without change of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 05/06/2024
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 03/18/2024
Terms of Clearance:

table that charts list comparision

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	05/31/2027	36 Months From Approved	04/30/2024
Responses	24,698,107	0	23,033,030
Time Burden (Hours)	1,867,800	0	2,423,391
Cost Burden (Dollars)	247,377,814	0	318,912,816

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Abstract: Under ERISA, providing “investment advice” is a fiduciary act. A fiduciary who advises participants about plan investment opportunities that pay the adviser fees or commissions may be subject to liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) prohibited transaction rules. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109–280) amended the ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to include a statutory exemption for providing investment advice to participants and beneficiaries in self-directed defined contribution individual account ERISA-covered plans (Plans) and beneficiaries of individual retirement accounts, individual retirement annuities, Archer MSAs, health savings accounts and Coverdell education savings accounts (collectively IRAs) described in the Code. The statutory exemption provides relief from the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA, and the parallel provisions of the Code. The information collections that are conditions of the regulation include, third-party disclosures, recordkeeping, and audit requirements. With one exception, the regulation does not require any reporting or filing with the Federal government, but the designated records must be made available upon request. The exception is the requirement that the fiduciary adviser is required under certain circumstances to forward the audit report which is also a required disclosure under the regulation to the Department.

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 29 USC 1108(b)(14) Name of Law: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
   US Code: 29 USC 1108(g) Name of Law: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	88 FR 58312	08/25/2023
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	89 FR 19361	03/18/2024
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 3

table that charts list of burden

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Audit Requirement
Computer Model Certification Requirements
Investment Advice to Participants and Beneficiaries Disclosures

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ICR Summary of Burden

table that charts list of burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	24,698,107	23,033,030	0	0	1,665,077	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	1,867,800	2,423,391	0	0	-555,591	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	247,377,814	318,912,816	0	0	-71,535,002	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: Changes to four burden estimate inputs caused burden estimates to increase for this submission: (1) Increased usage of this exemption; (2) Increased labor costs due to inflation; (3) Increased postage costs due to inflation; and (4) A change to EBSA’s assumption regarding electronic transmission of the disclosures for DC plans and IRAs. EBSA has also revised the electronic disclosure assumption for IRAs to 96.1 percent. As a result of these changes, the number of responses has increased by 1,665,077 responses, the hour burden has increased by 382,899 hours, and the cost burden has increased by $175,153,798.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $0

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

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Common Form ICR:  No

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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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 03/18/2024

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