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Compliance June 6, 2011
ASPPA Sees “Overwhelming” Response for Electronic Disclosure
As the last day of submitting comments to the Department of
Labor (DoL) drew to a close, the American Society of Pension Professionals
& Actuaries (ASPPA) urged the adoption of electronic disclosures.
Reported by Nicole Bliman
In its letter to the DoL regarding electronic distribution of plan disclosures required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), ASPPA said that the existing regulation pertaining to electronic disclosure should be modified to facilitate electronic communication.
“In particular, we recommended that the consent and access requirements of the existing ‘safe harbor’ be revised to permit electronic disclosure to be the default method of communication,” the letter stated.
The DoL published a request for comment to its Web site on April 6 and was accepting public comments until Monday, June 6 (see “DoL Seeks Comments on Electronic Disclosure”). ASPPA pointed out in its letter that the response has been overwhelmingly in favor of allowing electronic disclosures to fulfill ERISA requirements.
ASPPA’s letter to the DoL is available here.