Compliance April 24, 2007
DoL Requests Suggestions for 401(k) Fee Disclosures
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DoL) Employee Benefits Security Administration will tomorrow publish a "request for information" (RFI) in the Federal Register asking for proposals on how to best approach 401(k) fee disclosures by retirement plans to their participants.
Reported by Adrien Martin
Specifically, the department wants to know what administrative and investment-related fee and expense information participants should consider when investing their retirement savings, the manner in which the information should be furnished to participants and who should provide that information, according to a DoL press release.
The DoL cites recent recommendations by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about changes to improve disclosure of fees and expenses to plan fiduciaries and participants.
Written comments on the fee disclosure issue should be submitted electronically by e-mail to e-ori@dol.gov or through the federal e-rulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov.
Paper-based comments should be sent to the Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Room N-5669, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210, Attention: Fee Disclosure RFI.
The information request by the DoL comes on the heels of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox’s announcement last week that the regulator would be turning its sights toward 401(k) plan fees. “With an emphasis on both the disclosures by the constituent investments in the 401(k), and the aggregate disclosures by the plan, we aim to make it far easier for busy Americans to understand the expenses they’re being charged in connection with their investments,” Cox said at the Mutual Fund Directors Forum.