The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an interim final rule last year requiring that certain service providers to ERISA-covered retirement plans furnish specialized disclosures to those plans’ fiduciaries. On Feb. 11, 2011, the DOL announced that it is delaying implementation until Jan. 1, 2012, in order “to ensure a careful review of all the valuable input we received on the interim final rule, including suggestions for a summary document to further assist plan fiduciaries in their review of furnished information.” The interim final rule (originally to take effect July 16, 2011) interprets Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, which exempts reasonable arrangements for plan administrative services from ERISA’s prohibited transaction restrictions.
For more information and discussion of the considerations the interim final rule raises for retirement plan fiduciaries, see our prior legal update on this topic.