Washington, D.C. Update: The Feds Have A Full Agenda

I recently read a great article at Reish & Reicher written by Fred Reish and Bruce Ashton. Please see below.

In recent months, we have spent a considerable amount of time talking with government officials at the Departments of Treasury and Labor, as well as congressional staff members, concerning regulatory and legislative developments in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this bulletin is to bring you up to date on those subjects.

Department of Labor: Plan-level disclosure. The Obama-appointed leadership of the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has “re-started” the project to develop a regulation under ERISA section 408(b)(2), which requires that all arrangements with ERISA-governed retirement plans be reasonable. As you may recall, the prior administration had drafted a regulation which would require most service providers to disclose their fees, describe their services, and explain material conflicts of interest. The most important of the “covered” service providers were: brokerdealers; RIA firms; recordkeepers and bundled providers; and third party administrators. However, the Bush Office of Management and Budget (OMB) refused to approve that regulation…apparently because they felt it imposed too great a burden on businesses.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Reish & Reicher article link.

Integrity Financial Corporation’s flagship 401k client is the Association of Washington Business (AWB) in Olympia. AWB is Washington state’s premier advocate for the business community and is recognized as The State’s Chamber of Commerce. This plan has a BrightScope Rating of 76, placing it in the top 15% of all plans in its peer group. www.brightscope.com

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