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ARTICLE · 17 MAY 2012

ERISA Fee Disclosure Requirements Part I: Service Providers

Archer & Greiner P.C.
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Effective July 1, 2012, agreements between retirement plans and plan service providers must describe most direct and indirect fees associated with the services in writing in order to avoid "prohibited transaction" penalties under ERISA.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Nancy Wasch
Nancy Wasch
L. Gerald Rigby
L. Gerald Rigby
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Effective July 1, 2012, agreements between retirement plans and plan service providers must describe most direct and indirect fees associated with the services in writing in order to avoid "prohibited transaction" penalties under ERISA. Effective October 1, 2012, plan fiduciaries are required to disclose to plan partici¬pants all fees that can affect plan balances. This article discusses the first of these rules, and we will discuss the second in an upcoming article.

The rationale for requiring fee disclosures comes from ERISA's mandate that expenses paid by a plan be "reasonable." The multitude of fee arrangements that have developed in the retirement plan industry can make it difficult for a plan fiduciary to determine what all the service fees are. Plan fiduciaries will need this information both to ensure contracts for services are reasonable and in order to fulfill the responsibility to disclose the fees to participants. Service providers must disclose the fees

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