2024-05645. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Investment Advice to Participants and Beneficiaries

ACTION:

Notice of availability; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES:

The OMB will consider all written comments that the agency receives on or before April 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Howell by telephone at 202–693–6782, or by email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under ERISA, providing “investment advice” is a fiduciary act. A fiduciary who advises participants about plan investment opportunities that pay the adviser fees or commissions may be subject to liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) prohibited transaction rules. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109–280) amended the ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to include a statutory exemption for providing investment advice to participants and beneficiaries in self-directed defined contribution individual account ERISA-covered plans (Plans) and beneficiaries of individual retirement accounts, individual retirement annuities, Archer MSAs, health savings accounts and Coverdell education savings accounts (collectively IRAs) described in the Code. The statutory exemption provides relief from the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA, and the parallel provisions of the Code.

The information collections that are conditions of the regulation include, third-party disclosures, recordkeeping, and audit requirements. With one exception, the regulation does not require any reporting or filing with the Federal government, but the designated records must be made available upon request. The exception is the requirement that the fiduciary adviser is required under certain circumstances to forward the audit report which is also a required disclosure under the regulation to the Department. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal Register on August 25, 2023 (88 FR 58312).

Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to an information collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. See5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.

DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.

Agency: DOL–EBSA.

Title of Collection: Investment Advice to Participants and Beneficiaries.

OMB Control Number: 1210–0134.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.

Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 8,938.

Total Estimated Number of Responses: 24,698,107.

Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 1,867,800 hours.

Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $247,377,814.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D))

Michael Howell,

Senior Paperwork Reduction Act Analyst.