On September 17, 2012, the DOL provided a link to a new online filing system and a dedicated mailing address for the notice that a responsible plan fiduciary must file to qualify for the prohibited transaction exemption provided under the final ERISA Section 408(b)(2) regulation if a covered service provider does not comply with its fee disclosure notice obligations.

Under the regulation, if the fiduciary fails to receive required disclosures from a covered service provider, it must take reasonable steps to try to obtain the disclosures, including properly (and timely) filing this notice with the DOL if the service provider doesn't respond to its request for additional information. Otherwise, the responsible plan fiduciary is considered to have engaged in a prohibited transaction under ERISA.

Fiduciaries may send the fee disclosure failure notice electronically by using the following dedicated DOL website:

If the plan fiduciary sends the notice by direct mail, it should now be sent to the following dedicated DOL post office box address (rather than the general address for the DOL's Office of Enforcement):

The DOL initially published the revised submission procedures on July 16, 2012, and invited public comment through August 16, 2012. Because the DOL received no significant adverse comments, the revised procedures automatically went into effect on September 14, 2012.

For a detailed discussion of the final ERISA Section 408(b)(2) regulations, review Practice Note, Service Provider Disclosure Requirements for Pension Plans. For a summary of the significant changes made from the interim final regulations to the final regulations, see Legal Update, DOL Issues Final ERISA Section 408(b)(2) Regulations.