For Immediate Release
Washington, DC – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) supports Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) introduction of the “Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act,” which would create a central database allowing current and soon-to-be retirees to view the location of their retirement funds. It also provides needed guidance to employers on the steps that must be taken to locate former employees who are still vested in the company’s retirement plan.
Employers engage in a multitude of search practices to locate so-called “missing” participants without official guidance from federal agencies on the exact processes they should utilize. Moreover, employers are subject to federal audits of these search practices. Additional guidance, which this legislation provides, will assist in providing greater certainty to employers in the operation of their retirement plan and support their ability to locate former employees.
“Current enforcement actions in finding missing participants are unnecessarily and unfairly adversarial, create confusion and undermine industry efforts to improve compliance,” said Will Hansen, Senior Vice President of Retirement and Compensation, The ERISA Industry Committee. “Senator Warren’s bill provides much needed guidance to employers on the steps they must take to find missing plan participants and gives employees access to important information about their retirement portfolio that will greatly reduce the number of individuals who can’t locate their retirement funds.”
Click here to read ERIC’s letter of support to Senator Warren.