The Labor Department said Monday it would reopen the comment period on its voluntary correction program for retirement plans in light of changes to the program as set out in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) 2.0 Act.
Comments will be taken on amendments to Labor's Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and the proposed amendment to the associated class Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2002-51, which exempts certain transactions that are corrected under Labor's VFC program from the 15% IRS penalty.
Secure 2.0, Labor explained, "includes a provision that requires the program to cover certain violations related to participant loans if self-corrected violations align with the IRS' Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System."
Reopening the comment period will allow the Employee Benefits Security Administration "to obtain important public input on implementing the changes mandated by Congress," Lisa Gomez, assistant secretary for Employee Benefits Security, said Monday in statement.
Attorneys at Faegre Drinker explained in an alert that Secure 2.0 "significantly expands the availability of self-correction by widening the range of operational failures for which self-correction is available, including plan loan errors."
EBSA is reopening the comment period for 60 days. The notice will be published in the Federal Register Tuesday.
