Duty of disclosure and reporting

The administrator of each employee benefit plan shall cause to be furnished in accordance with section 1024(b) of this title to each participant covered under the plan and to each beneficiary who is receiving benefits under the plan— The administrator shall, in accordance with section 1024(a) of this title, file with the Secretary— If an employer maintaining a plan other than a multiemployer plan fails to make a required installment or other payment required to meet the minimum funding standard under section 1082 of this title to a plan before the 60th day following the due date for such installment or other payment, the employer shall notify each participant and beneficiary (including an alternate payee as defined in section 1056(d)(3)(K) of this title) of such plan of such failure. Such notice shall be made at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe. This subsection shall not apply to any failure if the employer has filed a waiver request under section 1083 or 1085a of this title with respect to the plan year to which the required installment relates, except that if the waiver request is denied, notice under paragraph (1) shall be provided within 60 days after the date of such denial. For purposes of this subsection, the terms “required installment” and “due date” have the same meanings given such terms by section 1083(j) or 1085a(f) of this title, whichever is applicable. Not later than 60 days before the date of a qualified transfer by an employee pension benefit plan of excess pension assets to a health benefits account or applicable life insurance account, the administrator of the plan shall notify (in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe) each participant and beneficiary under the plan of such transfer. Such notice shall include information with respect to the amount of excess pension assets, the portion to be transferred, the amount of health benefits liabilities or applicable life insurance benefit liabilities expected to be provided with the assets transferred, and the amount of pension benefits of the participant which will be nonforfeitable immediately after the transfer. Not later than 60 days before the date of any qualified transfer by an employee pension benefit plan of excess pension assets to a health benefits account or applicable life insurance account, the employer maintaining the plan from which the transfer is made shall provide the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury, the administrator, and each employee organization representing participants in the plan a written notice of such transfer. A copy of any such notice shall be available for inspection in the principal office of the administrator. Such notice shall identify the plan from which the transfer is made, the amount of the transfer, a detailed accounting of assets projected to be held by the plan immediately before and immediately after the transfer, and the current liabilities under the plan at the time of the transfer. The Secretary may prescribe such additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. For purposes of paragraph (1), any term used in such paragraph which is also used in section 420 of title 26 (as in effect on December 29, 2022) shall have the same meaning as when used in such section. The administrator of a defined benefit plan to which subchapter III applies shall for each plan year provide a plan funding notice to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, to each plan participant and beneficiary, to each labor organization representing such participants or beneficiaries, and, in the case of a multiemployer plan, to each employer that has an obligation to contribute to the plan. Each notice required under paragraph (1) shall contain identifying information, including the name of the plan, the address and phone number of the plan administrator and the plan’s principal administrative officer, each plan sponsor’s employer identification number, and the plan number of the plan. A plan funding notice under paragraph (1) shall include— in the case of a single-employer plan— a statement of the number of participants for the plan year to which the notice relates as of the last day of such plan year and the preceding 2 plan years, in tabular format, who are— in the case of a multiemployer plan, whether the plan was in critical or endangered status under section 1085 of this title for such plan year and, if so— in the case of a multiemployer plan, whether the plan was in critical and declining status under section 1085 of this title for such plan year and, if so— in the case of a single-employer plan, a statement as to whether the plan’s funded status, based on the plan’s liabilities described under subclause (II) for the plan year to which the notice relates, and for the 2 preceding plan years, is at least 100 percent (and, if not, the actual percentages), that includes— a general description of the benefits under the plan which are eligible to be guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, along with an explanation of the limitations on the guarantee and the circumstances under which such limitations apply and a statement that, in the case of a single-employer plan— Each notice under paragraph (1) shall include— In the case of a single-employer plan for an applicable plan year, each notice under paragraph (1) shall include— For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “applicable plan year” means any plan year beginning after December 31, 2011, and before January 1, 2034, for which— In the case of a preceding plan year referred to in clause (i)(III) which begins before January 1, 2012, the information described in such clause shall be provided only without regard to section 1083(h)(2)(C)(iv) of this title. In the case of a CSEC plan, each notice under paragraph (1) shall include— Any notice under paragraph (1) shall be provided not later than 120 days after the end of the plan year to which the notice relates. In the case of a small plan (as such term is used under section 1083(g)(2)(B) of this title) any notice under paragraph (1) shall be provided upon filing of the annual report under section 1024(a) of this title. Any notice under paragraph (1)— The Secretary shall, by regulation, require multiple employer welfare arrangements providing benefits consisting of medical care (within the meaning of section 1191b(a)(2) of this title) which are not group health plans to register with the Secretary prior to operating in a State and may, by regulation, require such multiple employer welfare arrangements to report, not more frequently than annually, in such form and such manner as the Secretary may require for the purpose of determining the extent to which the requirements of part 7 are being carried out in connection with such benefits. Except as provided in this subsection, no report shall be required under this section by an employer maintaining a qualified salary reduction arrangement under section 408(p) of title 26. The trustee of any simple retirement account established pursuant to a qualified salary reduction arrangement under section 408(p) of title 26 shall provide to the employer maintaining the arrangement each year a description containing the following information: The employer shall notify each employee immediately before the period for which an election described in section 408(p)(5)(C) of title 26 may be made of the employee’s opportunity to make such election. Such notice shall include a copy of the description described in paragraph (2). In advance of the commencement of any blackout period with respect to an individual account plan, the plan administrator shall notify the plan participants and beneficiaries who are affected by such action in accordance with this subsection. The notices described in paragraph (1) shall be written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant and shall include— Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, notices described in paragraph (1) shall be furnished to all participants and beneficiaries under the plan to whom the blackout period applies at least 30 days in advance of the blackout period. In any case in which— The notice required to be provided under this subsection shall be in writing, except that such notice may be in electronic or other form to the extent that such form is reasonably accessible to the recipient. In the case of any blackout period in connection with an individual account plan, the plan administrator shall provide timely notice of such blackout period to the issuer of any employer securities subject to such blackout period. In any case in which the blackout period applies only to 1 or more participants or beneficiaries in connection with a merger, acquisition, divestiture, or similar transaction involving the plan or plan sponsor and occurs solely in connection with becoming or ceasing to be a participant or beneficiary under the plan by reason of such merger, acquisition, divestiture, or transaction, the requirement of this subsection that the notice be provided to all participants and beneficiaries shall be treated as met if the notice required under paragraph (1) is provided to such participants or beneficiaries to whom the blackout period applies as soon as reasonably practicable. If, following the furnishing of the notice pursuant to this subsection, there is a change in the beginning date or length of the blackout period (specified in such notice pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(iii)), the administrator shall provide affected participants and beneficiaries notice of the change as soon as reasonably practicable. In relation to the extended blackout period, such notice shall meet the requirements of paragraph (2)(D) and shall specify any material change in the matters referred to in clauses (i) through (v) of paragraph (2)(A). The Secretary may provide by regulation for additional exceptions to the requirements of this subsection which the Secretary determines are in the interests of participants and beneficiaries. The Secretary shall issue guidance and model notices which meet the requirements of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection— The term “blackout period” means, in connection with an individual account plan, any period for which any ability of participants or beneficiaries under the plan, which is otherwise available under the terms of such plan, to direct or diversify assets credited to their accounts, to obtain loans from the plan, or to obtain distributions from the plan is temporarily suspended, limited, or restricted, if such suspension, limitation, or restriction is for any period of more than 3 consecutive business days. The term “blackout period” does not include a suspension, limitation, or restriction— For purposes of this subsection, the term “individual account plan” shall have the meaning provided such term in section 1002(34) of this title, except that such term shall not include a one-participant retirement plan. For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term “one-participant retirement plan” means a retirement plan that on the first day of the plan year— The plan administrator of a single-employer plan shall provide a written notice to plan participants and beneficiaries within 30 days— Each administrator of a defined benefit plan that is a multiemployer plan shall, upon written request, furnish to any plan participant or beneficiary, employee representative, or any employer that has an obligation to contribute to the plan a copy of— Information required to be provided under paragraph (1)— shall not— In no case shall a participant, beneficiary, employee representative, or employer be entitled under this subsection to receive more than one copy of any document described in paragraph (1) during any one 12-month period, or, in the case of any document described in subparagraph (E), (F), (G), (H) or (I) of paragraph (1), a copy of any such document that as of the date on which the request is received by the administrator, has been in the administrator’s possession for 6 years or more. If the administrator provides a copy of a document described in paragraph (1) to any person upon request, the administrator shall be considered as having met any obligation the administrator may have under any other provision of this subchapter to furnish a copy of the same document to such person upon request. The administrator may make a reasonable charge to cover copying, mailing, and other costs of furnishing copies of information pursuant to paragraph (1). The Secretary may by regulations prescribe the maximum amount which will constitute a reasonable charge under the preceding sentence. The plan sponsor or administrator of a multiemployer plan shall, upon written request, furnish to any employer who has an obligation to contribute to the plan a notice of— Any notice required to be provided under paragraph (1)— shall be provided in a form and manner prescribed in regulations of the Secretary to the requesting employer within— In no case shall an employer be entitled under this subsection to receive more than one notice described in paragraph (1) during any one 12-month period. The person required to provide such notice may make a reasonable charge to cover copying, mailing, and other costs of furnishing such notice pursuant to paragraph (1). The Secretary may by regulations prescribe the maximum amount which will constitute a reasonable charge under the preceding sentence. Not later than 30 days before the first date on which an applicable individual of an applicable individual account plan is eligible to exercise the right under section 1054(j) of this title to direct the proceeds from the divestment of employer securities with respect to any type of contribution, the administrator shall provide to such individual a notice— Nothing in this section shall preclude the Secretary from providing, by regulations or otherwise, simplified reporting procedures or requirements regarding such a pension-linked emergency savings account. For regulations relating to coordination of reports to the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury, see section 1204 of this title.