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Compliance April 15, 2003
EBSA Clears Up SOX Loan Impact
April 15, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Department of
Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has
issued clarification on plan loans impacted by provisions of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Reported by Nevin E. Adams
>Specifically, EBSA notes in Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2003-1 that restrictions on pension plan loans to officers and directors of the plan sponsor do not violate the participant loan rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
>Under ERISA, participant loans offered by pension plans must be available to all participants and beneficiaries on a reasonably equivalent basis. EBSA said that, given the uncertainty as to whether loans to officers and directors of a plan sponsor are permissible under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the department concluded that restricting loans to such individuals would not violate the requirement that loans be made available to all participants and beneficiaries on a reasonably equivalent basis.
>Field Assistance Bulletins are available on the Internet at www.dol.gov/ebsa