AF&PA Disappointed in U.S. Department of Labor’s Final Rule Restricting Access to Retirement Plan Information

CONTACT: Lindsay Murphy / Tim Ebner
(202) 463-2587, comm@afandpa.org

WASHINGTON – Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia released a final rule allowing retirement plan administrators to primarily deliver notice and access of plan information to participants via electronic sources. American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock issued the following statement in response to the final rule:

“The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) is disappointed in the Department of Labor’s final rule that will further restrict Americans’ access to paper-based information helping them plan for retirement.

 “This decision, which was opposed by 47 Members of Congress, requires disruptive and unnecessary steps to access and retrieve important financial information. It also comes at a time when millions of Americans are feeling anxious about COVID-19 and the pandemic’s financial impacts on their retirement plans. Putting the burden on U.S. retirement plan participants and beneficiaries to track down essential documents that were once reliably delivered to a mailbox for careful review and inspection runs counter to the ‘commonsense’ efforts the Department aimed to address. Consumers didn’t ask for this change. The current system, which provides electronic access for those who want it, is working.”