House Committee Approves “Retirement Security Advice Act”

Washington, DC, November 8, 2001 - On November 7, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved H.R. 2269, the “Retirement Security Advice Act of 2001” by a vote of 25 to 15. The Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Code provisions of H.R. 2269, which provide a parallel statutory exemption for the prohibited transaction rules set forth in Code section 4975. In October, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved H.R. 2269.

The Ways and Means Committee made modifications to H.R. 2269 regarding the frequency of disclosures required under the Code provisions of H.R. 2269. Specifically, in addition to providing such disclosures at a time reasonably contemporaneous with the initial provision of advice, the “fiduciary adviser” must, without charge:

• provide such currently accurate disclosures to the recipient of the advice no less than annually,
• make such information available upon request, and
• provide such disclosures in the event of a material change to the information.

The Institute released a statement on H.R. 2269 earlier this year and has submitted testimony in support of similar investment advice legislation.