DOL Eases Independence Rules for Employee Benefit Plan Accountants

Summary

Recent guidance from the Department of Labor (DOL) loosens certain restrictions meant to ensure the independence of accountants performing employee benefit plan audits for the annual Form 5500 filing. The updated interpretative bulletin (IB) lets plan administrators hire a qualified public accountant who held the plan sponsor's publicly traded securities during the plan year covered by the audit if the accountant divests those securities before starting the engagement. The updated guidance, which revises and restates an IB from 1975, takes effect immediately.