DOL Issues Final PEP Registration Regulations

November 12, 2020 – The Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued a news release and pre-publication version of final regulations on registration requirements for "pooled plan providers," those entities that will administer the new retirement plan structure known as a pooled employer plan, or PEP. PEPs were created by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, signed into law in December 2019.

These arrangements are expected to differ from similar multiple employer plans by being less likely to have common interest or common ownership among the participating employers. A PEP is intended to offer reduced burdens and costs for the participating employers, compared to an employer sponsoring its own separate retirement plan. 

A pooled plan provider is the named fiduciary for a PEP, and must register with the DOL following procedures prescribed in this guidance. Registration will be accomplished with new EBSA Form PR, filed electronically. PEP arrangements can be offered beginning January 1, 2021.

These final regulations will become effective on the date of their publication in the Federal Register.