ERISA compliance guidance. (just in ...).

The PWBA recognizes plan fiduciaries may encounter an array of problems regarding investment of employee benefit plan assets upon the reopening of the securities markets. Under these circumstances, plan fiduciaries may in good faith find it necessary and prudent to take extraordinary steps in order to safeguard plan assets and to facilitate the return to orderly markets. In taking these steps, plan fiduciaries should be sensitive to ensuring that the temporary procedures adopted, and the decisions made, are documented and adequately protect the interests of plans and their participants and beneficiaries.

"We understand that plans, plan fiduciaries, employers, labor organizations, service providers, as well as participants and beneficiaries, will encounter compliance-related issues and concerns over the next few months as the practical and personal implications of this national tragedy unfold," said Ann L. Combs, Assistant Secretary for PWBA. "In addressing these issues, and in acknowledging there may be instances when full compliance may not be possible, the guiding principle must be to ensure that appropriate efforts are made to act reasonably, prudently and in the interest of the workers and their families who rely on their health, pension and other benefits for their physical and economic well being."