EBSA Investigations Transparency Act

This bill makes the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration send Congress a yearly report about its benefit-plan investigations. The report must cover active cases and those where the agency used its investigative authority or did targeted compliance monitoring, and it’s due by December 31 each year after the law takes effect. For each investigation, the report must list which office opened it, when it started, when documents were first requested, whether it ended within 36 months of that first request, and if not, why and when it’s expected to finish. The report cannot include names or other details that identify private parties, like plan sponsors, fiduciaries, service providers, employees, or participants. An investigation only counts as finished when the agency stops asserting investigative authority or ends any targeted monitoring, and sends a closing letter to the target.

Key points

• Who is affected: The Employee Benefits Security Administration and the plans and entities it investigates; Congress receives the report.
• What changes: A required annual report with specific details on each investigation, including timelines and reasons for delays; no identifying info about private parties is allowed.
• When: Report due every year by December 31 after the law takes effect.