Sponsors (17)
The bill makes it much easier to reunite people with small, unclaimed retirement accounts and reduces fiduciary risk for plan administrators, but it increases centralized data sharing, privacy and fraud risks, and administrative costs that could temporarily reduce participant access or be passed on in fees.
Seniors and other retirement-plan participants can recover small, unclaimed pension distributions more easily through a clear process, reducing lost retirement savings.
Plan administrators get a safe legal pathway (fiduciary safe harbor) when they follow the rule, lowering litigation risk and administrative uncertainty for financial firms and plan sponsors.
States can more efficiently reunite owners with forgotten accounts by centralizing transfers through a national clearinghouse, streamlining administration and reducing duplicate efforts.
Quarterly reporting of names, SSNs, dates of birth, and addresses increases privacy and data-breach risk for participants if the data are mishandled.
Centralizing transfers and personal data creates concentration risk that could be targeted by fraud or misuse if safeguards fail.
Automatic transfers to State programs could cause temporary loss of participant access to small balances if participants miss required notices.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Permits plan administrators to transfer unclaimed retirement distributions to State unclaimed property programs via a clearinghouse, with required searches, secure notice, reporting, and a fiduciary safe harbor.
Introduced September 11, 2025 by Seth Magaziner · Last progress September 11, 2025
Allows retirement plan administrators and other plan fiduciaries to transfer unclaimed retirement distributions to State unclaimed property programs through the States’ Unclaimed Retirement Clearing House, after following required search and notice steps and complying with DOL rules. The Department of Labor must issue a regulation within 180 days establishing procedures, protections, a mechanism to verify claims, and a reporting schedule; fiduciaries who follow those rules receive a safe harbor from certain ERISA fiduciary duties.