[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2185 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2185

To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide 
   workers with individual account plans with information on how the 
assets in their accounts are invested and of the need to diversify the 
                       investment of the assets.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 17, 2002

  Mr. Cleland introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide 
   workers with individual account plans with information on how the 
assets in their accounts are invested and of the need to diversify the 
                       investment of the assets.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT PLANS REQUIRED TO GIVE PARTICIPANTS 
              ADEQUATE INFORMATION TO ASSIST THEM IN DIVERSIFYING 
              PENSION ASSETS.

    (a) In General.--Section 104 of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1024) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively, and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(c)(1) The plan administrator of an applicable individual account 
plan shall, within a reasonable period of time following the close of 
each calendar quarter, provide to each participant or beneficiary a 
statement with respect to his or her individual account which 
includes--
            ``(A) the fair market value as of the close of such quarter 
        of the assets in the account in each investment option,
            ``(B) the percentage as of such calendar quarter of assets 
        which each investment option is of the total assets in the 
        account,
            ``(C) the percentage of the investment in employer 
        securities which came from employer contributions other than 
        elective deferrals (and earnings thereon) and which came from 
        employee contributions and elective deferrals (and earnings 
        thereon), and
            ``(D) such other information as the Secretary may 
        prescribe.
    ``(2)(A) Each statement shall also include a separate statement 
which is prominently displayed and which reads as follows:
            ```Under commonly accepted principles of good investment 
        advice, a retirement account should be invested in a broadly 
        diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. It is unwise for 
        employees to hold significant concentrations of employer stock 
        in an account that is meant for retirement savings'.
    ``(B) The plan administrator of an applicable individual account 
plan shall provide the separate statement described in subparagraph (A) 
to an individual at the time the individual first becomes a participant 
in the plan.
    ``(3) Any statement or notice under this subsection shall be 
written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan 
participant.
    ``(4) For purposes of this subsection--
            ``(A) The term `applicable individual account plan' means 
        an individual account plan to which section 404(c)(1) applies.
            ``(B) The term `elective deferrals' has the meaning given 
        such term by section 402(g)(3) of such Code.
            ``(C) The term `employer securities' has the meaning given 
        such term by section 407(d)(1).''
    (b) Enforcement.--Section 502(c)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
1132(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``or section 101(e)(1)'' and 
inserting ``, section 101(e)(1), or section 104(c)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to calendar quarters beginning on and after January 1, 2003.
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