Audits of 401(k) Plans

Appendix AERISA AND RELATED REGULATIONS

Appendix A

The following is from appendix A of the 2016 AICPA Audit & Accounting Guide, Employee Benefit Plans.

ERISA AND RELATED REGULATIONS

Introduction

A.01

The following description, prepared with the assistance of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), is intended to enable the auditor to familiarize himself or herself with the important provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This is a summary and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the entire act, the related regulations, or the advice of legal counsel. Changes in the statute and related regulations subsequent to publication of this guide also should be considered.

A.02

The primary purpose of ERISA is to protect the interests of workers who participate in employee benefit plans and their beneficiaries. ERISA seeks to attain that objective by requiring financial reporting to government agencies and disclosure to participants and beneficiaries, by establishing standards of conduct for plan fiduciaries, and by providing appropriate remedies, sanctions, and access to the federal courts. Another objective of ERISA is to improve the soundness of employee pension benefit plans 1 by requiring plans (a) to vest the accrued benefits of employees with significant periods of service, (b) to meet minimum standards of funding, and (c) with respect to defined benefit pension plans, to subscribe ...