Do you have the statutorily required ERISA bond in place? Federal ERISA section 412 and related regulations (29 C.F.R. § 2550.412-1 and 29 C.F.R. Part 2580) require that every fiduciary of an employee benefit plan and every person who handles funds or other property of such a plan, be bonded. ERISA’s fidelity bonding requirements are intended to protect employee benefit plans from risk of loss due to fraud or dishonesty on the part of persons who ”handle” plan funds or other property. A plan official must be bonded for at least ten percent of the amount of funds he or she handles, subject to a minimum bond amount of $1,000 per plan with a maximum of $500,000 EXCEPT for those plans containing non-qualified assets. DON’T IGNORE THIS OBLIGATION. The Department of Labor can easily monitor whether the ERISA fidelity bond requirements have been met. Plan administrators are obligated to file a federal Form 5500 schedule H annually, which asks specifically if the plan is bonded and the plan’s dollar amount. Civil AND criminal penalties can AND HAVE BEEN applied for failure to fulfill this very basic statutory requirement. The nation’s leader in surety, Surety One, Inc., is one of the largest writers of ERISA bonds. We will bond plans with non-qualifying assets, ESOPs, labor union and multi-employer plans. Visit us at www.ERISA-Bonds.com, call anytime at (787) 333-0222 or (800) 373-2804, or email Underwriting@SuretyOne.com for an ERISA bond application or any bonding need.
