Almost all employee benefit plans in the United States are regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. One of the important requirements of this federal regulatory statue is the ERISA fidelity bond. Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor’s circular on this requirement, “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 covered by a fidelity bond. 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 belonging to the plan. ERISA refers to persons who handle funds or other property of an employee benefit plan as “plan officials.” A plan official’s acts must be covered by a fidelity bond in an amount of 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 respect to which the plan official has handling functions. The maximum fidelity bond amount that can be required under ERISA with respect to any one plan official is $500,000 per plan except for those plans commencing in years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, in which case the maximum required ERISA fidelity bond amount is $1,000,000 for plan officials of plans that hold employer securities.

The required bond must be obtained from a surety that appears on the Department of the Treasury’s Listing of Approved Sureties, Department Circular 570 (available at fms.treas.gov/c570/c570.html). Under certain conditions, fidelity bonds may also be placed with the a Lloyds of London Syndicate. Neither the plan nor a party-in-interest with respect to the plan may have any control or significant financial interest, whether direct or indirect, in the surety or in an agent or broker through which the fidelity bond is obtained. An ERISA fidelity bond acquired through Surety One, Inc., are all procured through Treasury listed carriers and offer the following benefits:

● Backed by sureties carrying A-Excellent and A+Superior AM Best ratings
● Inexpensive, discounted premiums for three year bonds
● Built-in “inflation cover” which auto-adjusts bond amount to cover code requirements
● Five line application and automatic renewal of fidelity bond without new application

National fidelity bond leader, Surety One, Inc., is a specialist in surety and fidelity bond underwriting. We are one of the largest producers of ERISA fidelity bonds. Our knowledge, extensive experience with ERISA bonds, and our broad fidelity underwriting authorities allow us to fulfill your fidelity bond need immediately. We offer, ERISA bonds for plans with non-qualifying assets, ERISA bonds for ESOPs, ERISA bonds for labor union and multi-employer plans. ALL of these fidelity bonds can be written on primary basis to $5 million, and an additional $5 million if the application is for an excess layer.

Visit us at http://www.ERISA-Bonds.com, call anytime at (787) 333-0222 or (800) 373-2804, or email Underwriting@SuretyOne.com.