Pension
Administration and Trust Accounting
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FIDELITY BONDS FOR NON-QUALIFYING
ASSETS AUDIT
WAVERS What type of fidelity
bond is needed to meet the audit waiver
conditions if more than five percent of its assets are non-qualifying
assets?
Persons that handle non-qualifying assets must be
covered
by a fidelity bond or bonds that meet the requirements of Section 412
ERISA,
except that the bond amount must be at least equal to 100% of the value
of the
non-qualifying plan assets the person handles.
Persons handling non-qualifying plan assets can rely
on normal rules and
exemptions under Section 412 in complying with the audit waiver’s
enhanced
bonding requirement. For
example, if the
only non-qualifying assets that a person handles are not required to be
covered
under a standard ERISA Section 412 bond (e.g., employers and employee
contribution receivables described in 29 If
the plan
has more than 5% of its assets in non-qualifying plan assets, does the
enhanced
bond have to cover all the non-qualifying assets or only those in
excess of the
5% threshold?
All the non-qualifying assets, not just a selection
that
represents the excess over 5%, are subject to the enhanced bond
requirement. Can the plan satisfy
the audit waiver bonding requirement by having
persons who handle the non-qualifying plan assets get their own bond? Yes.
The person handling the non-qualifying plan
assets can obtain his or her own bond.
Also, a company providing services to the plan can
obtain a bond
covering itself and its employees that handle non-qualifying plan
assets. The bond
has to meet the requirements under
Section 412, such as the requirements that the plan be named as an
insured,
that the bond not include a deductible or similar feature, and that the
bonding
company be on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Circular 570 list
of
approved surety companies. [http://www.fms.treas.gov/c570/c570.html]. To determine what you
should have for coverage and or Purchase your ERISA Bond go to
this link: Colonial Surety Company Direct |