Kansas Model Notice of Blackout Periods under Individual Account Plans
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These include Summaries of Material Modifications (SMMs), Summary Annual Reports (SARs), and notices regarding changes to investment funds and certain other information in the Annual Fee Disclosure.
A blackout notice should contain information on the expected beginning and end date of the blackout. The notice should also provide the reason for the blackout and what rights will be restricted as a result. The notice must specify a plan contact for answering any questions about the blackout period.
Black-out periods. occur when the ability of plan participants to take certain actions is temporarily. suspended. Sarbanes-Oxley requires that participants receive advance written. notice of certain black-out periods, and restricts the ability of insiders to trade in.
Electronic distribution is permitted as long as you provide the mechanism being used, and participants are required to access that mechanism as part of their jobs. A company-provided email address that participants are required to check is one example.
You can't have access to your 401k plan during the time when the assets and/or records are moved from one provider to another. This period of time, the blackout, can be a short as overnight or as long as two months. Generally during this time you can't select new investments, take a loan or make withdrawals.
The new law says that written notice must be given to participants and beneficiaries at least 30 days before the blackout period begins and not more than 60 days before. Failure to issue notification of a blackout period may result in severe penalties.
A blackout period usually lasts about 10 business days. However, it may need to be extended due to unforeseen circumstances, which are rare; but there is no legal maximum limit for a blackout period. Regardless, you must give advance notice to your employees that a blackout is on the horizon.
The length of time for a blackout is not limited by law. If the blackout is expected to last for more than three days, a notice of it must be given to the employees. 1 However, the blackout period can last for weeks or even months. A blackout period may be imposed because a plan is being restructured or altered.
