Providers of 401(k)s and other participant-directed individualretirement account plans will have a two-month grace period toprovide annual fee disclosures, the Department of Labor's EmployeeBenefits Security Administration announced on Wednesday. Thesubject of the disclosures, however, is the same.

Under the current definition, plan administrators must provideannual fee and expense disclosures no later than exactly 12 monthsafter a participant received the initial disclosure. EBSA, part ofthe Department of Labor, changed the rule to require disclosures toparticipants at least once every 14 months in response to commentsfrom organizations that represent employers, plans, recordkeepersand other service providers.

Among the comments received by the department is that thecurrent definition requires plan administrators to track thespecific date a participant received his or her disclosureplan-by-plan or participant-by-participant basis. Large plans mayhave tens of thousands of participants, though.