In a report dated September 30, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommended additional ERISA regulation of conflicts of interest on the part of service providers to retirement plans. The OIG recommendations were based primarily on the 2005 SEC “pension consultant” report, a review of DOL enforcement practices and policies, interviews with DOL and SEC officials, and a random sampling of DOL fiduciary audit files.

On the basis of that examination, OIG asserted that conflicts of interest on the part of service providers “are a concern in most ERISA covered pension plans,” and recommended that...