The Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a rule proposal that will make it easier to wind down retirement plans abandoned by employers and give plan participants access to their benefits.

The notice filed with the Office of Management and Budget will likely deal with the termination of and distribution of benefits from individual account retirement plans that have been abandoned by their sponsoring employers, as well as amendments to permit bankruptcy trustees to use the DOL’s Abandoned Plan Program to terminate and wind up the plans of sponsors in liquidation under Chapter 7.