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Employee Stock Ownership Plans are no longer on EBSA's national enforcement project list and EBSA reduces prioritization of missing-participant cases in light of the new database.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) January 15, 2026 news release explicitly states that it "removed Employee Stock Ownership Plans from the national enforcement project list." The same release also says EBSA "will reduce its focus on missing participants following the establishment of the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database." EBSA’s official Lost and Found website confirms that the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database has been established under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 and is operating as a centralized tool to help locate missing retirement benefits, aligning with the rationale given for reduced missing-participant enforcement. Independent industry reporting is consistent with these points, noting both the ESOP removal and reduced missing-participant focus tied to the database. The verdict is True because the claim directly reflects the language and substance of EBSA’s official 2026 enforcement-priorities announcement and is corroborated by EBSA’s operational database and external coverage.