What does the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulate?

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) primarily regulates minimum standards for private pension plans, ensuring that plan participants receive their promised benefits. ERISA was established to protect the interests of employee benefit plan participants and their beneficiaries by implementing guidelines that pension plans must follow. These standards include requirements for reporting and disclosure to participants, fiduciary responsibilities for those managing plan assets, and establishing mechanisms for enforcing rights under the plans.

This act does not extend to health insurance plans in the public sector or to government employee retirement programs, which are governed by different sets of regulations. Likewise, real estate investment trusts are not a focus of ERISA; instead, they fall under different securities regulations. Therefore, option B accurately represents ERISA's primary function in setting and enforcing standards for private pension plans, reflecting the law's primary intent to provide security for employees' retirement benefits.