"[It] may be impossible for many recordkeepers to 'transfer' the hardship and loan documentation in electronic format to the plan sponsor. But every plan sponsor should probably request it from the recordkeeper and request that the electronic data be transmitted to the plan sponsor with each future hardship distribution and each participant loan. And, then, of course, there's the fiduciary obligation to review the information and make certain of compliance with the rules since the plan sponsor may not be able to rely on the recordkeeper to do that. And failing or refusing to do this, maybe the IRS's real objective will be met -- the plan will be amended to eliminate participant loans and hardship distributions in order to avoid leakage."  MORE >>