Staff writer
Insurance and Pensions industry regulator, IPEC has stopped dissolutions of about 372 funds that were earmarked for dissolution to allow conclusion of the pre-2009 compensation.
The Justice George Smith-led Commission of Inquiry constituted in 2015 found some policyholders and pension scheme members were prejudiced by the conversion process during dollarization and recommended they be compensated.
According to the Ipec Pensions Report for the quarter to March 31, 2024, 15 of the pension funds had concluded dissolution during the period under review.
“Meanwhile, the Commission has put the dissolutions on hold pending the conclusion of the pre-2009 compensation to ensure fairness among members,” Ipec said.
Ipec has since approved the Mimosa Pension Fund’s pre-2009 compensation scheme after it complied with all the requirements of Statutory Instrument 162 of 2023 (pre-2009 pension compensation regulations).
The regulator is working closely with other funds that are close to complying with the requirements of the compensation regulations to facilitate their compliance so that their compensation schemes can also be approved.
“The Commission is in the process of instituting criminal proceedings against non-compliant entities in line with Statutory Instrument 162 of 2023,” it said in a statement.
In February this year, IPEC flagged insufficient disclosures in 2009 compensation actuarial reports, saying it had noted inadequate disclosures in actuarial reports submitted as part of the 2009 compensation schemes.
The inadequate disclosures, according to Ipec, were inhibiting the Commission from making an informed decision on the compensation schemes.
According to the Pensions report, there were 966 registered occupational pension funds as of March 31, 2024, compared to 978 funds in 2023 during the same period, with the decline mainly attributed to fifteen dissolutions that were finalised during the year.
But during the period under review, there were eight transfers and six new funds that were registered.
“Of the 966 funds, 481 were active, accounting for 49.79 percent of the industry’s funds.
“The remaining 485 funds were inactive as they were either paid up or earmarked for dissolution,” reads the report.
Ipec noted that of the total funds, 40 pension funds were defined as benefit schemes, while the remainder were defined as contribution schemes.
Only 14 of the 966 registered funds conduct in-house fund administration, and the remainder, which are insured (800) and self-administered funds (152), outsource the services from fund administrators.
