The Parliament of Moldova approved on Friday in the second reading the draft Law on Optional Pension Funds.
It will replace the 1999 Law on Non-State Pension Funds, which, according to experts, is not functional. The new law was developed by the National Commission for the Financial Market as a measure to develop institutional investors and transpose the provisions of EU directives. The Facultative Pension Funds Act, approved by the deputies, establishes the legal basis for the establishment and operation of facultative pension funds under an optional pension system based on individual capitalized savings. The law contains requirements for the organization, licensing of administrators of optional pension funds and their activities, rules on depositories of optional pension funds, stipulates the powers of the National Commission on Financial Market as a supervisory body for such funds. In general, the law is intended to provide additional income for persons of retirement age. It is stipulated that any citizen will be able to join a private pension fund (while participation in the state social insurance system is compulsory), and the amount of contributions to the supplementary pension fund paid by him will be deducted from the taxable income of citizens. All members of optional pension funds are entitled to choose a pension fund by paying contributions based on an individual pension contribution. The right to a supplementary pension can be exercised if the fund participant has reached the age of 60, has paid at least 60 monthly contributions, and his personal asset is equivalent or equal to the amount required to receive the minimum supplementary pension (the minimum is to be determined by a separate regulatory act). The document spells out the procedure for creating and dissolving a pension fund, identifying the possibility of merging several funds, specifying requirements for the authorized capital, investment, audit and reporting. Facultative pension funds can operate only on the basis of a license issued by the NCFM, its cost will be 20 thousand lei. The size of the minimum authorized capital must be 25 thousand euros, however, its gradual increase is envisaged. So, after 3 years from the date of the law's entry, the amount of the authorized capital must be at least 44 thousand euros, after 5 years - 63 thousand euros, after 7 years - 94 thousand euros. A certain percentage of the fund's savings can be invested (the percentage depends on the area of investment), while restrictions are imposed on certain areas, such as investments in art, cars, etc. The law also sets out the requirements for the prudential nature of the pension fund and the norms of supervision and intervention of the NCFM to protect the interests of participants in pension funds. The law also provides for the creation of a Deposit Guarantee Fund for the optional pension system, the amount of contributions to this fund will be established by a separate law, and the fund's resources can be used to compensate for losses of the optional pension funds. // 20.11.2020 — InfoMarket.
