PFAs, PFCs fail to secure PenCom's certificate of compliance

Chuks Udo Okonta

No Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) and Pension Fund Custodian (PFC) secured the certificate of compliance issued to companies by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) last year.

Industry observers have expressed worried over the inability of the operators to secure the certificate which was meant to boost their operations for the two years PenCom has issued it to companies that comformed to the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

Our findings showed that the operators claimed that they did not applied for the certification in 2011, but pledged to apply for the 2012 regime, which was released by PenCom last week and non of them made the list.

Efforts made to get the reaction of the operators failed as they failed to respond to the messages sent to them.

Compliance with the Pension Act, at minimum, include ensuring that all employees open Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) with the PFA of their choice; remitting both employer and employee pension contributions to the appropriate PFC not later than seven days from the date of payment of salaries; and transferring all pension funds and assets prior to the commencement of the Pension Act to licensed pension operators, PenCom said.

PenCom said the Compliance Certificates has replaced the erstwhile Letters of Compliance that were issued to organisations bidding or soliciting for contracts with Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).