July 2019

17Jul

Africa. Treasury bars early access to pension money

You will no longer be able to access pension contributions from your employer until retirement. In another flip-flop of the pension regulations, the National Treasury has reversed regulations that had allowed employees to withdraw up to half of pension contributions by their employers before they attained retirement age. LONG-TERM The policy, which was popular for employees in the private sector, had caused a major discomfort in the pension industry which had come to be accustomed to staying with retirement...

July 17, 2019
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16Jul

India. Congress submits adjournment motion notice in LS over ‘pension of disabled Army personnel’

An adjournment motion is an extraordinary procedure which, if admitted, leads to setting aside the normal business of the House for discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance. The disability pension till now was not taxed by the government but recently, the government decided to tax it leading to opposition from the veterans community. On July 2, the Army headquarters clarified that though it is concerned for all personnel who are invalidated out of service in combat conditions...

July 16, 2019
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16Jul

US. Gov. Bevin: Special session on pensions to start Friday

A long-anticipated special legislative session will convene later this week in an effort to deliver relief for regional universities and quasi-governmental agencies strapped by surging pension costs, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin announced Monday. Lawmakers will meet starting at 8 a.m. Friday at the state Capitol in Frankfort, the Republican governor's office said. An official proclamation listing the special session's agenda will be issued later this week, Bevin's office said in a news release. It takes at least five working...

July 16, 2019
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16Jul

US. Senate split over retirement savings bill

The House of Representatives passed the Secure Act, a bill that would create more opportunities for Americans to save for retirement, with overwhelming bipartisan consent in May. But the bill is stalled in the Senate. The legislation could die in the upper chamber if it is not passed by a floor vote, unanimous consent, as an updated Senate bill or attached to another bill that must pass (typically these are spending bills). In other words, the bill is not...

July 16, 2019
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16Jul

South African State Pension Fund to Invest More Offshore

South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund is planning to invest more of its 2 trillion rand ($144 billion) under management outside the country and in unlisted assets to reduce risk of overexposure to locally traded companies. The strategy was outlined by GEPF Principal Executive Officer Abel Sithole to a commission of inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing and poor governance at the Public Investment Corp., the fund’s biggest manager. The GEPF has more than 93% of its assets invested in...

July 16, 2019
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15Jul

Egypt. Draft bill to end debt conflict between Treasury, Social Insurance

The draft new social insurance and pensions bill prepared by the government and approved in principle by the House of Representatives last week includes mechanisms and measures that would resolve the existing and future debt crises between the Treasury Authority and the National Social Insurance Authority. The key features pertinent to conflict resolution are: The Treasury Authority pays to the National Social Insurance Authority a sum that increases annually by 5.7 percent for 50 years and that...

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

Kenya: We Are Not Paying Ghosts, Pensions Chief Tells Auditor

The Pensions Department has accused Auditor-General Edward Ouko of misrepresenting facts by saying Sh67.9 billion was paid to ghost retirees. Mr Ouko, in a report tabled at the National Assembly two weeks ago, said individuals at the National Treasury may have taken advantage of the weaknesses in the Pensions Management Information System (PMIS) to authorise irregular payments. Of the money paid out, some 962 claimants received Sh1.6 billion -- which was made way before the end of their service...

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

Morocco’s Head of Government Fails to Cancel Ministers’ Pensions

The Head of Government, Saad Eddine El Othmani, declared on July 9, that in order to save pension plans, wage cuts and the retirement age would have to be increased, starting this year. Speaking in the House of Councils, he admitted to being unable to cancel ministers and parliamentarians’ pensions. His statement came in response to the countrywide campaign for pensions’ abolition. The civil pension plan El Othmani’s new initiative comes after the publication of the 2017...

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

Australia. Pensioners gain $1000 boost as deeming rates cut

Pensioners will be up to $1000 a year better off from September when the Morrison government changes the income test for pensioners. The government will cut deeming rates, used to estimate how much some pensioners earn on their financial investments, for more than 630,000 pensioners and nearly 350,000 people receiving other income-tested Read more @AFR

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

US. Congress Moves to Put Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation On Taxpayer Dole

The Ways and Means Committee of the House just approved a bill for a big taxpayer bailout of private multi-employer/union-sponsored pension plans. Many of these plans are hopelessly insolvent. In other words, they have committed to pay employee pensions far greater than they have any hope of actually paying. In the aggregate, the assets of multi-employer plans are hundreds of billions of dollars less than what they have solemnly promised to pay. There is an inescapable deficit...

July 15, 2019
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