February 2023
01Feb

How Fintech And Blockchain Are Evolving And Disrupting Financial Institutions

Blockchain technology is disrupting financial institutions in radical new ways. Rather than replacing what already exists, it creates an entirely new market and an avenue to bank the unbanked. Blockchain is creating new financial solutions that scale faster and are cheaper, more secure and more accessible to even ordinary men on the street. It has removed the barriers to enjoying financial services, enforced security, removed middlemen and enhanced transparency. Once touted by investors as worthless and called unprintable names by traditional...

February 1, 2023
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January 2023
18Jan

Ireland. Govt urged to introduce pension auto-enrolment ‘as quickly as possible’

The Pensions Authority is expected to tell the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection today that the Government should introduce pension automatic enrolment as quickly as possible. In October, details of the new auto-enrolment scheme were approved ahead of its expected introduction in 2024. Workers aged between 23 and 60 will be automatically signed up to a pension plan co-funded by their employer and the State but they can opt out if they wish to leave. The plan is for employees who are...

January 18, 2023
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10Jan

UK. The key legal issues for pension schemes in 2023

After what proved to be an eventful year for schemes in 2022, top pension lawyers speak to Jasmine Urquhart about what they think will be some of the key legal and regulatory issues during the year ahead. Pensions dashboards At the top of the list for many lawyers consulted was the forthcoming introduction of pensions dashboards. As well as connecting to dashboards by their staging deadline, schemes must act on ‘find requests' and ‘view requests' relating to individuals, and provide members...

January 10, 2023
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December 2022
13Dec

Ghana. Exempt pension funds from Debt Exchange Programme – TUC insists

The Trade Union Congress (TUC), has reiterated its intention to advice itself if government fails to announce within a week the exemption of pension funds from the Debt Exchange programme. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, December 12, 2022, Dr Yaw Baah, Secretary General, Trade Union Congress, said government should publicly announce that all pension funds, including Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), were exempted from the Debt Exchange Programme. He said the programme will negatively affect pension funds...

December 13, 2022
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12Dec

UK. Three reasons to get excited about pensions dashboards

Pensions dashboards have been a long time in the making, but the Department for Work and Pensions is now driving this project through to fruition. Over recent months there has been significant steps forward. The official timetable has been set and large occupational schemes and all types of personal pensions have to connect by next summer. A year of testing follows that and once more than 90 per cent of schemes are connected, dashboards will be launched onto an unsuspecting public. Well,...

December 12, 2022
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02Dec

UK. FCA bans third-party dashboard consumer charges

The Financial Conduct Authority will prohibit third parties from charging customers for services linked to pension dashboards as part of its regulatory framework for the initiative. According to its new consultation - published on December 1, on the same day that the Pensions Dashboards Programme issued its own consultation into design standards - the FCA recognised that some dashboard providers will look to third-party agreements for areas including licensing or third-party hosting. Any agreement with a third party, however, must allow...

December 2, 2022
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September 2022
23Sep

Ghana. NPRA to collaborate with Goasomanhene to promote ‘one trader one SSNIT number’ campaign

The Sunyani zonal office of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has indicated its readiness to collaborate with Nana Kwasi Bosomprah, Paramount Chief of the Goaso Traditional Area on his 'one trader, one SSNIT number' campaign. The idea of the Paramount Chief is to encourage every trader have a Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) number and contributed to the scheme. The collaboration became a reality when Mr David Tetteh-Amey Abbey, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the NPRA...

September 23, 2022
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August 2022
11Aug

Ghana National ID card will save SSNIT $126 million

Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang has said the GhanaCard will save the state pensions body several millions of dollars in the long term if properly synced to capture the bio-data of Ghanaians working and their survivors. According to him, only 2 million of the estimated 10 million working Ghanaians in both the formal and informal sectors are active SSNIT contributors and have been issued with biometric identity cards, while efforts are being...

August 11, 2022
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June 2022
30Jun

India. PFRDA to go fully digital in operations, invites bids from IT vendors to launch tech project

Pension fund regulator PFRDA has initiated steps to digitise its operations through the 'Technology Architecture (TARCH) Project', inviting bids from IT solutions providers to launch the project. PFRDA's most of the operations are currently manual in nature, and digitisation is partial. PFRDA has decided to digitise and automate its operations through Technology Architecture (TARCH) Project, which is envisioned to be a modular and API (Application Programming Interface) based platform, PFRDA said in a bid document seeking interest from reputed IT...

June 30, 2022
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May 2022
11May

UK. Queen’s Speech measures spark protests

There was no mention of automatic enrolment reform in the Queen’s Speech, but bills around local boycotts, online safety and a revamped audit and reporting framework will all impact the industry, experts have said. Campaigners have promised to take to the streets to protest a bill aimed at tackling local boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns by public bodies including the Local Government Pension Scheme. Meanwhile, pensions minister Guy Opperman has promised that a consultation into a new value for money framework...

May 11, 2022
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