CSA paving way for occupational pension funds

The path towards occupational pension funds has been cleared, with the Insurance Supervision Commission (CSA) on Tuesday having announced the creation of a specialised internal department to monitor and regulate the development of such schemes. These funds are just the first step to reforming the pension system, as they are the first private pension funds in Romania for the last 50 years. Contributions in the first year are estimated to come from some 3 – 400,000 employees, so that the funds managed could come to total several tens of millions of euros in a matter of years. The companies managing such funds must have at least 2 million euros in share capital. The funds will begin to emerge as of January 1, 2005, though management companies may start registering them now, given the newly created department inside the CSA. ZF