News

On the 6th of October, the Pensions Authority published a synopsis of the main points made in submissions it received in response to its consultation paper on draft codes of governance for defined contribution schemes.

The Actuarial Association of Europe (AAE) has appointed Philip Shier as its new Chairperson.

Philip Shier is a member of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and a Past President of the Society.  The Society congratulates Philip on his appointment.

AAE Press Release is here.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authorities (EIOPA) has launched the Call for Expression of Interest regarding the setting up of EIOPA Stakeholder Groups, the Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group (IRSG) and the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group (OPSG), following the expiration of their mandates early next year.

In 2013, the Pensions Authority commenced the DC consultation process that set out the Authority’s views on the future of DC provision and sought responses to specific questions including minimum standards for trustee knowledge, understanding and behaviour.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a Good Practices Report on transferability of supplementary pension rights. With this Report, EIOPA identifies the main impediments to cross-border and national transfers as well as a number of good practices to overcome these. This would create more transparency in the interest of consumers and facilitate the internal market for supplementary pension rights.

EIOPA outlines three key areas which – if addressed – could significantly facilitate the transferability of supplementary pension rights:

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a Note entitled “Need for high quality public disclosure: Solvency II’s report on solvency and financial condition and the potential role of external audit”. The purpose of this Note is to stress the importance of high quality public information and the relevant use of external audit services in relation to Solvency II public disclosures.

The Demography Committee has prepared a report and recommendations following a review of the mortality assumptions used in converting a retirement fund into an annuity as prescribed in the following Actuarial Standards of Practice:

EIOPA has published the second set of draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) and Guidelines for Solvency II. The set covers different areas from all three Solvency II pillars (quantitative basis; qualitative requirements; reporting and disclosure).  The ITS and Guidelines were finalised following the public consultation earlier this year, during which EIOPA received over 4500 comments.

With this publication EIOPA takes a further step towards ensuring the timely implementation of Solvency II.

The Mortality Working Group (MWG) exists to study mortality and monitor studies completed by other organizations worldwide, to make this information available to actuaries and others worldwide, and to contribute to and organize other opportunities for communication where appropriate.

The DC consultation process conducted by the Pensions Authority in late 2013 set out the Authority’s views on the future of DC provision and sought responses to specific questions raised. In relation to pension scheme governance the Authority indicated that it would publish a code of governance that would provide trustees with a central reference point for the key areas of a DC scheme.

On 22nd May 2015, the Pensions Authority published financial management guidelines for defined benefit schemes.
The guidelines set out what the Authority sees as good practice for trustees to follow in order to understand and manage the funding and investment of their defined benefit scheme
The provisions are divided into four parts:

1. Data about the scheme that the trustees should have available to them
2. Governance practices relevant to financial management
3. Processes that the trustees should follow
4. Analysis that the trustees should undertake

In April 2015, the Universal Retirement Savings Group (URSG) initiated consultation with stakeholders on developing a roadmap and timeline for the introduction of a new, universal, supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme.

The Society welcomes the opportunity to submit a response to the URSG consultation on the potential parameters of a universal retirement savings system.