OECD invites public comment on draft guidelines on the funding and benefit security of pensions

10/07/2006 - The OECD is inviting public comment on draft guidelines to help governments and regulators improve the way certain types of pension funds are run in order to make workers’ pensions more secure. They build on analysis from a series of policy papers that are being released with the guidelines and are part of a broader OECD effort to restore public confidence in pensions.

The draft guidelines contain a series of recommendations on how the funding of occupational pension plans, and in particular defined benefit pension schemes, should be regulated. Such schemes are common in Canada, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States, though many are now closed to new employees.

Issues covered by the guidelines include the funding and valuation of pension plans and how the money paid by employees into their company pension scheme should be protected if their employer or the company that finances their pension plan goes bankrupt.

The deadline for comments is 15 September 2006.

See the draft guidelines. The policy papers (Benefit Security and Pension Fund Guarantee Schemes; Funding Rules and Actuarial Methods; Benefit Protection: Priority Creditor Rights for Pension Funds) are available at the end of the above webpage.

For further information, journalists should contact André Laboul, OECD Financial Affairs Division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 91 27) or Juan Yermo, OECD Financial Affairs Division, (tel. + 33 1 45 24 96 62).