SECP revamps VPS rules

ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday announced it had revamped the Voluntary Pension System (VPS) Rules, 2005, facilitating greater pension penetration in Pakistan.

Private pension funds established under the VPS Rules are professionally managed savings-cum-investment vehicles that enable salaried and self-employed Pakistanis (including non-resident Pakistanis) to contribute during their working life, to accumulate savings available after retirement.

“The reforms, while maintaining the flexibility of individualised asset allocation, have introduced a number of measures including easier transferability between pension fund managers and funds, added flexibility to fund managers to allocate various expenses within the total permissible expense limit, allowing pledging of pension account against employer loan and removal of SECP’s prior approval for VPS advertisements,” the commission said in its statement. Furthermore, it added that in order to streamline adjustments in requirements over time, matters related to pricing, obligations and performance of pension funds had been shifted from Voluntary Pension System Rules to the Non-Bank Finance Companies Regulations, 2008.