PenCom tasks PFAs on contributors RSA funding

As part of efforts to minimise the number of unfunded Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) under the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS), the National Pension Commission (Pencom) has directed the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to guarantee that all remitted contributions are credited into the RSAs accounts of beneficiaries/workers.
PenCom made this known in its quarterly report, ‘Update on the on-site analysis of pension fund operators’.
According to the report, “the review of the operators’ activities during the third quarter of 2020 indicated substantial compliance with the extant laws and regulations issued by the commission. The key area of regulatory concerns was the rise in unfunded RSAs.
“The PFAs were directed to ensure all remitted contributions are credited into the RSAs of the beneficiaries and also liaise with the respective employers to ensure up-to-date funding of the contributors’ RSAs.”
PenCom further noted that it suspended the 2020 on-site examination of pension fund operators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it added the enhanced off-site surveillance of pension operators continued through review of the monthly reports submitted by the operators.
It added that a review of the compliance reports forwarded by the pension operators during the quarter under review disclosed a significant rise in the number of RSAs with un-credited pension contributions.
The PFAs on its part, attributed the backlog of un-reconciled contributions to their skeletal workforce for processing the contributions, in compliance with the COVID-19 induced stay-at-home order.
Notwithstanding, the PFAs were ordered to ensure all pension contributions received during the lockdown were duly reconciled and credited to the respective RSAs of the contributors.