RULEBOOK ON THE MANNER OF PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS IN A VOLUNTARY PENSION FUND Skopje, July 2008
According to Article 100 of the Law on Voluntary Fully Funded Pension Insurance (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 7/2008), the Management Board of the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance, on its meeting held on 17 July 2008, adopted RULEBOOK ON THE MANNER OF PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS IN A VOLUNTARY PENSION FUND I. General Provisions Article 1 This Rulebook regulates the manner of payment of contributions in voluntary pension funds (hereinafter referred to as: "voluntary contribution"). Article 2 Payment of voluntary contribution can only be carried out for a person who fulfils the conditions for membership in a voluntary pension fund in accordance with the Law on Voluntary Fully Funded Pension Insurance. Article 3 (1) Voluntary contribution is paid to a separate money account of the voluntary pension fund, which is administered by the custodian. (2) The voluntary contribution shall be allocated to a voluntary individual account or at the occupational account of the member, depending on the manner of membership and after fulfilling the membership conditions. Article 4 The voluntary contribution is paid on the following bases: - a signed membership agreement between the pension company and the member. - a signed membership agreement between the pension company, the member and the physical person who pays the voluntary contribution for the member (hereinafter referred to as: payer ). - a signed agreement between the company and the sponsor based on a contract for organizing and financing of the occupational pension scheme concluded between the employer and a citizen association (hereinafter referred to as: sponsor ) and a representative of its employees or members. Article 5 The member, the payer and the sponsor have the right to freely determine the paid amount of the voluntary contribution and the dynamics of payment, wherein the change of the amount or the interruption of payments shall not affect the right to a membership in the pension fund, i.e. they do not mean termination of the membership. 2
Article 6 The company is obliged to maintain full, accurate and up-to-date records on the paid voluntary contributions of every member of the voluntary pension fund it manages, and to undertake adequate measures and activities for implementation of internal control of the records on the paid contributions and the protection of personal data. II. Payment of the voluntary contribution by a member or another physical person on voluntary individual account Article 7 (1) A person who has signed a membership agreement or the payer shall have the right to pay the first voluntary contribution after five days from the day of the signing of the membership agreement. (2) The pension company, through the sales agent who signs the membership agreement, shall notify the person who has signed the agreement or the payer on the manner and the deadline for payment of the first voluntary contribution. (3) If the person who has signed the agreement or the payer pays the first contribution before the expiry of the deadline set forth in paragraph (1) of this Article, the pension company shall return the paid assets to the transaction account of the person who has signed the agreement or to the payer on the following working day after the day of payment of the assets. (4) By exception from paragraph (3) of this Article, if the pension company has recorded a membership agreement with the person that the payment refers to on the day the assets are received, the pension company shall not return the paid assets. Article 8 (1) The payment of the voluntary contribution on behalf and for the account of a member who has a voluntary individual account can be carried out by the member and/or the payer. (2) The payment shall be made through the transaction account of the member and/or the payer. Article 9 (1) If a voluntary contribution is paid for a person who has not signed a membership agreement, the pension company shall be obliged to return the paid assets to the transaction account of the person who has made the payment on the next working day after the day of payment of the assets. (2) The assets set forth in paragraph (1) of this Article are fully refundable in their nominal amount. Article 10 (1) If the Agency obliges the pension company to terminate a membership agreement in accordance with Article 16 paragraph (4) of the Rulebook on Membership in a Voluntary Pension Fund, the pension company shall return the 3
accumulated assets from the voluntary individual account of the person whose agreement is terminated to the transaction account of the person who has made the payment. (2) The assets on the voluntary individual account shall be returned on the next date of transfer of assets, in accordance with the value of the accounting unit on the date preceding the date of transfer, wherein the fee on the paid assets shall be returned in its nominal amount. Article 11 (1) Pursuant to Article 95 paragraph (7) of the Law on Voluntary Fully Funded Pension Insurance, the pension company is not allowed to accept the payment of a voluntary contribution for a person who has reached the age of 70 or who is a beneficiary of an old-age, survivors or disability pension benefit. (2) If a payment of voluntary contribution is made for a person who has reached the age of 70 or a person who is a beneficiary of an old-age, survivors or disability pension benefit on the voluntary pension fund s account, the pension company that manages that pension fund shall return those assets to the transaction account of the person or the sponsor who has made the payment. (3) The pension company shall return the paid assets defined in paragraph (2) of this Article on the next date of transfer of assets, according to the value of the accounting unit on the date preceding the date of transfer, wherein the fee on the paid assets shall be returned in its nominal amount. III. Payment of voluntary contribution by a sponsor on an occupational account Article 12 (1) The payment of a voluntary contribution on behalf and for the account of a member who has an occupational account can be carried out only by the sponsor who organizes and finances the occupational pension scheme in which the member is included, upon the conclusion of an agreement between the pension company and the sponsor and a contract for organizing and financing of an occupational pension scheme concluded by the sponsor and a representative of its employees or members. (2) The payment shall be made through the transaction account of the sponsor. (3) The pension company shall not invest the paid contributions until it settles the individual payments for members of the occupational pension scheme with the total amount of assets paid by the sponsor. (4) If the sponsor pays a voluntary contribution for a person who is not included in the occupational pension scheme, the pension company shall be obliged to return the paid assets in their nominal amount on the transaction account of the sponsor on the working day following the day of payment of the assets. 4
Article 13 (1) The amounts of the voluntary contributions shall be established by the sponsor for all participants in the occupational pension scheme which is organized and financed thereby. (2) The amounts of the voluntary contributions shall be established by the sponsor as a percentage of the salary of the member who participates in the occupational pension scheme. Article 14 (1) Payment of voluntary contribution for one person can only be carried out through one occupational pension scheme. (2) If one person participates in two or more occupational pension schemes, the pension company that manages the voluntary pension fund where one or more occupational pension schemes are included shall notify the person that the payments can be carried out through one occupational pension scheme only and that the person is to give a statement in terms of the choice of occupational pension scheme in which he/she will participate. (3) If two or more sponsors pay voluntary contributions for a person prior to his/her choosing of the occupational pension scheme through which the voluntary contribution shall be paid, after the selection of a scheme, the pension company shall return the paid contributions to the sponsor whose occupational pension scheme has not been chosen by the person. IV. Final provisions Article 15 This Rulebook shall come into force the following day after its publishing in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia. No. 01-1143/4 17 July 2008 Skopje President of the Management Board, Aneta Dimovska 5