By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed that it will launch the much-anticipated pension transfer window on Monday, November 16, 2020.
This was disclosed in a statement by the commission, where it informed all stakeholders and the general public, especially Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) that it has concluded arrangements for the take-off of RSA Transfers.
It posited that RSA holders may transfer their accounts from one Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) to another once in a year, in line with Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act 2014.
“The launch date for the RSA Transfer System is scheduled for Monday, November 16, 2020. This will signify the official opening of the RSA Transfer Window,” it said.
PenCom maintained that prior to this launch, it had successfully developed the RSA Transfer Application, a robust electronic platform that would enable seamless RSA transfers.
In addition, it had conducted extensive workshops for licensed Pension Operators and State Pension Bureaus in readiness for this milestone event.
The pension sector regulator said the activation of the RSA transfer process will engender competition and improve service delivery in the pension industry while asserting the right of RSA holders to determine which PFA manages their pension contributions and retirement benefits.
It would be recalled that Business Post reported that PenCom had started the implementation of Transfer Window for contributors of the N10.8 trillion pension fund assets but the take-off was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic which hit earlier this year.
This is in line with Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 which stipulates that, “subject to guidelines issued by the Commission, a holder of a Retirement Savings Account maintained under this Act may not, more than once in a year, transfer his account from one Pension Fund Administrator to another”.
When the window is opened, a contributor will be allowed to transfer the funds in his or her Retirement Savings Account to a Pension Fund Administrator of his or her choice without providing any reason for such transfer.
The objectives of the regulation include allowing for seamless transfer of RSAs from one PFA to another; facilitating the transfer of pension assets within the industry; engendering ethical competition among PFAs; and improving service delivery to RSA holders.
