December 16th, 2009

Socialists, opposition squabble over new private pension fund law

The recently passed law on private pensions has two main goals: to raise the security of old people’s savings and to supplement regulation of pension allowance payments which was lacking until now, Socialist MP Tibor Kekesi told MTI on Tuesday.

Earlier, leader of opposition Fidesz’s parliamentary group, Tibor Navracsics, insisted that the law passed on Monday was unconstitutional, and the party has asked Laszlo Solyom, the president, to refer it to the Constitutional Court.

Navracsics said that the government wanted to show that the pension sector was a business and privatise it.

The new law amends the law on private pension funds — which forms a part of the overall pension system — so as to regulate the transformation process of funds into companies limited by shares from 2013.

Navracsics said that whereas under the old system it was possible for pension-fund members — whom he termed as “owners” — to take out their savings in a lump sum and pass it on to their heirs, the new system will make them into clients, restricting their right to have a say in their how their assets are managed.

Kekesi said the system had to be corrected because “it is necessary for responsible owners who take part in decision-making to accept the risk of their decisions” by increasing the guarantee of their savings.

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