Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Roundtable “Responsible Investment: Sustainable Corporate Governance”
Warsaw, Poland
On Tuesday, November 28, 2006 the European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif), the Warsaw Institute of Banking, the Polish Bank Association, the Polish Institute of Directors and the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program organized a roundtable entitled, “Responsible Investment: Sustainable Corporate Governance.”
The aim of the event was to promote greater practical understanding of the impact on investments of corporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. This includes the relationship between these ESG issues and elements ranging from fiduciary duty to extra-financial analysis.
With the growing institutionalization of financial markets in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, the organizing partners believe that this is the right time to create an opportunity to advance the discussion on the relevance of ESG issues for financial markets and in particular for long-term institutional investors.
There is now increasing consensus that ESG issues affect financial markets, and are particularly relevant for long-term investors. In fact, “Socially Responsible” investors have been developing corresponding expertise for many years now. Various approaches they have taken encompass:
• including ESG issues in financial analysis and stock selection;
• being an “active owner” of stock, meaning establishing a dialogue with investee companies on ESG issues; and
• actively voting shares at AGMs and proposing resolutions when required.
There is also a growing acceptance that it is part of investors’ fiduciary duty to take these issues into account when they could materially affect investment performance.
High-level speakers and expert panelists were invited to the roundtable to present their views and experience in order to raise awareness and spark discussions among participants.
The PFS Program co-financed the participation of representatives of the State Commission for Regulation of Financial Services Markets of Ukraine and the State Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine in the roundtable.
Please visit the Events page of the Eurosif website to learn more about the event and download the agenda as well as roundtable presentations.
Monday, July 18, 2005 - Friday, July 22, 2005
16TH Warsaw Actuarial Summer School
Warsaw, Poland
From July 18-22, 2005 the 16TH Warsaw Actuarial Summer School took place at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. The Summer School is a joint venture of the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw and the Polish Society of Actuaries. This year’s Summer School was the 16th edition of the Summer School, which since 2003 has focused on continuing education of actuaries who have already completed basic academic training in actuarial science. The program included two lectures: statistical methods of data mining; and hedging of life insurance and pension guarantees.
58 participants attended this year’s Summer School, including seven participants from Albania, Latvia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. The PFS Program financed the tuition costs of actuaries from public sector institutions in Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Pilot Project to Develop a Public Awareness/Information Campaign for Pension Reform in Lithuania
Vilnius, Lithuania
In 2004, the PFS Program and the Lithuanian Free Market Institute co-financed a Pilot Project to Develop a Public Awareness/Information Campaign for Pension Reform in Lithuania. This activity is part of an ongoing regional initiative analyzing pension reform throughout CEE countries. The pilot project was completed in September 2004.
To download the project report, please click on the link below:
Friday, June 4, 2004
PFS Program Grant to the Lithuanian Free Market Institute
The PFS Program awarded a PFS Program Grant to the Lithuanian Free Market Institute to conduct a Pilot Project to Develop a Public Awareness/Information Campaign for Pension Reform in Lithuania.
This activity is part of an ongoing regional initiative analyzing pension reform throughout CEE countries.
The pilot project will be completed in autumn 2004 and a project report will be published on the PFS Program website.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Research Report: “Investment Strategies of Pension Funds in CEE Countries”
Budapest, Hungary
On Tuesday, December 30, 2003 FI-AD Financial Advisory Ltd. (Budapest, Hungary) published the final version of its research report, “Investment Strategies of Pension Funds in CEE Countries” on its website and on the PSF Program website. This research, co-financed by a PFS Program Grant, represented a significant contribution of valuable comparative data to the PFS Program/INPRS comprehensive pension reform initiative involving all eight CEE countries that will join the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004.
The report’s authors presented excerpts from the research at the 5th CEE INPRS Regional INPRS Seminar on Private Pensions: Security of Future Benefits, held in Prague, Czech Republic on December 4-5, 2003.
To download the research report, please click on the link below:
Thursday, December 4, 2003 - Friday, December 5, 2003
5th CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Private Pensions
Prague, Czech Republic
The 5th CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Private Pensions: Security of Future Benefits was held in Prague on Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5, 2003.
The objective of the seminar was to provide a forum to share information on a range of current topics in pension regulation, supervision and policy in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in selected OECD and EU countries.
Specifically, the seminar provided a forum to: (1) Continue discussion on the payout and distribution of pension benefits, including issues regarding the annuitization of accumulated pension savings; (2) Initiate discussion on the issue of investor/fund member financial literacy and education, focusing on current educational programs, their successes and their failures in the CEE region and in select OECD countries; and (3) Present the results of the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program research project on private pension fund investment in the CEE countries.
CEE Regional INPRS Member Regulators and Supervisors were asked to complete a questionnaire related to one of the topics of the seminar and provide it to the organizers before the event. Seminar participants included: Pension regulators and supervisors from several CEE and Southeastern European (SEE) countries, international organizations with an interest in private pensions, federations and associations of asset managers and pension funds, other private pension service providers, as well as research organisations.
The organizers of the seminar were the PFS Program of the East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI), the International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The host of the seminar was the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic.
To download the seminar presentations, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - Wednesday, May 28, 2003
4th CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Private Pensions
Zagreb, Croatia
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS), and the Partners for Financial Stability Program of the East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI PFS) held the Fourth CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Private Pensions in Zagreb, Croatia, with the kind hospitality of the Agency of Supervision of Pension Funds and Insurance of Croatia (Hagena), on May 27 – 28 2003. More than 90 participants from 24 countries attended the event.
To download the seminar agenda, list of participants or room documents, please click on the links below.
Monday, January 20, 2003
Publication of Research Report entitled, “Past Redistribution and Future Imbalances: Generational Accounts in the Hungarian Pension System”
Budapest, Hungary
In this paper Mr. Robert Gal and co-authors from TARKI, a Hungarian research institute, present a quantitative analysis of past redistribution between first-comer and late-comer generations and future imbalances in the Hungarian pension system. The results of the research identify specific measures of generational imbalance (both with and without the 1998 pension reform in Hungary) and different measures of redistribution among generations.
The research study also included the collection of data about the Hungarian pension system, as far back as the beginning of the state pension system in the 1950s.
The method of calculation employed is known as generational accounting, developed by Alan Auerbach and Laurence Kotlikoff of Harvard University. Generational accounting is a particularly well-suited tool to demonstrate the effect of changes in redistributive budgetary systems, such as the above-mentioned Hungarian pension reform. In order to quantify the impact of the reform on the long-term future sustainability of the system, TARKI analyzed pension data from 2000 using generational accounting. The results show that pension reform considerably reduced the severe imbalance that existed in the system prior to the reform; as a consequence of the reform, approximately three-quarters of the net losses awaiting future generations were wiped out.
The original method of generational accounting does not take into account redistribution among generations in the past. However, if the process is completed with retrospective calculations, i.e. former contributions and benefits are taken into account, redistribution among generations can be measured directly. This application of the method might be used to observe ‘loser’ and ‘winner’ cohorts. The results coincide with international experience and show significant redistribution in favor of the first generations that enter the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) system. However, the authors demonstrate that the majority of today’s living population, including a sizeable portion of pensioners, are losers in the PAYG pension system.
To download the research report, please click on the link below.
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
Roundtable Discussion to Present the Report, "Establishment of Pension Funds in the Baltic Republics"
Vilnius, Lithuania
The Lithuanian Banking, Insurance and Finance Institute organized a roundtable discussion in Vilnius, Lithuania on December 17, 2002 to present the report “The Establishment of Pension Funds in the Baltic Republics.” Two experts from Estonia, one from Hungary, three from Latvia, 24 from Lithuania and one from Poland attended the event. A grant from the PFS Program co-financed the report.
To download the roundtable agenda, presentations and report, please click on the links below:
Thursday, December 12, 2002
Seminar: The Role of Financial Markets in Pension Reform
Bratislava, Slovak Republic
In cooperation with the Bratislava Stock Exchange and the Slovak Association of Securities Dealers, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program organized a capital markets seminar entitled, "The Role of Financial Markets in Pension Reform" in Bratislava on December 12, 2002. 140 participants from Slovak financial sector institutions, one Czech pensions expert and one Hungarian pensions expert attended the event. The PFS Program brought together experts in a panel that presented the role of financial markets in pension reform in Belgium, Croatia, the European Union, Hungary and Ireland.
To download the agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
 | Agenda - Conference - December 12, 2002.doc - 37 KB |
| Presentation - Social Insurance Agency - December 12, 2002.ppt - 286 KB |
| Presentation - Ludovit Kanik - Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family - December 12, 2002.ppt - 97 KB |
| Presentation - Ivan Svejna - Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family - December 12, 2002.ppt - 68 KB |
| Presentation - Across Investment Services - December 12, 2002.ppt - 223 KB |
| Presentation - DG ECFIN European Commission - December 12, 2002.ppt - 52 KB |
| Presentation - The Pensions Board of Ireland - December 12, 2002.ppt - 139 KB |
| Presentation - East West Management Institute - PFS Program - INPRS - December 12, 2002.ppt - 183 KB |
| Presentation - Agency for Supervision of Pension Funds and Insurance of Croatia - December 12, 2002.ppt - 207 KB |
| Presentation - Pragma Consulting - Belgium - December 12, 2002.ppt - 114 KB |
| Presentation - Slovak Rating Agency - December 12, 2002.ppt - 62 KB |
Thursday, November 7, 2002 - Friday, November 8, 2002
Third CEE Regional INPRS Private Pension Seminar on Pension Fund Governance
Ljubljana, Slovenia
On November 7-8, 2002 the International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the PFS Program of the East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI) organized an International Seminar on Pension Fund Governance. The seminar was hosted by the Securities Market Agency and The Insurance Supervision Agency of the Republic of Slovenia.
The objective of the seminar was to raise the visibility and awareness of the key role of pension fund governance in the successful development of private pension systems. More than 100 participants from 16 countries attended the seminar.
To download the agenda, presentations and list of participants, please click on the links below. You can also obtain information on the event by visiting the INPRS Central and Eastern European Regional Network, events section.
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
Trend towards Consolidated Financial Supervisory Authorities (FSAs)
On April 1, 2000, Hungary merged four separate regulatory authorities into one institution - the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority - and thereby became the first CEE country to establish a consolidated financial supervisory authority. At that time, Dr. Laszlo Gyorgy Asztalos, President of the Hungarian State Supervisory Authority of Insurance between 1992-2000, drafted a paper entitled, "Independence of Financial Supervisory Authorities" for the publication series of Central European Banker Online.
(To download the report, please click on this hyperlink:
http://www.mkb.hu/english/download/ceb/2000/aszteng.pdf)
Ironically, although the Hungarian consolidated model was based on the British example, the UK Financial Services Authority began operations later than its Hungarian brainchild, namely on December 1, 2001. (The actual consolidation process in the UK took place between May 1997 and December 2001.) With over 10,000 companies, the UK has the largest financial market in Europe and the FSA some 2,000 employees to regulate it.
Denmark was the first EU country to embark on consolidated supervision: In 1988, Denmark established the Financial Supervisory Authority, merging several regulatory agencies supervising specific sectors such as banking and insurance. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority was established in 1991 and the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority in 1993. As noted above, by 2000 the trend spread to CEE, with the establishment on April 1, 2000 of the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority.
While a number of European countries still have separate supervisory authorities for banking, capital markets, insurance and pension reform, the current trend among EU member states and candidate countries is towards consolidated supervision.
Consolidation of supervision mirrors the growth over the past decade of larger, horizontally-integrated financial institutions providing a wide range of services, including asset management, credit (business, consumer, institutional, mortgage and other), insurance and investment services. As the distinctions among financial institutions became blurred, a change in the regulatory regime became necessary. Proponents of consolidated supervision maintain that a consolidated authority can better supervise the many business segments of complex financial institutions. Furthermore, a consolidated authority also addresses issues such as acquisitions, mergers and takeovers; financial fraud; insider trading; and money laundering.
Please click on the hyperlink below to download the table which presents the situation in 15 countries as of September 1, 2002.
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
International Seminar on Slovak Pension System Reform
Bratislava, Slovak Republic
The U.S.-EU-Slovakia Action Commission organized an international seminar on pension reform in Slovakia on June 12, 2002. The U.S.-EU-Slovakia Action Commission is a cooperative effort of Slovak business and government leaders with the purpose of developing practical recommendations with a near-term impact on Slovakia’s economic development, security and foreign policy, and thus contributing to Slovakia’s integration in the EU and NATO. This comprehensive seminar built upon the discussions and agreements of the previous two meetings held in Bratislava in March and April 2002, which focused on the World Bank experience with pension reform in Central and Eastern Europe and on the private sector review of the draft Capitalization Pillar 2 for pension insurance in Slovakia.
The international seminar on June 12 was chaired by Mr. Vladimir Kesjar, Deputy General Manager of AMSLICO. Its purpose was to assist the Slovak government in developing and implementing a reformed pension system by reviewing the best practices for pension reform available worldwide based on the experience of the private sector, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations.
The seminar was attended by more than 30 representatives of Slovak and foreign governments, private sector leaders and experts, and specialists representing the third sector.
Foreign speakers included:
-Ms. Michele Breton, Director of DCP Advisory Services, who presented the Quebec pension system;
-Ms. Polly Kossoras, CEE Assistant Vice President – Pensions of AIG, who spoke on the experience of Greece and Poland with pension reform;
-Mr. Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program, who addressed progress in Central and Eastern European countries with pension reform.
Principal Slovak speakers included:
-Mr. Michal Szabo, General Director of the Social Affairs Section at the Slovak Ministry of Labor, who spoke on the progress of the Slovak government with pension reform;
-Mr. Dusan Lukasik, Chairman of the Board of Honors, who presented selected elements of pension systems abroad and their applicability within the Slovak system;
-Mr. Michal Horvath, former General Director of Financial Markets Section of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic and manager of HHH Consulting, who discussed one of the proposed pension systems for Slovakia;
-Mr. Ivan Svejna, Director of the F.A. Hayek Foundation, who spoke on barriers for speedy development and introduction of a reformed pension system in Slovakia.
This seminar identified significant lessons learned by foreign governments and global businesses operating in Europe. These lessons, despite the differences in pension reforms in other countries, are valuable to Slovak government in choosing among the wide array of proven options and practices in forming the new pension system for Slovakia. The seminar provided costs and benefits of each of the discussed systems in sufficient detail to permit easy evaluation of this information and its possible usefulness to Slovakia, and other countries in the CEE region.
To download the agenda, list of participants, and presentations, please click on the links below.
| Agenda - International Seminar on Pension Reform in Slovakia - June 12, 2002.doc - 26 KB |
| List of Attendees.doc - 34 KB |
| Presentation - AIG - Pension Reform Experience - June 12, 2002.ppt - 1,476 KB |
| Presentation - AIG - Polish Pension Reform Experience - June 12, 2002.ppt - 70 KB |
| Presentation - Ministry of Labor, Social Policy and Family - June 12, 2002.doc - 242 KB |
| Presentation - CDP - June 12, 2002.ppt - 1,109 KB |
| Presentation - Geoffrey Mazullo, Director PFS Program - June 12, 2002.ppt - 399 KB |
Thursday, April 11, 2002 - Friday, April 12, 2002
The CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Investment of Private Pension Funds
Budapest, Hungary
On April 11-12, 2002 the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program of the East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI), the International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS), and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held the Second CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Investment of Private Pension Funds in Budapest, Hungary. The host of the Seminar was the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority (HFSA).
Objective of the Seminar was to provide forum for information exchange on private pension fund investment. The key distinction of funded and pay-as-you-go pension systems is the way of financing. The assets of complimentary private pension funds should be invested so that to achieve the objectives, which distinguish this arrangement: namely the different risks and solidarity involved, as well as effectiveness and redistribution strategies. In the 1990s investment and risk management techniques have improved significantly. The recent, and recurring stock market crises have affected pension assets, as well investment strategies, therefore the time of decay became shorter. The reformed pension systems of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE) are even more exposed to the consequences, as all of them in the implementation and accumulation phase of defined contribution funded systems.
More than 70 participants, such as regional pension regulators and supervisors, international organizations of interest in private pensions, federations and associations of asset managers and pension funds attended the Seminar from 20 countries.
To download the agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, February 6, 2002 - Friday, February 8, 2002
Regional Meeting of the International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS) for Central and Eastern European Countries
Tallinn, Estonia
The PFS Pension Reform program supported and organized the Regional Meeting of the International Network of Pensions Regulators and Supervisors for the Central and Eastern European Countries. The meeting was held back to back with the OECD Workshop on insurance and private pensions in Baltic States on February 6th - 8th in Tallinn, Estonia. Over 80 people attended the events.
Topics related to pension reform were discussed on both events. The first session of the Workshop on insurance and private pensions in Baltic States was devoted to three major insurance policy issues: e-insurance, policyholder protection funds and insurance of emerging systemic risks. The second session focused on common insurance and private pension issues, i.e. portfolio management and annuities. The Regional INPRS meeting was chaired by Mr. Parniczky, and mainly discussed options for legal form, governance and supervision of pension schemes, as well as fee structure, disclosure and education.
The documents of the Meeting can be downloaded from OECD Workshop on Insurance and Private Pensions and INPRS Regional Meeting Tallinn, Estonia.
Thursday, November 8, 2001 - Friday, November 9, 2001
Seminar on Pension Fund Inspection
Warsaw, Poland
On November 8-9, 2001 the PFS Program, in cooperation with the
International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors
(INPRS) of the
Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), held its first Private Pension Seminar in Warsaw, Poland. The host of the event was theSuperintendency of Pension Funds of Poland (UNFE). Pensions supervisors from OECD countries and other countries implementing pension reform spoke at the seminar, as did experts in financial supervision, social security contribution and tax collection. Seminar participation was limited to pension regulators and supervisors from Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries, in order to promote interactive discussions during the presentations. 50 participants from 17 countries attended the seminar.
The objective of the seminar was to inform staff members of regulatory/supervisory agencies about operational/technical procedures of private pension funds, investigation techniques, methodologies for fund inspection and best practices in fund supervision.
To download the agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
Monday, April 23, 2001 - Friday, April 27, 2001
International Private Pensions Conference
Sofia, Bulgaria
The annual Private Pensions Conference of the International Network of Pensions Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS) was held April 23-27, 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Conference included regional and international sessions, as well as a technical committee meeting and an academic day. The speakers, from all corners of the globe, represented the INPRS, government officials, members of the OECD Secretariat, academics and representatives of think tanks and international donor organizations. The sessions covered country reports; practical and theoretical topics of private pension funds operations, regulation and supervision; and the Committee meeting of the INPRS. Over 100 registered participants from 30 countries (representing five continents and five international organizations) attended the conference. The conference received widespread press coverage, including television and radio reports as well as in-depth interviews of various pension experts and other conference participants.
The PFS Program organized the conference in conjunction with the following organizations (in alphabetical order):
For more information on the conference and to download the agenda and presentations, please click on the link below.
Pension Regulators Network
Ageing populations are a global phenomenon. Ageing and its inevitable effect on the future liabilities of the State are the same in every country. The level of pension development, however, differs significantly from country to country. As might be expected, the transformation of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE) and South Eastern European Countries (SEE) from command market economies to open market economies has placed social insurance reform at the top of the list of priorities for these governments attempting to meet the needs of their ageing citizens while laying the foundation for healthy economies.
Pension reform in the CEE/SEE region possesses special characteristics. For example, urbanization and poor health services that existed before the political changes will dramatically affect the life expectancies of citizens in the region. Improved health services and access to them has created a spike in the increase in life expectancy. Furthermore, the political changes and ensuing economic crises revealed and deepened the inherent inconsistencies of the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system. Meanwhile, these economic changes also provided a unique opportunity to launch pension reform in the region. A series of radical pension reforms - beginning with the introduction of mandatory funded pension funds first in Hungary and then in Poland and other countries - have been initiated in the region. Citizens expect higher pensions from the new financial institutions yet also expect the same level of social protection they received under the former state system. The new pension systems must therefore evolve to meet the challenges of the funding vehicle, investment of pension savings assets and supervision issues.
In order to accelerate reform, efficient cooperation between the CEE and SEE countries is essential. To facilitate such cooperation, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program has entered into an agreement with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD ) (www.oecg.org). In January 2001, the International Network of Pensions Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS) opened its Regional Office for the Eastern European Region in Budapest, Hungary. This Eastern European Regional Network co-funded by OECD and PFS will facilitate linkages and experience sharing within the framework of the INPRS to assist in improving the design and operation of pension systems in the region, as well as for the implementation of current reforms. Mr. Tibor Parniczky is the Coordinator of the Eastern European Regional Network. The Regional Coordinator is responsible for the development of co-operation among major policy makers, market actors and researchers in the pension area for the region.
The Eastern European Regional Network will assist this reform process by creating linkages and facilitating discussion among pension regulators and fund managers in the pre-accession countries. The Eastern European Regional Network will also identify gaps in the current structure and help to formulate suggestions for remedial action. However, as enlargement of the European Union (EU) approaches, the bottom line for the pre-accession countries will be the same as for the existing EU Member States. The sustainability of pension systems will determine to a significant extent the EU's ability to achieve a high level of social protection, which is one of the fundamental articles defined in Article 2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
The PFS program through the Eastern European Regional Network will be implementing a coordinated series of action in the region to assist the pension reform, as follows:
- Technical assistance via an annual regional conference, as well as regional training seminars, workshops, practical study tours and working groups; and a
- Comprehensive pension data base, research and policy analysis, including
- A taxonomy of pension systems world-wide;
- Detailed country information on regulation and supervision of pension systems; and
- Comparative analytical reports on key policy issues (e.g. investment regulation, pension funds, and governance issues.)
Through its Eastern European Regional Network and partnership with OECD, the PFS program will support these and other general objectives:
- Promotion of the successful implementation of pension reforms
- Establishment of strong supervision institutions
- Development of effective collection systems
- Strengthening institutions for safeguarding pension fund members interest
- Promotion of the service provider professionals and financial institutions as an institutional background for effective pension funds.
As governments in the CEE/SEE region analyze their changing economic realities, they recognize the bleak outlook of the PAYG system and are challenged to meet the future needs of their citizens. Reform aimed at developing practical solutions to the problems requires assistance to the governments working in the area. The PFS program seeks to provide such regional technical assistance as pension reform accelerates.
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