Stand-alone fund administration
This quarterly news update contains valuable information for board of trustees, employers, intermediaries and other stakeholders in the stand-alone retirement fund space.
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Administration updates
Legal Focus
Withholding a member’s retirement fund benefit or making a deduction from such a benefit should be referred to the Board for careful consideration and a decision.
An alternative to in-fund preservation
When an employee leaves their place of employment (but does not retire), it is important to give them every opportunity to preserve their retirement savings.
SEB’s Innovative Response to the Default Regulations Legislation
The Default regulations, promulgated in 2018 for implementation in March 2019, had a number of major impacts on SEB.
Individual Member Support
The aim of Retirement Benefits Counselling is to improve the outcomes for members by giving them access to the options they have available when withdrawing or retiring from a fund.
News and information
Two-pot system
The 2022 Draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill (“the Bill”), which introduces the so-called two pot system, was published for public comment on 29 July 2022. (More details on the two-pot system are contained in Sanlam Corporate Legal’s August 2022 Legal Report.) The commentary period has expired, and National Treasury has submitted their draft responses to comments received.
Second Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa
The Second Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa, 2022 (“CRISA 2”) has been issued by the CRISA Committee, and is endorsed by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA), the Batseta Council of Retirement Funds for South Africa, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and the Institute of Directors South Africa (IoDSA).
Duty of the board of trustees to keep proper records
In terms of section 7D(1)(a) of the Pension Funds Act (“the Act”) one of the duties of the board of trustees of a retirement fund is “to ensure that proper registers, books and records of the operations of the fund are kept”.
Spouse’s pension upon the death of a member in a permanent life partnership
The Constitutional Court in 2004, in the matter of Volks NO v Robinson and Others, held that a permanent life partnership is not a marriage for purposes of the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act, and that it is, for purposes of this Act, justified to differentiate between married couples and permanent life partners.
