The rights of beneficiaries under private retirement schemes

Abstract

This thesis aims at giving a detailed analysis of the main rights of beneficiaries arising from occupational pension arrangements as they derive from Maltese law and, where applicable, from European law. The first Chapter tackles issues involving gender parity of treatment, focusing mainly on the ECJ' s wide interpretation of the concept of 'pay' to include occupational pension benefits in all their forms. Still on a Community-wide basis, Chapter 2 goes into the existing difficulties when it comes to portability and transferability of pension rights and attempts to identify any solutions in this respect. The protection of pension rights upon a business transfer and in case of insolvency of the employer is dealt with in Chapter 3, where a distinction is made between Maltese law and European law in so far as different approaches for protection have been adopted. The same Chapter discusses also the issue relating to ownership of surpluses and the costs of an underfunding. After having identified the right to information (disclosure requirements) as it figures out in the Special Funds (Regulation) Act [SF A], and after having established the relationship of the contract of employment with the provision of occupational pensions, the thesis takes a more procedural attitude and attempts to outline the different avenues of redress which a beneficiary may opt for under Maltese law. The most crucial aspect in this respect is the statutory right of redress which the legislator has made available to the beneficiary. Finally this thesis examines the different key characteristics with which Maltese law has been equipped for the purposes of ensuring a sound regulatory framework for pension schemes and funds. It argues that it is also a right of the beneficiary to have a sound and possibly foolproof structure which regulates occupational pension providers.