Articles
Imminent Default Regulations for the Pension Fund
The effective date for the implementation of the default regulations to the Pension Funds Act, 1 March 2019, is around the corner and retirement funds are scrambling to ensure that they will be compliant by that date (and those that aren’t, should be!).
Boards of Trustees of Retirement Funds Facing a Challenge!
Several new regulations to the Pension Funds Act became law in August 2017. These “default” regulations have far reaching implications for all funds.
Retirement Funds Required to Implement Default Arrangements
The final version of the Default Regulations to the Pension Funds Act, 1956, was signed into law by the Minister of Finance on 25 August 2017 and came into effect on 1 September 2017. The media statement issued by National Treasury together with the regulations explained that the regulations are “meant to improve the outcomes for members of retirement funds by ensuring that they get good value for their savings and retire comfortably”.
High Court Provides Clarity Regarding Payments From Retirement Funds into Third Party Bank Accounts
Case Review of a matter that provided clarity regarding payments from retirement funds into third party bank accounts
Withholding or Deducting an Employees Pension Benefit Recent legal developments
The Pension Funds Act provides for employers to recover compensation for damages caused by the misconduct of an employee. There have been significant developments in relation to these deductions.
Taxation Laws Amendment: An Update
Following virulent opposition to the changes by the trade unions and increasingly widespread speculation regarding the implementation of the changes, the Ministry of Finance has now announced proposals for the delay of the annuitisation requirements for provident funds.
Win for Shepstone & Wylie: notable reduction in employee's take-home pay rectified in latest version of tax bill
The removal of a few words in the latest version of the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2015, appears to have rectified a loophole contained in an earlier version of the Bill that would have resulted in a notable reduction in an employee's take-home pay if they belonged to a retirement fund.
Islamic Marriages and Retirement Funds
The Pension Funds Adjudicator recently determined that a retirement fund might potentially pay a share of a member's benefit to the member's former spouse on the dissolution of their Islamic marriage.