Institutions for occupational retirement, pension funds: laws, regulations and administrative provisions

PURPOSE: to present a Commission proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the activities of institutions for occupational retirement provision. CONTENT: This proposal is concerned with institutions operating occupational pension schemes. These are private schemes, usually seen as supplementing statutory social security schemes. It is essential to preserve a clear distinction between statutory social security and private/supplementary schemes. This proposal is therefore not concerned with social security schemes which are covered by the term "legislation" as defined by Article 1 of Regulation 1408/71/EEC or in respect of which a Member State has made a declaration under that Article. Against this background, the main provisions of the proposed directive relate to the following areas: - application to institutions operating social security schemes; - operational application to institutions covered by Directive 79/267/EEC; - small pension schemes and statutory schemes; - conditions of operation; - disclosure of information; - technical provisions; - investment rules; - cross-border activites. �