Effective December 31, 2010, revisions were made by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) to its Standards of Practice – Practice-Specific Standards for Pension Plans. In particular, the revised CIA Standards of Practice now provide that assumptions for going concern valuations are either best estimates or best estimates modified to incorporate margins for adverse deviations… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Regulator Policies & Communications
Subscribe to Regulator Policies & Communications RSS FeedAlberta Extends Solvency Funding Relief
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Legislation & Regulations, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsFollowing up on the solvency funding relief for Alberta specified multi-employer pension plans (SMEPPs) which was passed last year, the Alberta government recently amended the Employment Pension Plans Regulation to also provide solvency funding relief to defined benefit plans which are not SMEPPs. Notably, the regulation does not require any form of member consent, or… Continue Reading
Update on Reducing Benefits in Federal DB Pension Plans
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Conversions, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsOn July 19, 2012 OSFI issued its final Instruction Guide – Authorization of Amendments Reducing Benefits in Defined Benefit Pension Plans, which replaced the previous April 2006 version. The Guide sets out the factors and specific requirements (e.g., valid amending power – unilateral or mutual by affected groups, legislative compliance, options considered, plan viability and… Continue Reading
CAPSA Releases Draft Guideline re DC Plans
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DC Plans, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsIn an effort to provide further guidance to administrators of defined contribution (DC) pension plans, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) has released a draft “Defined Contribution Pension Plans Guideline” (the Guideline) for comment. The Guideline is intended to supplement existing CAPSA guidelines (i.e., Guideline No. 3 – Capital Accumulation Plans, Guideline No…. Continue Reading
FSCO to Make Electronic Filing Mandatory
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsIn March of 2010, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) launched its Pension Services Portal (PSP), which enables plan administrators to file Annual Information Returns, Investment Information Summaries, Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund Assessment Certificates, Pension Plan/Fund Financial Statements, Actuarial Information Summaries, and Actuarial Valuation Reports electronically. Last week, FSCO announced that effective January 1, 2013 all of these… Continue Reading
OSFI Provides More Guidance re Letters of Credit
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Pension Reform, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsOver the past two years we have seen a number of amendments to federal pension legislation with respect to the funding of defined benefit (DB) plans (see April 1, 2010 and December 17, 2010 posts). These reforms include amendments permitting plan sponsors to use letters of credit in lieu of making solvency payments to a… Continue Reading
CAPSA Releases Draft Guidelines on Prudence Standard and Funding Policies
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsAs we reported in an earlier post, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) published a consultation paper in late 2009 entitled “The Prudence Standard and the Roles of the Plan Sponsor and Plan Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment”. Following up on this consultation paper, CAPSA recently released draft guidelines on funding… Continue Reading
OSFI Releases Guide re Intervention Process
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsThe Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) recently released the “Guide to Intervention for Federally Regulated Private Pension Plans” (the Guide), which outlines the varying degrees of scrutiny that federally regulated plan administrators can expect from OSFI and the circumstances under which intervention measures may be taken.
Draft FSCO Consultation Policy on Beneficiary Inquiries and Complaints
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsIn an apparent effort to improve plan transparency, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has released a consultation policy to clarify a plan administrator’s responsibilities when responding to and managing inquiries and complaints from plan beneficiaries (Policy). In addition to providing information already contained in the Pension Benefits Act (Ontario) (PBA) and other FSCO… Continue Reading
FSCO Policy Outlines New Requirements Regarding Pension Plan Records
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsEarlier this year, we did a post on the Financial Services Commission of Ontario’s (FSCO) consultation policy on pension record-keeping . FSCO has recently released the final version of this policy, “Management and Retention of Pension Plan Records by the Administrator” (the Policy). The Policy is important reading for pension plan administrators as it imposes… Continue Reading
New FSCO Policy on Distribution of Partial Wind Up Benefits Remaining in Plan and not Annuitized
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Wind-Ups, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsOn December 2, 2009, the Ontario Financial Services Tribunal released its decision in Imperial Oil which held that pension administrators are not required to purchase annuities in respect of partial wind up benefits remaining in the plan following member portability elections. On June 30, 2010, FSCO posted a new policy (effective March 10, 2010) confirming… Continue Reading
Amendments to Federal DB Funding and Plan Investment Rules Finalized and Regulator Responds
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Investments, Legislation & Regulations, Pension Reform, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsOn June 25, 2010 the federal government announced that it finalized the amendments to the defined benefit funding provisions and the federal investment rules, which it had released in draft form for comment earlier this year. Most of these amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 come into force on July 1, 2010.
FSCO Moves to Electronic Filing of AIRs
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsThe Financial Services Commission of Ontario announced that effective March 31, 2010 pension plan administrators will be able to file Annual Information Returns (AIRs) electronically. The electronic filing method will be optional in that plan administrators will still be permitted to file AIRs in paper format should they so chose.
CAPSA Consultation Update – Prudence Standard in Pension Plan Funding and Investments
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsAs I discussed in an earlier post, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities recently published a consultation paper entitled “The Prudence Standard and the Roles of the Plan Sponsor and Plan Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment” (PDF). The comment period for the paper – which provides helpful guidance to pension plan sponsors and… Continue Reading
FSCO Attempts to Address Delays in Processing DB Plan Applications, but Legislative Reform Also Required
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Pension Reform, Plan Wind-Ups, Regulator Policies & Communications, SurplusIn January 2010, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) released a consultation paper outlining proposals to streamline the regulatory review process for defined benefit (DB) applications (PDF). The proposals outlined in the most recent paper – an earlier consultation process had taken place in the spring of 2009 – are designed to lead to more… Continue Reading
FSCO Proposed Policy on Record Retention Will Impose New Obligations on Plan Administrators
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsIf you are responsible for the day-to-day administration of a pension plan, you should take the time to review a consultation policy on record retention released by FSCO just before the holidays. Why should you be concerned? Because the consultation policy imposes new obligations on plan administrators that will affect the day-to-day operations of all pension… Continue Reading
CAPSA Releases Consultation Paper on Prudence Standard and Roles of Plan Sponsor and Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsThe Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) recently published a consultation paper entitled “The Prudence Standard and the Roles of the Plan Sponsor and Plan Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment” (PDF). The paper provides helpful guidance to pension plan sponsors and administrators regarding the regulators’ view of best practices for pension plan… Continue Reading
Comments on OSFI’s Draft DC Disclosure Guidelines Due by Year End
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DC Plans, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsIt is common knowledge that pension legislation was drafted with defined benefit pension plans in mind and does not deal adequately with defined contribution pension plans. Until recently, the only regulatory guidance for DC plan sponsors was the CAPSA Guidelines for Capital Accumulation Plans (PDF) (CAP Guidelines). Now DC plan sponsors will have another resource – the Disclosure Guideline for… Continue Reading
FSCO Provides Guidance on Commuted Value Transfers
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsEarlier this year, the Ontario government amended the regulations under the Ontario Pension Benefits Act to provide sponsors of defined benefit plans with temporary relief from current solvency funding pressures. Included in these amendments was a permanent change to section 19 of the regulations, which now requires a plan administrator to seek the prior approval of the Superintendent… Continue Reading