PensionsEurope publishes position paper and press release on Brexit in which PensionsEurope e.g. calls for a final Brexit agreement that considers the impact on the pension sector. You can find our position paper here and press release here.

PensionsEurope welcomes the European Commission public consultation on fitness check on supervisory reporting. We find it important that the Commission regularly conducts fitness checks on supervisory reporting to ensure that the ESAs work effectively, and supervisory activities remain proportionate in their scope.

In general, pension funds are embedded in national social and labour law and supervisory reporting should take into account specificities of pension funds, National Supervisory Authorities are responsible for supervising pension funds, supervisors should consider very carefully which information is really relevant and needed (as reporting and collecting information always result in cost), and supervisors and policymakers should not have a bank bias towards pension funds.

Please find PensionsEurope answer to the EC consultation here.

PensionsEurope published today a position paper on smoothing WHT procedures beyond Code of Conduct - EU tax register of recognised pension institutions. In our paper, we propose to the European Commission to establish an EU tax register of recognised pension institutions in order that Member States can reciprocally and automatically recognise pension institutions. Furthermore, in many countries pension institutions invest cross border via specialised investments funds and/or vehicles to increase the economies of scale, and it is important to ensure a tax-neutral treatment of these investment structures as well.