The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced that, from 10 November, it will blacklist organisations that fail to meet their pension remittance obligations.
Omolola Oloworaran, the director-general of PenCom, disclosed the plan during the commission’s second-quarter media briefing held in Lagos on Wednesday. Oloworaran said it is now “zero tolerance for non-compliance” as PenCom adopts a firmer stance to enforce the 2014 Pension Reform Act.
“Effective immediately, PenCom has launched an uncompromising compliance drive to ensure the Pension Reform Act is complied with by every operator,” the DG said. “Every organisation, public, private, big or small, must comply with pension remittance obligations. No exceptions, no delays.”
“All Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians have been directed to ensure every vendor, service provider, and counterparty has a valid Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC) that evidences that they have been up to date and compliant with pension contribution,” she said.
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“By November 30 this year, any entity without a PCC will be blacklisted and cut off from pension business with all PenCom regulated entities.”
The PenCom chief said the directive also extends to banks, investment counterparty, parent companies, and shareholders of licensed pension fund administrators and custodians. She then said all pension fund-affiliated entities must enforce the pension clearance certificate requirements across their operators and “across all ecosystem and submit our compliance attestations”.
“We are drawing the red line, pension compliance is no longer optional, it is existential,” Oloworaran said. “Only those who value the future of their employees can participate in this ecosystem and the reward that it offers.”
Oloworaran also said PenCom is committed to restructuring the pension industry to build a more robust and inclusive system that supports sustainable economic development. PenCom had introduced a new pension contribution remittance system in May to improve transparency and efficiency. The commission had set 1 June as the deadline for adoption by employers.
