Problems of financial and legal regulation of private pension funds’ activity

Abstract

The problem of lack of interest of the population to participate in the formation of pension savings is one of the key problems of private pension funds. Accounting and registration of various rights, licensing and accreditation of institutions, establishment of norms, quotas and other restrictions, control and supervision, as well as the application of material sanctions and measures of administrative coercion are state regulation of private pension provision. The National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the National Bank of Ukraine, and the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine exercise state supervision and control over the activities of non-state pension funds. The current distribution of powers to oversee the activities of private pension funds between regulators is not effective enough. State intervention in the field of private pension funds should be timely, appropriate and limited. The need to invest heavily in setting up an administrator and an asset management company significantly reduces the attractiveness of private pension provision for potential investors, and the over-regulation of the institution under review reduces the level of confidence of ordinary citizens, employers and investors. The lack of components in the management system of non-state pension funds responsible for risk management and internal audit, the purpose of which is to protect against risks and exercise internal control, respectively, is a significant shortcoming of today. Ways to solve the above problems are, in particular: the unification of state regulators of the financial market in Ukraine and the creation of a mega-regulator for the activities of NPFs; abolition of normative legal acts, which in practice have proved their ineffectiveness, in terms of regulating the activities of NPFs, with the simultaneous adoption of new legislation that would “reduce the cost” of the mechanism of creation and operation of the institution of NPFs; implementation of EU Directive 2016/2341 of 14 December 2016 into the legislation of Ukraine regarding the functions of risk management and internal audit of NPFs; introduction of legal norms prohibiting, in particular, the National Bank of Ukraine from interfering in the activities of NPFs in terms of return of their assets by insolvent banks and investment activities, on grounds not expressly provided by the Law of Ukraine “On Non-State Pension Provision” and establishing legal grounds for personal liability persons for such actions.