Apr 30, 2019
A recent Benefits Canada article looks at the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities’ recently released strategic plan, which outlines CAPSA’s priorities and initiatives for April 2019 to March 2022. To gain insight into the priorities listed in the strategic plan, author Yaelle Gang turns to industry experts, including Jana Steele, a partner in Osler’s Pensions and Benefits Group.
According to the article, one of the priorities in the strategic plan is “the promotion of a common regulatory approach and consistent standards for pension plan administration in specific areas,” which involves reviewing and updating the guideline on pension plan funding policy, including enhancing funding policy guidelines for target-benefit plans.
“I’m obviously in favour of more guidance from the regulators in terms of what they are thinking these types of funding policies should look like,” says Jana, who explains that not all jurisdictions have legislation for target-benefit plans, and where there is legislation, it varies. “When you think about a funding policy, some legislation will be more prescriptive than others and so it is good to hear from the regulators what these funding policy rules should be looking like.”
Another priority is to support the adoption and continued implementation of the agreement respecting multijurisdictional pension plans, which Jana believes “… needs to come into play sooner rather than later.” CAPSA also states in the plan that it will proactively identify emerging issues, including researching and developing guidelines that will help “pension stakeholders in developing and building cyber security plans.”
“I thought that was an interesting topic to be discussing and it certainly is important from a plan administrator perspective, because when you think about cyber security, plan administrators do need to ensure the confidential and sensitive information that they hold is secure,” says Jana.
For more information, read Yaelle Gang’s full article “Decumulation, cyber security among initiatives in CAPSA’s latest strategic plan” in Benefits Canada.