Fourteen private pension fund managing companies fined 5.2 bln RON

The Competition Council (CC) has issued fines worth 5.2 bln RON to a number of 14 mandatory private pension fund managing companies that "connived" to flout the law on the distribution of individuals who registered with two or several funds.

"The managing companies of Pillar II funds breached the law on the distribution of persons who registered with several private pension funds. Under law, those who signed more than two registrations, should have undergone a random distribution process, a so-called lottery. Practically, the managing companies connived to equally distribute among themselves the persons with dual signatures," Mediafax quoted Competition Council President Bogdan Chiritoiu as saying.

According to the CC data, about 78,000 persons chose to register with several funds, who should have entered a lottery and not been equally distributed among the managing companies, as it happened actually. "The fine is one-tenth of the value of the asset funds handled by each company at the end of 2009," Chiritoiu said.

Data supplied by the Private Pension Fund Oversight Commission show Pillar II net assets matching 2.38 bln RON. The CC inquiry opened in December 2007 and dealt with how multiple registered persons have been distributed among several private pension funds and the managing companies likely conniving over the highest commission fees they were to practice in Pillar II

"In this case, the inquiry, which regards six managing companies, is yet to be concluded. These managing companies have exchanged e-mails and connived to practice the highest commission fee the law allows. While the Competition Council is unwilling to pass a vote of censure on the industry, it nonetheless cannot overlook anti-competition aspects manifested on this market," Chiritoiu also said. As of now, there are nine managing companies on the market, each handling one fund.

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