OECD Principles of Occupational Pension Regulation methodology for assessment
Occupational pensions play a major role in OECD countries and worldwide, complementing retirement income from state sources. At the end of 2009, private pension savings reached USD 25 trillion. Population ageing has led many OECD countries to undertake a wide range of pension reforms – the overall effect of which has been to reduce public pension promises and, in turn, to increase the importance of private pension savings for retirement.
Efficient regulation, strong governance and oversight of pension schemes are needed to ensure that today’s employees will enjoy secure and adequate retirement pensions tomorrow. OECD governments have agreed on seven Core Principles of Occupational Pension Regulation to assist in meeting this objective. The Core Principles were originally developed by the OECD’s Working Party on Private Pensions and were approved by the OECD Council in June 2009.
The Methodology for Assessment and Implementation provides a structured approach for evaluating a jurisdiction’s regulatory system for private pensions in relation to the Core Principles. The purpose of the Methodology is to provide guidance in the development of future policy. It was originally designed in 2008 as the primary tool for the examination of the private pension systems of candidate countries for Accession to the OECD as well as a tool for regulators, government officials and stakeholders to help in other assessment processes.