NETHERLANDS - The €13m Dutch daily newspaper journalists' pre-pension fund will be liquidated when its liabilities are transferred to the €6.4bn Dutch pension fund for the printing industry, Grafische Bedrijven (PGB).

The fund's board decided late last month to liquidate the scheme, and transfer the liabilities, which will be released of any contributions, according to a press release published yesterday.

The liabilities will follow PGB's indexation, the fund added.

The board decided to liquidate the fund following "the strengthened supervisory demands of pension supervisors DNB and AFM, and the necessary professionalisation of the pension policy," according to the fund.

Earlier this year, the Netherlands introduced the VPL Act which ceased tax benefits for early retirement via the early retirement VUT scheme and pre-pension.

In replacement, it introduced the ‘levensloop' or life course scheme, which allows individuals to save on a tax-advantaged basis for early retirement but also use the assets for sabbaticals.

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