US chemicals firm DuPont de Nemours has confirmed it is considering to move the pensions of its Dutch workers to its European pension fund in Belgium.
The multinational’s €1.15bn Dutch scheme said it intended to join the Mechelen-based European pension plan in 2017.
However, it also noted that it still needed approval from Dutch pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch tax authorities and the company’s works council (OR).
The employer’s current contract with the pension fund is to expire at the end of 2015, but the scheme made clear it expected the contract to be extended by another year.
DuPont Netherlands is no longer the scheme’s main sponsor, following the establishment of Chemours Netherlands as a soon to be fully independent and listed offshoot of the US firm.
The pension fund did not respond to requests for comment from IPE sister publication PensioenPro.
The Pensioenfonds DuPont is not the only Dutch scheme to consider a cross-border move of late, with the pension plans of energy companies ExxonMobil and BP recently making clear that they were considering such step.
Clearing house Euroclear and pharmaceuticals company Johnson & Johnson already moved their pension schemes to Belgium.
Companies usually cite synergy benefits, as well as increasing regulatory pressure in the Netherlands, as the chief reasons for merging their international pension plans.
The Pensioenfonds DuPont returned 25% on investments last year.
Both its official policy funding and its daily coverage stood at approximately 118% at March-end.
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