NETHERLANDS - The Dutch pensions sector has revealed it is satisfied with the new covenant of cooperation between the two supervisors DNB and AFM.

"Both regulators have apparently listened well to the pensions sector. They have made proper arrangements to work together. It is a good covenant,"  director Peter Borgdorff of the Association of Industry-wide Pension Funds (VB) told IPE.

"Clearly, they have elaborated on their previous experience from working with banks and insurers," he added.

The Foundation of Dutch Company Funds (OPF) is also positive about the covenant, albeit slightly more cautious.

"It is a good start. But since the AFM will not carry out full supervision before next year, it is still early days," director Frans Prins commented.

The OPF will remain alert for possible overlapping supervision in particular, Prins made clear.

The covenant between prudential regulator De Nederlansche Bank and the behavioural watchdog Authority Financial Markets follows the new pensions legislation and is designed to satisfy pension funds, which feared costs-increasing overlapping supervision and differing interpretations, such as on indexation.

DNB will act as prudential supervisor, overseeing the financial viability of companies and the stability of the financial sector. In addition, it is responsible for the supervision of standards on pension schemes, as well as the relationship between providers and participants.

The AFM is solely tasked with the supervision of pension funds on communication and the duty of care for pension providers' participants who have taken over the responsibility for their investments.

Both regulators will guard integrity, with DNB responsible for market entry of pension funds of insurers, they indicated.

DNB and AFM have agreed to share all mandatory information from pension funds, and to discuss and tune enforcement measures as well as exchange survey plans and ‘relevant' reports, they said.

Supervisors have also settled on preventing different interpretations "by agreeing to adopt the judgement of the first responsible regulator".

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