GLOBAL - The International Organisation of Pension Supervisors is to circulate a newly approved set of principles for pension supervision in the New Year.

The IOPS governing membership approved the 'Principles of Private Pension Supervision' - covering the independence of the supervisory authority, the necessity for adequate resources and powers, risk-orientation, transparency and governance - at its first annual meeting in Paris last week.

"These principles will be circulated for consultation during 2006," IOPS said.

On IOPS' agenda for 2006 is a project on risk-based pension supervision, led by the World Bank, a report on cross-border pension supervision, the development of guidance for the use of IT in off-site supervision and a project on the licensing of pension funds and plans, joint with the OECD.

The next IOPS committee meetings will be held in Chile in March 2006, following a joint OECD/ IOPS private pensions conference covering reform of the Chilean pension system.

John Ashcroft of the UK's Pensions Regulator was re-elected IOPS president. Guillermo Larrain, of Chile's Superintendencia de Administradoras de Fondos
de Pensiones, was elected as vice president.

Ashcroft said: "During the last 18 months the IOPS has made great strides towards becoming that organisation. Now that IOPS is fully functioning I hope that we can build on these strong foundations to provide supervisors, and those countries who are just starting on the private pensions path, with the help they need."

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