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Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta Nru. 20,366, 13 ta’ Marzu, 2020
Taqsima  B
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L.N. 50 of 2020
RETIREMENT PENSIONS ACT
(CAP. 514)
Retirement Pensions (General Provisions of Supervision) 
Regulations, 2020
IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by articles 37 and 41B of
the Retirement Pensions Act, the Minister responsible for the
regulation of financial services, acting on the advice of the Malta
Financial Services Authority, has made the following regulation s:-
Title, scope and 
commencement.1. (1) The title of these regulations is the Retirement
Pensions (General Provisions of Supervision) Regulations, 2020.
(2) The purpose of these regulations is to implement Articles
19(2), 45, 46, 47, 48(6), 49(2), 50, 51 and 60(1) of the Occupa tional
Pensions Directive. 
(3) These regulations shall come into force on such date as the
Minister responsible for the regulation of financial services m ay by
notice in the Gazette establish, and different dates may be so
established for different provisions of these regulations.
Main objective 
of prudential supervision.2. (1) The main objective of prudential supervision is to
protect the rights of members and beneficiaries and to ensure the
stability and soundness of retirement schemes. 
(2) The competent authority shall have the necessary means,
and have the relevant expertise, capacity and mandate to achiev e its
main objective of supervision referred to in sub-regulation (1). 
Scope of 
prudential supervision.3. The competent authority shall ensure that a retirement
scheme is subject to the prudential supervision including the
supervision of the following, where applicable:
(a) conditions of operation;
(b) technical provisions;
(c) funding of technical provisions;(d) regulatory own funds;
(e) available solvency margin;
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(f) required solvency margin;
(g) conditions relating to the investments of a scheme;
(h) investment management function;(i) custody function;
(j) systems of governance; and
(k) information to be provided to members and
beneficiaries. 
General 
principles of 
prudential 
supervision.4. (1) The competent authority shall be responsible for the
prudential supervision of a retirement scheme. 
(2) The competent authority shal l conduct its supervision on a
retirement scheme on a forward-looking and risk-based approach.  
(3) Supervision by the competent authority of a retirement
scheme shall be carried out in a timely and proportionate manner and
shall comprise an appropriate combination of off-site and on-sitesupervision. 
(4) The competent authority shall apply the requirements laid
down in the Act, regulations and Pension Rules issued thereunde r in a
manner which is proportionate to the nature, scale and complexi ty of
the activities of the retirement scheme concerned. 
(5) The competent authority shall duly consider the potential
impact of its decisions on the stability of the financial syste m in the
European Union, in particular, in emergency situations. 
Transparency 
and accountability.5. (1) The competent authority shall carry on its duties in a
transparent, independent and accountable manner taking into account
the protection of any confidential information.  
(2) The competent authority shall publish the following
information:
(a) the texts of laws, regulations, administrative rules and
general guidance adopted in Malta in the field of occupational
pension schemes and information about whether Malta has
undertaken to exercise the options in terms of Articles 4 and 5 ofthe Occupational Pensions Directive;  
(b) information regarding the supervisory review process
of an occupational retirement scheme, as set out in Article 41Aof the Occupational Pensions Directive; 
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Cap. 514.(c) without prejudice to the obligations of confidentiality
and the duty of professional secr ecy in terms of the Retirement
Pensions Act, aggregate statistical data on key aspects of the
application of the prudential framework in Malta; 
(d) the objectives of its prudential supervision and
information on its main functions and activities;  
(e) any rules issued by the competent authority and any
laws and regulations on administrative penalties and other
measures applicable to breaches of the Act, regulations and
Pension Rules made thereunder adopted pursuant to the
Occupational Pensions Directive. 
Supervisory 
Review Process of an 
occupational 
retirement scheme.
Cap. 514.6. When carrying out the superv isory review process of a
Retirement Scheme Administrator or an occupational retirement
scheme in terms of article 41A o f the Retirement Pensions Act, the
competent authority shall have in place monitoring tools, inclu ding
stress-tests, that enable it to i dentify deteriorating financia l conditions
in an occupational retirement scheme, and to monitor how thatdeterioration is remedied. 
Information to 
be provided by 
occupational 
retirement schemes for 
supervisory 
purposes.7. (1) The competent authority shall, in respect of any
occupational retirement scheme or Retirement Scheme Administrat or,
as applicable, have the necessary powers and means to:
(a) require the Retirement Scheme Administrator of an
occupational retirement scheme, or persons who effectively run
the scheme or who carry out k ey functions, to supply at any tim e
information about all business matters or to forward all busine ss
documents;
(b) supervise relationships between the occupational
retirement scheme and other companies, the Retirement Scheme
Administrator and other companies or between schemes, when
the Retirement Scheme Administrator outsources key functions
or any other activities to those companies or schemes and allsubsequent re-outsourcing, influencing the financial situation of
the occupational retirement sch eme or being in a material way
relevant for effective supervision;
(c)  obtain the following documentation:
(i) own-risk assessment;
(ii) statement of investment-policy principles; 
(iii) annual accounts;
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(iv) annual reports; and 
(iv) all other documents necessary for the purposes
of supervision;
(d) request any document which is necessary for the
purposes of supervision, including:
(i) internal interim reports;
(ii) actuarial valu ations and detailed assumptions;
(iii) asset liability studies;
(iv) evidence of consistency with investment-policy
principles;
(v) evidence that contribut ions have been paid in as
planned;
(vi) reports by the approved auditor;
(e) carry out on-site inspections at the occupational
retirement scheme’s and the Retirement Scheme Administrator’s
premises and, where appropriate, on outsourced and all
subsequent re-outsourced activit ies to check if activities are
carried out in accordance with the Act, regulations and Pension
Rules issued thereunder;
(f) request information from the Retirement Scheme
Administrator about outsourced and all subsequent re-outsourcedactivities at any time.  
Powers of 
intervention of the competent 
authority.9. The competent authority may restrict or prohibit the free
disposal of the occupational reti rement scheme’s assets when, i n
particular:
(a) the occupational retirement scheme has failed to
establish sufficient technical pr ovisions in respect of the ent ire
business or has insufficient assets to cover the technical
provisions;
(b) the occupational retirement scheme has failed to hold
the regulatory own funds. 
Credit 
assessment processes.8. The competent authority shall, taking into account the size,
nature, scale and complexity of the activities of the occupatio nal
retirement scheme supervised:
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(a) monitor the adequacy of the occupational retirement
scheme’s credit assessment processes;
(b) assess the use of references to credit ratings issued by
credit rating agencies as defined in Article 3(1)(b) of Regulat ion
(EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the
Council, in their investment policies; and
 (c) where appropriate, en courage mitigation of the
impact of such references, with a view to reducing sole andmechanistic reliance on such credit ratings.  
Co-operation 
between 
Member States. 9. The competent authority shall ensure, in an appropriate
manner, the uniform application of the Occupational Pensions
Directive, through regular exchanges of information and experie nce
with other Member States with a view to developing best practic es in
relation to occupational retirement schemes and closer cooperat ion,
and by so doing, preventing distortions of competition and creating the
conditions required for unproblematic cross-border membership. 
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