By Favour Nnabugwu
THE National Pension Commission (PenCom) and National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) have resolved the annuity impasse by agreeing to allow life insurance companies to open operational accounts with Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) of their choice.

Osun Pensioners

The regulators in a joint circular to life insurance companies on Tuesday, said they are currently reviewing the regulation on retiree life annuity, which will be jointly released to the public in compliance with the PRA 2014 within 3 months of this notice.

The two regulatory bodies agreed to allow all new annuity purchased or being processed to be domiciled in the dedicated account with the PFC, while the treatment of all existing retiree life annuity funds and assets would be dealt with upon issuance of the new regulation.

NAICOM is to see to it that Life Insurance companies comply with the requirements, while the processing and approvals of new retiree life annuity requests continues.

Pension Funds Administrators, PFAs, on their part, are to resume the processing of new annuity requests for retirees and forward same to PenCom for necessary and immediate approval while PenCom is to ensure that PFAs transfer all approved premium for Retiree Life Annuity to the Operational Accounts opened by the Life Insurance Companies with PFCs.

It will be recalled that the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, intervened and brokered a truce between the regulators, directing them to issue a joint circular by Tuesday, March 21, 2017 that would supersede all previous circular issued by the two regulatory agencies on the annuity matter.

The dispute was ignited by a circular issued by PenCom in November last year, directing life insurers to transfer custody of their annuity assets to PFCs and inform the commission accordingly. In the said circular, insurers were also required to suspend approving new requests for annuity pending the transfer of assets to PFCs.