September 18 (SeeNews) - Romania licensed three mandatory pension funds, the country's Commission for Supervision of the Private Pension System (CSSPP) said on Tuesday.
Licences were granted to Alfa private pension fund, managed by French insurance and pension company AG2R; Marfin fund, operated by Greek Marfin Financial Group, and Fiducia, run by Romania's MKB Romexterra Fond de Pensii, majority-owned by Hungarian commercial bank MKB, CSSPP said in a statement.
Since July, CSSPP has awarded licences to 17 companies to operate as mandatory private pension funds.
Romania has reformed its pay-as-you-go pension system to create a three-pillar system, which consists of a government-run pension fund, a number of private funds that invest mandatory pension contributions made by employees younger than 35 years of age, and privately-held voluntary funds that provide supplementary pensions.
Between September 17 and January 17 employees younger than 35 years of age will have to choose a private pension fund for mandatory contributions.