October 24 (SeeNews) - Romania licensed a fund of Swiss-based company Zepter to operate as a mandatory pension fund, the country's Commission for Supervision of the Private Pension System (CSSPP) said late on Tuesday.
The commission granted a licence to Zepter private pension fund, managed by pension company Zepter Fond de Pensii, CSSPP said in a statement.
Since August, CSSPP has awarded licences to 18 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. As of October 1, a total of 457,415 employees have chosen pension fund, CSSPP data showed.