Liberty wants more cancelled provident funds reinstated

Johannesburg - Financial services company Liberty says it plans to mount another court application by the end of the year seeking the reinstatement of more cancelled pension funds.

This follows an order by the North Gauteng High Court have 25 so-called "orphan funds", which had been considered by the Financial Services Board (FSB) to be inactive, restored. 

Liberty told Fin24 that its own investigations had revealed that a further 65 provident funds may require reinstatement. 

“Between 2007 and 2013, over 4 600 dormant retirement funds were de-registered across the industry in what was known as the Fund Cancellation Project,” said Liberty.

Liberty said the deregistration of some of the funds had occurred before the Fund Cancellation Project.

The Registrar of Pension Funds had not opposed Liberty’s first application.

• READ: Liberty reinstates 90 funds worth R82m

The company described court as a “great step forward in getting benefits paid out to beneficiaries”.

“We are being proactive and taking firm steps to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and the reinstatement of funds is an important part of ensuring that beneficiaries receive the benefits due to them,” said Tiaan Kotze, CEO of Liberty Corporate after the ruling.

The court decision was also welcomed by the Unpaid Benefits Campaign.

The group urged the Registrar of Pension Funds to properly investigate whether funds earmarked for cancellation had assets before deregistering them.