PenCom demands evidences of pension compliance in companies’ financial statements

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said it is pushing for the publications of evidences of compliance with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 in companies’ financial statements.

It was gathered that the Pension regulator is working with the Financial Reporting Council (formerly Nigeria Accounting Standard Board), through a Joint Committee, to include report on compliance with the provisions of the PRA 2014 as part of the disclosure requirements in Audited Financial Statement of all organisation that employ a minimum of three staff.

“While the Committee is yet to conclude its work, it is expected that the new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) would include this requirement”, PenCom posited.

In the recent time, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has been exploring measures to deepen the pension industry, especially by collaborating with other organisations to ensure pension laws are obeyed and enforced.

It was also gathered that the Commission had collaborated with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) and some professional bodies to ensure compliance with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 especially among private sector organisations.

The collaboration with CBN, it was learnt is to ensure all deposit money banks, primary mortgage institutions, micro finance banks, discount houses and other institutions under the purview of the CBN complied with the PRA 2014.

Meanwhile, the BPP partnership has assisted the Commission to ensure that all organisations soliciting for business with the Federal Government Ministry Department and Agency (MDAs) complied with the provisions of the PRA 2014 as required by Section 16(6) (b) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

The Commission and NBS had constituted a Technical Committee for developing a data base of eligible employers which would assist the Commission in its compliance efforts. The NBS is to assist the Commission to enumerate all private sector employers in the country with a view to identifying all organisations that must comply with the PRA 2014.

The commission is also making efforts to collaborate with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Internal Revenue Service Departments at the state level to access their database on employers.

PenCom noted that it is pursuing the partnership with FIRS and IRSD, owing to the fact that they have reliable data on employers that would help in expanding its coverage.