CONFIDENTIAL
(a) although Government monitoring and regulation are
(b)
(c)
necessary, management and investment of the accumulated retirement funds should remain with the private sector;
if contributions are to be compulsory, individual companies should still be able to place their funds with those investment agencies which they consider perform the best; and
there should be no direct Government subsidy to benefits paid under the system. Government will only meet expenditure on monitoring and regulating the schemes.
XCCI(93)34
10
In addition to this, we will be carrying out a major publicity compaign between October 1993 and March 1994 to promote the establishment of the regulatory regime for voluntary retirement benefit schemes set up under the Occupational Retirement Scheme Ordinance. The objective of the campaign will be to try to reach those employers and employees who are not yet covered by voluntary schemes.
11
We are also exploring the feasibility of commissioning a consultancy study on the question of providing insurance cover for defaulting or failed retirement protection schemes.
12
Once these issues have been considered, and a conclusion reached,
a further memorandum will be submitted to this Council.
PUBLIC REACTION
13
There was considerable public and media interest in the Consultation paper when it was issued in October 1992. The issue is being closely monitored by Legislative Council members, interest groups and the media. Some Legislative Council members and pressure groups have urged an early start on mandatory retirement protection and have accused Government of stalling. Any indication that there is a lack of progress on this issue would be badly received by them.
Executive Council