Bangkok--1 Nov--SEC
The SEC is seeking public comment on proposed revision of the Provident Fund Act B.E. 2530 to facilitate employee’s continuous savings into provident fund and thus having sufficient retirement savings. Comments and suggestions on the matter are welcome until November 10, 2012.
The proposed revision aims to help support employee’s living after resignation. Provident fund’s member who, at the age of 55 or older, resigns his or her post will be allowed to receive installment payments similar to the retired employee. Accordingly, such employee will not be required to withdraw the whole amount of the benefits from the fund after the resignation while his or her membership continues for a period specified in the fund’s article.
In addition to the abovementioned, the SEC will propose the revision related to default investment policy of provident fund with employee’s choice. In case where employee who is a member of such fund did not assign any particular investment policy, fund manager must make use of employee’s saving and employer’s contribution in the specified order. First, fund manager must invest or seek benefits under such employee’s previous investment policy. If the fund does not provide such investment policy, investment or seek of benefits must be made under investment policy stated in the fund’s article. If, however, there is no investment policy stated in the fund’s article, investment policy with the lowest risk level at that time will be applicable. The proposal aims to provide the fund with more flexibility to prescribe its default investment policy to serve diverse needs for returns and risk tolerance of fund’s members, which is in line with international standards.
The consultation paper is available on the SEC website at www.sec.or.th. Stakeholders and the interested public are welcome to submit comments through the website, or through facsimile number 0-2695-9779 or email at
[email protected] until November 10, 2012.