Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) Chief Executive Edward Odundo
speaking at a past press conference. RBA has moved to the High Court to
challenge a recent decision by the appeals tribunal ordering it to issue
a certificate to the pension administrator for Laptrust Pension Scheme
for county employees. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) has moved to the High
Court to challenge a recent decision by the appeals tribunal ordering it
to issue a certificate to the pension administrator for Laptrust
Pension Scheme for county employees.
RBA claims in
court papers filed on Wednesday that the Retirement Benefits Appeals
Tribunal lacks powers to order it to give CPF Financial Services Ltd a
certificate of registration as a duly licensed administrator of a
retirement benefits scheme without having applied for a permit for the
year 2016 or meeting the requirements set in the RBA Act.
“The
said order of the Tribunal gravely prejudices the interests of members
of the Local Authority’s Retirement Benefits Scheme whose retirement
benefits are at risk of being administered by an entity, which according
to the legal opinion issued by the Attorney-General is an illegal
entity,” RBA said in the court papers.
The authority
said the CPF Financial Services Ltd has not had a valid certificate of
registration since January 1, this year, following the expiry by law of
the 2014 licence.
RBA is unhappy with the tribunal’s
decision compelling it to issue CPF Financial Services with a
certificate when in fact, the latter does not meet the requirements for
registration as an administrator of a pension scheme, a failure that led
to the cancellation of its registration in 2014.
The
tribunal had in its ruling on November 20, 2015, refused to uphold RBA’s
refusal to renew CPF Financial Services Ltd’s licence, saying that the
authority was bound to consider its application, taking into account all
the matters set out in law without regard to any extraneous issues.
The
pension administrator had filed an appeal before the tribunal,
challenging the decision by RBA to omit it from the list of registered
pension scheme administrators.
The firm had in September, last year written to RBA, seeking to renew its certificate of registration for 2015.
The
regulator wrote back, saying it had de-registered CPF and consequently
revoked its licence, leading to the matter before the appeal tribunal.
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