Pension fund law potentially gives Commercial Union an edge in takeovers

According to the law on organization and function of pension funds, if a pension fund has trouble staying afloat on the market it could be handed over to the largest entity on the market. This could mean that market-leading Commercial Union (CU) pension fund could take over small funds cost-free. For this to happen a pension fund company would have to have its license revoked by the Pension Fund Supervisory Office (UNFE) and not be able to find a buyer for its fund within three months. This situation is only hypothetical right now as even the smallest funds, which have been losing money for a long time, are currently talking to potential partners interested in takeovers. "The law gives us the right to revoke a pension fund's license, but nobody would benefit from that," said UNFE spokesman Sebastian Bojemski. Moreover, UNFE has declared in the past that it is against mergers involving any of the largest three funds, CU, PZU Zlota Jesien and Nationale Nederlanden. (Puls Biznesu, page 10) T.J.