Saturnia AGM in limbo

Fri, 23 Jun 2017 12:52:23 +0000

By NATION REPORTER

The Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund Annual General Meeting hangs is the balance as more financial irregularities are revealed in documents obtained by the Daily Nation yesterday.

Inspection reports by the Pension and Insurance Authority between 2013 to 2016 have revealed consistent disregard of pension laws and Trust Deed Rules while the independent audit report ordered by the Minister of Finance Felix Mutati last month into the governance of the pension scheme before the AGM scheduled for July 14, 2017 has not yet started.

Pension and Insurance Authority Registrar Martin Libinga told the Daily Nation yesterday that an independent auditor to assess the financial and operational governance of the Saturnia Regna Pension Fund has been identified but that work has not commenced pending approval of the government.

“We have appointed an independent auditor and the process will commence once we get approval from the Attorney General’s office,” Mr. Libinga said. Last month, Finance Minister Felix Mutati directed the PIA to conduct an independent audit into Saturnia Regna Pension Fund within 30 days in time for the 14 July 2017 Annual General Meeting.

But Mr. Libinga could not confirm whether the Saturnia Regna Pension Fund AGM will proceed before the completion of the independent audit.

Meanwhile, the PIA Inspection Reports have revealed that Botswana Insurance Fund Management have been acting as offshore Fund Managers without any contract with Saturnia Pension Fund.

“Saturnia Regna Pension Fund has Botswana Insurance Fund Management as offshore Fund Managers yet the scheme has no contract with the company. This implies that the business relationship between Saturnia Regna and Botswana Insurance Fund Management is not clear and may potentially lead to costly misunderstandings,” the report said.  The arrangement constitutes a very risky conflict of interest as Botswana Insurance Fund Management are shareholders in Benefits Consulting Services Limited and African Life Financial Services Limited which are the Fund Manager and Administrator for Saturnia Regna Pension Fund.

The many irregularities revealed in the PIA reports have not been exposed to the public and participating companies because Saturnia Regna Pension Fund has not held AGMs for ten years.

Other incidences of financial irregularities and non-adherence to regulations revealed in the report were:

-Loan of USD15 million to Copperbelt Energy Corporation denominated in dollars in contravention of S.I. 33 of 2012.

– Loan to Zambia Sugar Company of USD120 million denominated in dollars in contravention of S.I. 33 of 2012.

-Two commercial properties owned by the fund still have their title under Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Limited a company incorporated under the Company’s Act and not related to the Fund.

-Unrecoverable rent arrears of K596 million un-rebased.

-Failure to recover matured Endowment Policies amounting to K2.9 billion.

-Lack of Conflict of Interest Policy.

The PIA gave directives for all the irregularities to be rectified within specified deadlines, but no evidence exists of any corrective measures.