An employee with qualifications as stipulated in the fund regulation is made eligible to join the provident fund by submitting an application to the fund committee.

The members have an important duty to contribute to the fund by agreeing to have their employer deduct their fund contribution from their salary. With regard to their rights, the members shall be informed of the fund’s regulations and updated fund performance. Moreover, the members are entitled to the full amount of the employee’s contributions and incurred benefits, and entitled to receive the proportions of employer’s contributions and its benefits in accordance with the fund’s regulations.

You may obtain more information from the website of the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The law stipulates that the contribution to the fund shall be in accordance with the rates specified by the fund’s regulations. The employee’s and employer’s contributions shall not be less than 2 percent, but no more than 15 percent, of the employee’s wage.

The returns from assets in which the fund may invest vary according to the investment policy determined by the fund committee agreed with the management company, including interest on deposits in commercial banks, bond yield and spread between cost and market price for investments in debt instruments, and dividend payment & capital gains from investment in equity instruments.

The fund committee is authorized to appoint a fund custodian with the qualifications defined by the SEC. The custodian shall be approved by the SEC, and must be the third party and segregated from the management company. The custodian has the duty to take custody and ensure safekeeping of the provident fund’s assets for verifying the completeness of the assets, and prevent the management company from causing damages to the fund’s assets

The fund supervisory agency is the provident fund registrar or the SEC, which is responsible for supervising funds management under every management company. In addition, each management company has an internal audit unit to ensure the fund operates in accordance with the laws and obligations to its customers.

The termination of membership is in accordance with the criteria set by the fund, including the employment termination, the termination of the fund and the shutdown of the employer’s business, as well as the withdrawal from the fund & the transfer of the fund.

The management company will make payment to the beneficiaries that the deceased member has nominated in writing to the management company, or the persons nominated by the management company, or make payment to the persons identified in the will of the deceased member. If the deceased member has not made any nomination or the nominated beneficiaries have passed away earlier than the member, the management company shall make payment according to the following criteria:

1. Two parts are given to the children of the deceased member. If the deceased member has three children or more, it will be given in three parts.
2. One part is given to the deceased member’s widow or widower.
3. One part is given to the deceased member’s father and/or mother.

For the deceased members without any nominated beneficiary per (1), (2) or (3), or in case that nominated beneficiaries have passed away earlier than the member, the death benefits designated for such persons shall be divided proportionally and given to living beneficiaries per the above-mentioned criteria.

The management company will report on the fund’s performance by sending the fund’s financial status to the fund committee every month, and update the amount of the provident fund of each individual member and report it to each of them twice a year.

Provident funds were established to provide savings for employees during their employment for use after retirement or resignation. Therefore, the law prohibits the management company from approving loans for the employees against their provident funds, unless otherwise stipulated in the terms and conditions by the SEC.