THE Government should simplify rules of the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) to ease its administrative burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises, Prudential Assurance says. The territory's fifth largest life insurer, with more than $880 million under management, expressed concern over the hefty cost of running the newly approved pension scheme. 'Compliance reports such as the auditors' report and other regular returns will create heavy administrative cost to small companies,' Prudential general manager Eddie Fong said. He said he feared the MPF would apply the same stringent standards as those small companies faced under the Occupational Retirement Scheme Ordinance. Subsidiary legislation on the MPF has yet to be drafted. He said Prudential would channel its comments to the Government through the Life Insurance Council, the industry body. The Legislative Council decided last Friday to grant $21 million for an MPF office, allowing the scheme to go ahead. There will be 16 pieces of supplementary legislation to flesh out details. Prudential said new life insurance premiums rose 37 per cent last year, against the industry average of 15 per cent.
