The Central Depository of Armenia started serving the pension account of citizens on 7 April, Konstantin Saroyan, NASDAQ OMX Armenia CEO, said in a phone talk with ArmInfo's correspondent when commenting on the official announcement on the stock exchange's website saying that the Central Depository will continue its responsibilities stipulated by the Law on the Accumulative Pension.
He explained that the pension assets of the citizens were stored on the so-called 'transit account' in the period from 7 March up to 7 April 2014. The citizens had time (a month) to choose a managing company. The pension savings of the citizens who did not choose a managing company for the given period of time were automatically distributed to the two operating funds at random.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the State Revenue Committee of Armenia made an explanation (on its official website) about its responsibilities regarding the accumulative pension system. In response to the public calls to refrain from choosing a managing company on behalf of the citizens, the Committee says: "The State Revenue Committee is not authorized to choose a managing company on behalf of the citizens." In its explanation, the Committee says that the major task of the Central Depository of Armenia is to keep the register of the pension accounts and ensure custodial service of assets of the pension fund.
On April 2 the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia cancelled the mandatory component of the accumulative pension system.
The anti-constitutional points of the law on funded pension system will function till 30 September to avoid legal vacuum, the head of the parliamentary commission for the state and legal issues, David Harutyunyan, told Arminfo correspondent.
The decision of the Constitutional Court does not mean that the law will not function. The Constitutional Court adopted a decision to recognize the law null and void in the parts that infringe the citizen's right to manage his own salary. We should not forget that",- he said. He also added that till 30 September the government will either draw out a new law or make alterations to the acting legislation. "Of course, I understand that many people do not like my comments, but such is an objective reality", - he concluded.
Meanwhile, NASDAQ OMX CEO told ArmInfo the Central Depository of Armenia will keep the register until the Armenian legislators make changes to the legislation, which may happen also before 30 September.