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The Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office (TAIEX) is part of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and offers short-term technical assistance services to harmonise, implement and enforce legal acts, including the necessary administrative infrastructure. The main function of TAIEX is to transfer the European Union Member States experience, the services of the Commission and other relevant bodies at European level to the beneficiary countries.
In cooperation with TAIEX and with its financial support, MAPAS started to use the possibilities of the TAIEX program, that is from the EU member states, in order to harmonise with the directives and regulations for joining the EU.
The support forms that can be obtained from TAIEX are:
Expert mission on pensions and pension contributions payment from fully funded pension insurance
In order to hire a consultant who will give an opinion on the bylaws prepared by MAPAS under the Law on Payment of Pensions and Pension Contributions from Fully Funded Pension Insurance, MAPAS decided to use expert assistance through the TAIEX program – expert mission.
Therefore, on 01.04.2013 MAPAS submitted an application entitled “Expert mission for payment of pensions and pension contribution from fully funded pension insurance” through the Secretariat for European Affairs to the European Commission with a request to hire consultant Pavel Pelz from Poland, who will give an opinion according to the bylaws on the Law on Payment of Pensions and Pension Contributions. The TAIEX expert assistance was realized in the period from 25.11.2013 to 29.11.2013.
The purpose of the TAIEX program was through expert assistance to enable harmonization of the Macedonian legislation on fully funded pension insurance with the EU legislation and additional assistance in institutional development. The consultant in the weekly work with MAPAS employees expressed his opinion and experience on the bylaws prepared by MAPAS, compliance with EU regulations in the field of payment of pensions, organization of the pension payment phase and the experiences of EU member states in the phase on deaccumulation and setting up the procedures within MAPAS for supervision of the payment of pensions from the pension funds. During the stay, the consultant prepared proposals for some of the rulebooks and a document with recommendations for development in the field of pension’s payment in accordance with EU regulations.
Expert Mission on Central Data Registry
An expert mission organized by TAIEX on the topic of Central Data Registry was held in the period from 06.07-08.07.2016.
The purpose of the mission was to share experiences and best practices of the EU in establishing the Central Register of Insured Persons. In particular, the mission focused on relevant legislation, the Central Registry operation and services, as well as the roles and responsibilities of pension fund members.
Representatives of MAPAS participated in the expert mission, and it was governed by the expert Dr. Thomas Goswin of Deutsche Bundesbank, based in Frankfurt, Germany.
Expert Mission on Administrative Measures and Misdemeanor Penalties
An expert mission organized by TAIEX on the topic of Administrative Measures and Misdemeanor Penalties was held in the period from 12.12-14.12.2016.
The purpose of the expert mission was to gain knowledge necessary for the implementation of EU regulation and to gather comparative experiences and best practices from regulators and supervisory bodies in the field of administrative measures and misdemeanors, in order to adapt to EU standards.
The focus was on the procedures for implementing various types of sanctions – administrative measures and misdemeanor penalties, and at the same time topics related to risk supervision were covered.
The expert mission was attended by representatives of MAPAS, and was governed by experts Párniczky Tibor from the Central Administration of National Pension Insurance, Hungary and Frederic Heinrich from The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).
TAIEX Expert Mission on the topic of risk management framework for financial stability and macroprudential policy
Within the framework of the planned activities towards the fulfillment of the strategic goal – Improving the capacity in the direction of strengthening its supervisory and regulatory role in capital-funded pension insurance, a project – an expert mission through the instrument of the European Union (EU) – TAIEX was carried out in the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance (MAPAS).
The main objective of the expert mission is to establish a framework for risk management for financial stability and macroprudential policy that will provide a methodology for measuring the systemic risks for financial stability related to capital-funded pension insurance in the Republic of North Macedonia. The timely and efficient identification of systemic risks and the undertaking of activities in order to prevent and reduce their impact on the financial system are new competences of MAPAS, which derive from the Law on Financial Stability and from the Strategy for the Implementation of the Macroprudential Policy in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The expert mission was carried out from March 11 to March 15 2024 by experts Ivana Herceg, Head of the Systemic Risks and Consumer Protection Division and Mario Bambulović, Head of the Systemic Risks Department in the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA). The expert mission was followed by a total of 13 participants, employees of MAPAS.
During the expert mission, the participants got acquainted with the overall context of macroprudential policy in the EU, the importance of timely identification, assessment and monitoring of systemic risks through various indicators and analytical concepts and instruments and tools designed for adequate and effective prevention and mitigation of systemic risks. After getting acquainted with the concept of systemic risks and the evolution of the macroprudential policy framework in the EU, the participants got to know the different sources of risks that can threaten the stability of the financial system by understanding and constructing different risk indicators. Then, different aggregation tools and metrics were presented to measure exposure to systemic risks arising from different sources along with a stress testing tool that measures the resilience of the financial system to different shocks. The macroprudential policy framework was also presented with the probable macroprudential instruments and the design of tools to prevent and mitigate systemic risks.
In the following years, MAPAS will work on building its capacity to implement activities in the direction of implementing macroprudential policy, determining macroprudential instruments and undertaking macroprudential measures towards the entities over which it carries out supervisions.
Study visit to Sweden
In the period 17-18 February 2014, MAPAS representatives paid a study visit to the Finansinspektionen – supervisor and regulator of the financial market in Sweden.
The purpose of the visit was to exchange experiences in the field of financial market supervision and regulation, especially the pension funds.
During the first day of the visit, representatives of the Finansinspektionen held presentations on: the pension system in Sweden, the organizational structure and operation of the Finansinspektionen, reporting and the introduction of a new supervisory tool Traffic-light model.
On the second day of the visit, the MAPAS representatives visited one of the largest pension companies in Sweden – Sparinstitutens pensionskassa- SPK. It is a pension company that manages a closed-end investment fund, of which one third of the Sweden banking sector employees are members.
This visit is extremely important for the improvement of MAPAS operation, especially for the risk-based supervision and the opportunity to develop new supervision tools.
Study visit to Latvia
In the period from July 30 to August 1, 2014 MAPAS representatives paid a study visit to the Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia (FCMC) – supervisor and regulator of the financial market in Latvia.
The purpose of the visit was to exchange experiences in order to ensure effective supervision and regulation, and special emphasis was placed on pension funds risk management.
Therefore, presentations were held on the pension system in Latvia, followed by a presentation of the latest MAPAS supervisory practices. Afterwards presentations were held on risk management, the supervisory bodies’ role, followed by interactive discussions and exchange of experiences on supervisory practices, problems and challenges faced by both institutions in fully funded pension insurance.
This study visit is extremely important for the MAPAS advancement operation, especially for the risk-based supervision and the opportunity to develop new supervision tools.