Employee Capital Plans in the Form of Insurance - Legal Aspects

Employee Capital Plans (PPK in Polish) are a part of a common system of voluntary pension savings schemes under the third pillar. They are assumed to cover all employees. However, each employee will be able to opt out of the participation in the program.The financial institutions eligible to offer Employee Capital Plans will include investment fund companies, general pension societies and employee pension societies as well as insurance companies. The opportunity to collect capital within the framework of Employee Capital Funds in the form of unit-linked life insurance will have an additional value for the participants, namely an insurance cover. Nevertheless, due to particular regulatory requirements and the difference between the insurance contract and other forms of Employee Capital Funds, it involves certain consequences. The present article is an attempt to address the essential issues concerning Employee Capital Funds offered in the form of insurance, regarding the insurance contract itself, such as insurance coverage or the nature of the contracts for the management and operation of Employee Capital Plans, as well as general matters, which exert an influence on the ECPs provided by insurance undertakings.