The Committee of Insurance and Private Pensions of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) issued a favorable opinion for the accession of Costa Rica to said Organization.
The decision was made after a technical review of the regulations in the insurance and private pension sectors (obligatory and voluntary supplementary regimes, both individually funded).
The country demonstrated adequate supervision and can guarantee the rights of consumers of private insurance and pension services; as well as promoting market development and effective competition.
Regarding insurance, it was found that, after the opening of the market in 2008, a solid supervisory regulation has been developed.
In addition, the OECD issued a series of recommendations for future improvements related, among others, to the implementation of risk-based supervision, promoting more insurance companies to participate in the market and supervising financial groups.
Regarding complementary pensions, the OECD believes that Costa Rica complies with the Fundamental Principles of the Private Pension Regulation. This is a legal instrument that gathers the best practices of the OECD countries and provides a high level guide on the design and operation of private pension systems.
The Organization issued a series of recommendations for future improvements related, among others, to the implementation of the corporate governance regulations, to seek that private pension schemes be similar for all workers and to implement changes in the way the superintendence is financed.