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2 NEWS 24.3.2022 THE Malta Chamber and the General Workers' Union have agreed to work together to present to the government and for national discussions, common positions reached on key pension re- forms. e two have urged the government to adopt the following measures to in- crease the active employment of senior citizens and thus achieve the EU and national objectives relating to active ageing: • e existing 'all or nothing ap- proach' to early retirement is re- placed by a Flexi-employment ap- proach, which allows a person to balance their needs to opt-out of a 40 hour week whilst remaining active in the labour market. To ensure that such a Flexi-employ- ment approach does not become an exit route from retiring at the statutory retirement age, it is sug- gested that this is governed by conditions that may include: • e pension to be drawn down should the person opt for early retirement at the age of 61 years of age whilst continuing to work pro-rated, for example, as follows: - Retiring at 61 years of age, the pension income entitled to is pro-rated at 50%. - Retiring at 62 years of age, the pension income entitled to is pro-rated at 60%. - Retiring at 63 years of age, the pension income entitled to is pro-rated at 70%. - Retiring at 64 years of age, the pension income entitled to is pro-rated at 85%. • A person who selects a Flexi-em- ployment approach to retirement must work for a minimum set of hours established through a for- mal contract between them and their employers and employment registration with Job plus to ben- efit from the drawing down of the retirement pension. • e top-up incentive mechanism, whilst proving to be successful, is based on a negative actuarial rate. is should be replaced by a positive actuarial rate so that more persons are incentivised to remain fully active in the labour market and defer the drawn down of their pension. • Recommendation 14 presented in the 2015 Strategic Review report that recommends the introduc- tion of a mechanism to incentiv- ise the deferral of retirement age so that a person aged 65 and over remains active in the labour mar- ket should be implemented by the government – albeit at a far more aggressively positive actuarial rate than proposed by the Pension Strategy group. • e tax structure for senior cit- izens who receive income from continued post-retirement em- ployment and pension income should be re-designed. It should become an incentive rather than acting as a detriment to continued active employment. Both e Malta Chamber and the Un- ion strongly underline that a carefully designed workplace pension based on the principles of opt-in on employment with the choice of opt-out is introduced in Malta. Such voluntary opt-in on em- ployment pensions schemes with the choice of an opt-out can be designed in a manner that creates no social tensions or adverse impacts on both employers and employers. is can be achieved by adopting the following design prin- ciples: • As is the case today, employers are nudged to contribute on behalf of their employees based on a fiscal incentive (that is, no mandatory contribution) and through collec- tive bargaining. • Employees earning below a cer- tain income are excluded from opt-in on employment so that no negative pressures are placed on their disposal income, though they will maintain their right to opt-in should they wish. • Each employee will have the right to opt-out or suspend their con- tribution. • e contribution that an employ- ee will pay, which will continue to be subject to a fiscal incentive, will be the annual minimum re- quested by the pension provider selected by the employer or that selected by the employee. • e only obligation to be placed on the employer is that of pre- senting information on retire- ment on the engagement of an employee, enrolling an employee in the pension provider selected by it or that chosen by an em- ployee, managing the monthly contribution payment deducted from the employee's wage; and transferrin this contribution to the selected pension scheme pro- vider. • e pension scheme is introduced incrementally over five years, in- itially targeting large employers and subsequently rolling it out to micro and small enterprises. Proposals for pension reform presented by The Malta Chamber and the General Workers Union ST Julian's Maritime Finance Limited, a Eu- ropean yacht leasing company, this week announced that it has been approved and licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) as a non-banking finan- cial institution. e license will allow the company to ex- pand its already successful operating yacht leasing business by offering financial leases. Malta is an ideal base for the business given its comprehensive yet simple and well-re- spected yacht register, availability of quality staff and beautiful Mediterranean waters. e company offers a one stop shop ser- vice to its European clients by offering tai- lor made asset-backed financial and operat- ing yacht leasing solutions combined with ancillary yacht related services, such as registration, insurance advisory as well as other ad hoc services. St Julian's Maritime Finance now offers competitive lending to clients selecting boats valued between €1 million and €10 million, both new and well maintained. Willem Steenkamer the company's CEO commented "is is a great day for the maritime business in Malta which is so well served in all areas of the business ex- cept finance, where few options have been available until today. We are European, we move fast and are delighted to be enhanc- ing yachting operations in Malta." Malta-based yacht finance business expands its services

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