Pensions

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Summary

In 2001, two laws concerning corporate pension plans, i.e., the defined benefit corporate pension plan law and the defined contribution corporate pension plan law, were introduced in Japan. The former, the law concerning defined benefit corporate pension plan, aims to establish a unified treatment system for the purpose of protecting beneficiary rights of the defined benefit corporate pension plan. The latter, the law concerning defined contribution corporate pension plan, indicates a treatment system for defined contribution corporate pension plan, which has not been regulated by laws in Japan. Both of the laws contain provisions that could fundamentally reform the existing corporate pension plans, and therefore could have serious impact on the meaning of Japanese corporate pension plans in the future.

This report will introduce the contents of these laws and examine the future direction of the corporate pension plans in Japan.

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