Thirteen former executives of the National Bank of Belgium have received too much pension. The financial daily ‘De Tijd’ reports that a study carried out by the Pensions Service in the wake of the recent controversy about pensions paid to former speakers of the Chamber of Representatives, found that more than a dozen former National Bank executives were also paid sums in excess of the legal maximum.
In May, thirteen former executives of the National Bank received a letter in which the pension service informed them that the level of pension they receive was being reduced or even set to zero with immediate effect.
According to the pension service, those concerning were receiving more than the so-called “Wijninckx Ceiling”, the maximum pension for public servants. This currently stands at 7,800 euro gross per month. The reason that the retired National Bank Executives and some other retired top civil servants and politicians were receiving figures in excess of Wijninckx Ceiling is due to the so-called “death cover”. The “death cover” that existed until 2017 allowed retirees to receive part of the amount that would normally have been reserved for their partner after their death during his or her lifetime. Doing this would of course mean that their partner would receive a lower amount once they were widowed.
The National Bank of Belgium doesn’t agree with the pension service’s take on “death cover”? The bank says that sums paid out under the “death cover” arrangement don’t fall under the Wijninckx Ceiling rule. Nevertheless, the National Bank has modified its pension rules.
In the wake of the controversy surrounding the level of pension paid out to former speakers of the Chamber of Representatives, the Pensions Service decided has decided to investigate more than 100 government institutions to determine whether they are applying the rules on pensions correctly.