英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Apr. 17, 2012)
Entire pension fund system must be overhauled
ＡＩＪ問題　時代状況に合う年金基金に（4月16日付・読売社説）

The recent scandal involving AIJ Investment Advisors Co. has exposed a structural problem concerning corporate employees' pension funds.
　ＡＩＪ事件は、厚生年金基金の構造的な問題をあぶり出した。

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry bears a heavy responsibility as it effectively ignored problems by failing to take appropriate measures, even though it was clear the entire system needs fixing.
　制度全体の行き詰まりが明白であったのに、適切な手を打たず、事態を事実上、放置してきた厚生労働省の責任は重い。

The Diet is desperate to pursue the responsibility of those involved in the scandal, having summoned AIJ President Kazuhiko Asakawa as an unsworn witness. However, the Diet and administrative authorities should work to substantially improve the system and leave to investigators the task of uncovering the company's activities, which border on fraud.
　国会はＡＩＪ投資顧問の浅川和彦社長らを証人喚問し、責任追及に躍起である。だが、詐欺まがいの行為の実態解明は捜査当局に委ねて、国会と行政は、本質的な制度改善に取り組むべきだろう。

AIJ is suspected of claiming to earn large profits through the stable management of assets in order to conclude contracts with corporate employees' pension funds that had trouble managing their money.
　ＡＩＪは、年金資金を思ったように運用できていない厚生年金基金に対して、「安定的に高い収益を得ている」と偽って投資を勧誘し、運用委託契約を結んだ疑いが持たれている。

Of about 580 corporate employees' pension funds in Japan, about 70 signed contracts with AIJ. However, even those that did not do so have trouble managing their assets.
　勧誘に乗ったのは約５８０基金のうち約７０基金だが、運用に苦しんでいる状況はどこも同じだ。

Corporate employees' pension funds are designed to manage not only contributions paid into corporate pension programs but also part of the public pension programs, and to pay out pensions to retirees.
　厚生年金基金は自前の企業年金に加え、公的年金の一部も運用し、退職者に支給する。

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Guaranteed high yields

At one time, these funds secured high yields, but their performance has deteriorated in recent years due to falling share prices and low interest rates. As a result, many corporate employees' pension funds are running short of reserves needed to pay pensions.
かつては高利回りを確保したが、近年は株安や低金利で運用成績が悪化し、年金支給に必要な積立金が不足している基金が多い。

In addition, 90 percent of these pension funds set guaranteed yields at an annual rate of 5.5 percent, the same yield as when the economy was booming. Based on this yield, the funds promised substantial payments to pension beneficiaries. In an effort to achieve this guaranteed rate, the funds that entrusted their assets to AIJ ended up suffering massive losses.
　しかも９割の基金は、予定利率を好調時と同じ年５・５％に据え置き、これが達成される前提で年金支給額を約束している。何とか予定利率に近い運用実績を得ようと、ＡＩＪの勧誘に乗った基金が被害に遭った。

The corporate employees' pension fund system has been unable to cope with the changing environment. Most of the funds offered postretirement jobs to former officials of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the now-defunct Social Insurance Agency. A total of 689 such people were on their payrolls as of March 1.
　厚生年金基金の制度全体が環境の変化に対応できていない。基金の大半に厚労省や旧社会保険庁から計６８９人が天下っている。

The government cannot evade criticism that it has failed to take drastic measures to improve the system, partly because of the tight personnel network of former welfare ministry officials.
厚労省人脈が張り巡らされていることが、抜本的対策を怠ってきた一因と見られても仕方あるまい。

The welfare ministry has finally begun considering measures to bring pension funds more in line with the situation today, such as by relaxing the rules to allow them to reduce payments. It has established a panel of experts for this purpose.
　厚労省は有識者会議を設け、年金を減額できる要件の緩和など、時代状況に合わせた改善策の検討作業にようやく乗り出した。

Reviewing the current system's unduly generous conditions, such as an extremely high guaranteed yield, may result in cuts in pension benefits and hikes in pension premiums. However, the system cannot be maintained if the pain accompanying such revisions is put off.
　高い予定利率など甘い前提を見直すことは、年金支給額のカットや掛け金の引き上げにつながる。だが、そうした痛みを伴う改正を先送りすれば制度は続かない。

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Learn lesson from AIJ scandal

This not only concerns corporate employees' pension funds, it involves the entire public pension system. The AIJ scandal should make the authorities and those concerned with the pension system even more aware of the serious situation surrounding the current pension system.
　これは厚年基金だけでなく公的年金全体に共通する話だ。ＡＩＪ事件を機に、年金制度の厳しい現状を改めて認識すべきである。

In the wake of the AIJ scandal, the Financial Services Agency for the first time investigated the entire investment advisory industry. As a result, it came to light that only about half of investment advisory companies had been screened by outside auditors.
　金融庁は、事件を受けて、初めて投資顧問業界全体の調査を行った。監査法人の外部監査を受けている投資顧問業者は、半数程度に過ぎないことが分かった。

We should not tighten regulations without reason, but given that investment advisory firms are entrusted with the management of pension funds, which are supposed to support retirees, we are disturbed by the lack of transparency in their management.
　いたずらに規制強化に向かうべきではないが、老後の生活を支える年金原資の運用を託す先としては透明性を欠く。

The government also should urgently review the Financial Services Agency's methods of monitoring the investment advisory industry.
金融庁の投資顧問業界に対するチェック体制についても、早急に見直すべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 16, 2012)
（2012年4月16日01時27分 読売新聞）