NETHERLANDS - Pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has approved a fourth version of the recovery plan of the pension fund of motorists' organisation ANWB.

The supervisor gave its final go-ahead, after the €640m scheme abandoned its initial plan to temporarily lower its indexation limit from 110% to 105% to accommodate its almost 5,000 pensioners and deferred members.

According to officials, DNB had insisted that the pension fund abandon measures that could hamper the recovery process.

"In order to prevent a long legal procedure, we have withdrawn our proposal, and we now will compensate our pensioners in another way," the fund said.

DNB had rejected the scheme's first recovery plan, stating that it wanted employers to continue to pay contributions for pensions as agreed by statute, rather than decrease the build-up of pension rights.

The sponsoring company had suggested to contribute €14.3m in 2009, as well as to pay an additional €2m every year until 2013 to assist the pension fund's recovery.

In addition, it had expressed willingness to pay an extra contribution if the current amount was not enough to cover the scheme's costs.

The funding ratio of the ANWB pension fund, which lost 22.5% on investments in 2008, had improved from 85% in March to 101% by the end of November.

The scheme's initial concept recovery plan was rejected by the unions, and a subsequent version was turned down by its participants council.

The Stichting Pensioenfonds ANWB offers pension arrangements to 9,580 workers, pensioners and deferred members of ANWB and its subsidiaries car transport firm Logicx Mobility, Medical Air Assistance, travel agency Pharos and insurer Unigarant.

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