Employees Provident Fund (Malaysia)
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Logo of the EPF
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| Statutory body | |
| Predecessor | Employees Provident Fund Board (1951) |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Bangunan KWSP, Jalan Raja Laut, 50350 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
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Key people
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Samsudin Osman, Chairman of the Board Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, Chief Executive Officer |
| Parent | Ministry of Finance |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | www |
Employees' Provident Fund (Malay: Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja) commonly known by the acronym EPF (Malay: KWSP) is a federal statutory body under the purview of the Ministry of Finance. It manages the compulsory savings plan and retirement planning for private sector workers in Malaysia. Membership of the EPF is mandatory for Malaysian citizens employed in the private sector, and voluntary for non-Malaysian citizens.
The Malaysian EPF was established in 1951 pursuant to the Employees Provident Fund Ordinance 1951, under the National Director of Posts. This law became the EPF Act 1951 in 1982, then the EPF Act 1991 in 1991. The EPF Act 1991 requires employees and their employers to contribute towards their retirement savings, and allows workers to withdraw these savings at retirement or for special purposes before then. As of 31 December 2012, EPF has 13.6 million members, of which 6.4 million are active contributing members. At the same date, EPF had 502,863 contributing employers.
The EPF is intended to help employees from the private sector save a fraction of their salary in a lifetime banking scheme, to be used primarily as a retirement fund but also in the event that the employee is temporarily or no longer fit to work. The EPF also provides a framework for employers to meet legal and moral obligations to their employees.
As of March 31, 2014, the size of the EPF asset size stood at RM597 billion. (US$184 billion), making it the fourth largest pension fund in Asia and seventh largest in the world.
As of 2012, the EPF functions by requiring a contribution of at least 11% of each member's monthly salary and storing it in a savings account, while the member's employer is obligated to additionally fund at least 12% of employee's salary to the savings at the same time (13% if salary is below RM5,000).
While in savings, a member's EPF savings may be used as investments for companies deemed profitable and permissible by the organisation, from which dividends are banked to respective members' accounts. Alternately, members may use their EPF savings in their own investments, although such activities are not covered by the EPF and the members are to bear any losses made.
The EPF declares an annual dividend on funds on deposit which has varied over time, depending on investment results.
Legally, the EPF is only obligated to provide 2.5% dividends (as per Section 27 of the Employees Provident Fund Act 1991).
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Wikipedia