Letter to the AFICS/New York President, Ms. Linda Saputelli
24 June 2015
Pension Fund matters: Request for extraordinary
meeting under AFICS by-laws
Dear Linda,
Thank you for your
letter of 23 June 2015 in response to the request made by 82 AFICS members for
an extraordinary meeting to discuss proposed changes in the UN Joint Staff
Pension Fund, and related issues that are to be presented to the upcoming
session of the Pension Board.
We were surprised
to learn in your letter that “…the Governing Board believes that answers
to the ‘perceived gaps in information’ have been provided [at the 17 June
meeting] and is not fully convinced of the need for an extraordinary meeting,
much less on an urgent basis.”
While we appreciate
that the Governing Board may not be fully convinced of the need for an
extraordinary meeting, please understand that there are 82 members of AFICS who
remain convinced of such a need, and who have requested in accordance with the
AFICS by-laws that it be convened prior to the upcoming meeting of the Pension
Board.
On the matter of
timing, we would disagree with your perspective that there is no urgency to
convene this meeting. Clearly, the AFICS Governing Board has taken a position
on this vitally important matter, and that position will be presented to the
Pension Board at its upcoming session.
As was reflected at
the Annual General Meeting, the position taken by the AFICS leadership does not
necessarily reflect the views, or speak to the concerns of the AFICS membership
at large. It was for this reason that a motion was made, and seconded, for a
follow up meeting to be convened to address the matter of the Pension Fund more
comprehensively.
This action was
subsequently followed up by the request from 82 members who share the view that
the superficial treatment of this important issue at the AGM was inadequate and
wanting.
The requested
meeting is, therefore, in fact urgently needed to ensure/confirm alignment
between the position being taken by the AFICS leadership and the members at
large, and which is to be presented at the upcoming session of the Pension
Board.
In this connection,
kindly be reminded that under the AFICS by-laws, Article IV:
“3. The Governing Board may convene an extraordinary meeting
of the Assembly, and shall do so upon receipt of a written request from at
least fifty members of the Association.”
Please note that the operative word is “shall”. Where the
AFICS Governing Board appears to perceive an option in this regard, the by-laws
clearly stipulate an obligation.
We also wish to recall that when we met with you and other
Board members on 17 June, you confirmed that the Governing Board had met
earlier that day, and that the requested meeting would be convened, on a date
to be determined. We informed the signers of the request accordingly, in an
email, copied to you and the Board, on the same date. You may find attached the
Note of the meeting which we prepared, reference page 2, last paragraph as
follows:
“It was agreed that an extraordinary meeting will be
convened. However, the matter is to be further discussed with the Governing
Board and we will be informed of the date of the meeting.”
We wish to note as well that during our meeting, you voiced
several assumptions, with which we took issue at the time, but which
clearly persist, as evidenced by statements in your letter.
One assumption is that “answers to the ‘perceived gaps in
information’ have been provided;" another is that “if some retirees
continue to lack trust in the information/assurances that have been provided,
further meetings would not dispel this mistrust”, and third, that we, the
attendees at the meeting and our collaborators, are the only ones dissatisfied
with the information provided and are misleading those who have signed the
request, whom, you state, “may be unaware of the latest information provided by
the Administration at the Assembly”.
We particularly take exception to the characterization of our
request by “Many members of the Governing Board [as an] attempt to discredit an
Assembly which had been highly informative.” The purpose of general meetings is
not just to hear from the managers of the Fund or other senior UN officials,
but to hear from the membership as well. Furthermore, AFICS has an obligation to
reflect the views and concerns of the membership in its public statements
independently of the opinions of the Fund managers.
We wish to note that your letter neglects to mention
important information that was provided to us at the meeting, by you personally,
which has not been made available to the AFICS membership, regarding deliberate
leaks to the media by the Representative of the Secretary-General, later
retracted, of the Fund’s intent to increase alternative investments. What would
be the RSG's purpose in leaking such information to the press were there no
intention to shift the investment policy in such a direction? These remain unanswered questions that are in fact worrisome
to many of the members at large.
Further, your letter makes no mention of what Mr. Sach
described in the meeting as a “key worrying element” in the draft Memorandum of
Understanding, thereby acknowledging the validity of our own concerns in this
area. The element to which he referred relates to the potential to breach the split
between the liabilities and investment sides of the Fund, which is widely
believed to be one of the pillars on which its health is based. We were told
that there is a new draft of the MOU which does not contain this potential
risk. However, to be clear, this version of the document remains to be
circulated.
It is unfortunate that your letter, copied to the signers of
the request, strives to discredit our efforts toward more transparency in
Pension Fund matters. It is apparent that were it not for those efforts, and
the efforts of others, there would have been no town hall meeting, or redrafted
MOU.
It is also highly possible that the assurances from
high-level officials concerning the MOU and investment policy are based on
shifts in strategy because of the added transparency our efforts have brought
to the issues.
We remain dissatisfied, and contrary to your assertions, so
do many AFICS members, that given the importance of the issue, the AFICS
leadership has not itself considered it necessary to hold a meeting devoted to
Pension Fund matters during the past year. Instead, it has chosen to trivialize
and dismiss the efforts of its members who have been calling for a more
comprehensive discussion on the issue with a view to promoting greater transparency
and accountability.
It is in this spirit that we reiterate our earlier request
under Article IV of the AFICS by-laws that an extraordinary meeting be convened
to take up this matter prior to the upcoming session of the UNJSPF Pension
Board.
We are hereby requesting that you post this response on the
AFICS website.
Sincerely,
Curling, Lowell, Loraine
Curling Smith
Lowell Flanders
Loraine Rickard-Martin
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