FIMA blocks employers from recovering theft losses from employees’ pensions

Renthia Kaimbi

The Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA) now prohibits employers from deducting financial losses due to employee theft, fraud, dishonesty, or misconduct directly from pension benefits.

The practice was previously permitted under Namibia’s repealed Pension Funds Act and had, for decades, left retirement savings vulnerable to employer claims based on more than a signed admission of liability.

Under the repealed Pension Funds Act, section 37D expressly allowed retirement funds to deduct amounts owed to an employer where the loss arose from theft, dishonesty, fraud, or misconduct, provided the employee admitted liability in writing or a court judgment was obtained.

In practice, this meant that during disciplinary proceedings, often under immense pressure, employees could sign acknowledgements of debt, effectively allowing employers to recover losses directly from their retirement savings without independent judicial oversight.

Retirement funds author and pension industry professional Vincent Shimutwikeni has described this as a “deliberate legislative shift toward strengthening the protection afforded to retirement benefits.”