Defined Contribution Pension Act

In light of the changes in socioeconomic situations such as the progression of the declining birthrate and aging population and the diversification of lifestyles in old age, and in order to enable individuals to give instructions on their own responsibility regarding investment of funds contributed by individuals or employers and receive benefits based on the investment outcomes in old age, this Act aims to provide for necessary particulars concerning defined contribution pensions and support the voluntary efforts of citizens for securing income in old age, thereby contributing to stabilizing the lives and improving the welfare of citizens, in conjunction with provision of benefits of public pensions.

①The term "defined contribution pension plan" as used in this Act means a corporate-type pension plan and an individual-type pension plan.

②The term "corporate-type pension plan" as used in this Act means a pension system independently or jointly implemented by an employer with a place of business where an employees' pension insurance (EPI) is applicable based on the provisions of the following Chapter.

③The term "individual-type pension plan" as used in this Act means a pension system implemented by the Association based on the provisions of Chapter III.

④The term "EPI-applicable place of business" as used in this Act means an applicable place of business referred to in Article 6, paragraph (1) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act (Act No. 115 of 1954) and an applicable place of business for which the approval referred to in paragraph (3) of that Article has been obtained.

⑤The term "Association" as used in this Act means the National Pension Fund Association, which has been designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as the sole person throughout Japan to implement an individual-type pension plan.

⑥The term "category I or IV EPI insured" as used in this Act means an insured person covered by the employees' pension insurance who is a category I EPI insured person prescribed in Article 2-5, paragraph (1), item (i) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act (hereinafter referred to as a "category I EPI insured person") or a category IV EPI insured person prescribed in item (iv) of that paragraph (hereinafter referred to as a "category IV EPI insured person").

⑦The term "defined contribution pension plan operational management business" as used in this Act means a business of providing all or part of the following services (hereinafter referred to as the "operational management services"):

⑧The term "participant of a corporate-type pension plan" as used in this Act means a person, under a corporate-type pension plan, for whom an employer with an EPI-applicable place of business that implements the corporate-type pension plan for that person makes contributions, and who gives instructions on investment with regard to the person's assets managed per individual.

⑨The term "instructor of a corporate-type pension plan" as used in this Act means a person, under a corporate-type pension plan, who gives instructions on investment with regard to the person's assets managed per individual (excluding a participant of a corporate-type pension plan).

⑩The term "participant of an individual-type pension plan" as used in this Act means a person, under an individual-type pension plan, who makes contributions and who gives instructions on investment with regard to the person's assets managed per individual.

⑪The term "instructor of an individual-type pension plan investment" as used in this Act means a person, under an individual-type pension plan, who gives instructions on investment with regard to the person's assets managed per individual (excluding a participant of an individual-type pension plan).

⑫The term "assets managed per individual" as used in this Act means assets reserved under a corporate-type pension plan or an individual-type pension plan to be allocated to benefits to be paid to a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan or to a person who is or was a participant of an individual-type pension plan.

⑬The term "the amount of assets managed per individual" as used in this Act means the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order as the amount of assets managed per individual.

①When an employer with an EPI-applicable place of business intends to implement a corporate-type pension plan, the employer must prepare rules concerning the corporate-type pension plan and obtain approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for those rules by obtaining consent of a labor union consisting of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured person employed at the EPI-applicable place of business where the employer intends to implement a corporate-type pension plan (excluding those who fall under Article 9, paragraph (2), item (ii); hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph, paragraph (3) of the following Article (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 5, paragraph (4), Article 6, paragraph (2), and Article 46, paragraph (3)), and paragraph (4) of that Article, Article 5, paragraph (2) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 6, paragraph (2)), and Article 46, paragraph (1)), if there is any such labor union, or consent of the person representative of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured person, if there is no labor union consisting of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured person.

②When intending to implement a corporate-type pension plan at two or more EPI-applicable places of business, the consent referred to in the preceding paragraph must be obtained for each EPI-applicable place of business.

③The rules concerning a corporate-type pension plan must provide for the following particulars:

④An employer with an EPI-applicable place of business that intends to obtain the approval referred to in paragraph (1) must submit a written application for the approval, attaching the following documents, to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:

⑤Beyond what is provided for in the preceding paragraphs, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary matters in connection with the approval for the rules concerning the corporate-type pension plan.

①When an application for the approval referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article is filed, and the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that the rules pertaining to the application satisfy the following requirements, the minister is to give the approval referred to in that paragraph:

②When the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare gives the approval referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the minister must promptly give notice to that effect to the employer that has filed the application.

③When the employer obtains the approval referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the employer must, without delay, inform the category I or IV EPI insured person employed at the place of business implementing the plan of the rules for which the approval referred to in that paragraph has been obtained (hereinafter referred to as the "corporate-type pension plan rules").

④The employer must keep the corporate-type pension plan rules at each place of business implementing the plan and have the category I or IV EPI insured person whom the employer employs inspect the rules at their request, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①When an employer intends to make a change to the corporate-type pension plan rules (excluding the minor change specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), the employer must obtain approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for that change.

②An application for the approval for the change referred to in the preceding paragraph must be filed by obtaining consent of a labor union consisting of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured person employed at the place of business implementing the plan, if there is any such labor union, or consent of the person representative of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured person, if there is no labor union consisting of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured person.

③In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, if there are two or more places of business implementing the plan, the consent referred to in that paragraph must be obtained for each place of business implementing the plan; provided, however, that if the change referred to in paragraph (1) does not involve all places of business implementing the plan, and the rules have provided for matters concerning that change in advance, once the consent referred to in the preceding paragraph has been obtained for the place of business implementing the plan subject to that change, it may be deemed that the consent of not only the places of business implementing the plan subject to that change but also the other places of business implementing the plan has also been obtained.

④The provisions of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the case where an application for the approval or a change referred to in paragraph (1) has been filed. In this case, the phrase "category I or IV EPI insured person" in paragraph (3) of the preceding Article is deemed to be replaced with "category I or IV EPI insured person (including the instructor of a corporate-type pension plans, if an important change has been made to a matter concerning an instructor of a corporate-type pension plans)".

①When an employer makes a change to the corporate-type pension plan rules (limited to the minor change specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article), the employer must give notification of that change to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare without delay; provided, however, that this does not apply to a change to the matters set forth in Article 3, paragraph (3), item (v) or any other matter specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②The provisions of Article 4, paragraph (3) and paragraphs (2) and (3) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the change referred to in the preceding paragraph; provided, however, that the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3) of the preceding Article do not apply if the change is the minor change specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as referred to in paragraph (1) of that Article, which is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as being particularly minor.

①An employer may entrust all or part of operational management services to a defined contribution pension plan operational management institution, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

②Pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order a defined contribution pension plan operational management institution may re-entrust a part of the operational management services which it has been entrusted with under the provisions of the preceding paragraph to another defined contribution pension plan operational management institution.

③If a defined contribution pension plan operational management institution that provides all or part of operational management services ceases to be available, the employer must provide all or part of the operational management services by itself, or decide on a defined contribution pension plan operational management institution that is to succeed those operational management services and entrust those operational management services to that institution.

④If an employer has entrusted all or part of operational management services to a defined contribution pension plan operational management institution pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) (including the case where services have been re-entrusted pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2)), the employer must, at least every five years, endeavor to conduct evaluation on the implementation of the operational management services, review the entrustment of the operational management services, and if found to be necessary, take necessary measures, such as changing the defined contribution pension plan operational management institution.

⑤Beyond what is provided for in the preceding paragraphs, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary matters in connection with entrustment of operational management services.

①An employer must conclude the contract set forth in any of the following items with regard to the reserve fund to be allocated to benefits (hereinafter referred to as the "reserve fund") pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order:

②The persons prescribed in the items of the preceding paragraph must not refuse to conclude the contracts set forth respectively in those items (hereinafter referred to as "asset management contracts"), unless there are legitimate grounds therefor.

③If an asset management institution cases to be available, the employer must decide on another person that is to be the counterparty of an asset management contract, and conclude an asset management contract with that person.

④When an asset management contract has been canceled, the asset management institution pertaining to the canceled asset management contract must promptly transfer the reserve fund pertaining to the asset management contract to the asset management institution specified by the employer.

⑤Beyond what is provided for in the preceding paragraphs, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary matters in connection with asset management contracts.

①The category I or IV EPI insured person employed at the place of business implementing the plan are to be participant of a corporate-type pension plans.

②Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, a person who falls under any of the following items is not to be a participant of a corporate-type pension plan:

A participant of a corporate-type pension plan acquires the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan on the day on which the person comes to fall under any of the following items:

A participant of a corporate-type pension plan loses the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan on the day following the day on which the person comes to fall under any of the following items (if, on the day when that fact occurs, the person further comes to fall under any of the items of the preceding Article, or if the person comes to fall under item (v) (limited to the case specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) or item (vi), on the day of falling under that item):

If a person loses the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan during the month when the person acquired that status, the person is retroactively deemed not to have been a participant of a corporate-type pension plan from the day on which the person acquired the status.

①If a qualified participant of a corporate-type pension plan of two or more corporate-type pension plans at the same time, the person is not to be a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the corporate-type pension plans other than the one corporate-type pension plan to be selected by the person, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9.

②The selection referred to in the preceding paragraph must be made within ten days from the day on which the person qualifies as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of two or more corporate-type pension plans.

③If the person prescribed in paragraph (1) makes the selection referred to in that paragraph, the person is retroactively deemed not to have been a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the corporate-type pension plans other than the one corporate-type pension plan selected by the person from the day on which the person became eligible to qualify as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of two or more corporate-type pension plans.

④If the person prescribed in paragraph (1) does not make the selection referred to in that paragraph, the person is deemed to have selected one of the two or more corporate-type pension plans, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

⑤If a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the first corporate-type pension plan becomes eligible to qualify as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of a second corporate-type pension plan at the same time, and the person selects the second corporate-type pension plan pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), the person becomes ineligible to qualify as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the first corporate-type pension plan on the day when the person became a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the second corporate-type pension plan.

⑥If the person prescribed in paragraph (1) ceases to be a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the corporate-type pension plan selected pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph, the person acquires the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of a corporate-type pension plan other than that corporate-type pension plan on that day.

①When calculating the period during which a person is a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (hereinafter referred to as the "participant of a corporate-type pension plan period"), the period is to be calculated on a monthly basis, and the period from the month in which the person acquired the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan to the month preceding the month in which the person lost the status is included in that period.

②With regard to a person who has lost the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, but has subsequently acquired the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of that same corporate-type pension plan again, the former and latter participant of a corporate-type pension plan periods under that corporate-type pension plan are to be totaled.

①Any of the following persons is to be an instructor of a corporate-type pension plan:

②An instructor of a corporate-type pension plan acquires the status as an instructor of a corporate-type pension plan on the day on which the person comes to fall within the category of the person set forth in any of the items of the preceding paragraph.

③An instructor of a corporate-type pension plan loses the status as an instructor of a corporate-type pension plan on the day following the day on which the person comes to fall under any of the following items (if the person comes to fall under item (iii), on the day of falling under that item):

④The provisions of Article 12 apply mutatis mutandis to the status as an instructor of a corporate-type pension plan, and the provisions of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the case of calculating the period during which a person is an instructor of a corporate-type pension plan (hereinafter referred to as "instructor of a corporate-type pension plan period").

①Pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare an employer must give notice of the names and addresses and other matters of the participant of a corporate-type pension plan to the defined contribution pension plan operational management institution which provides records-related services relating to the participants or instructors of the corporate-type pension plan (hereinafter referred to as the "corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution"); provided, however, that this does not apply to a case where the employer provides all of the records-related services.

②Pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare a participant of a corporate-type pension plan must report the corporate-type pension plan and other matters selected pursuant to the provisions of Article 13, paragraph (1) to the employer or the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution.

Pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare an instructor of a corporate-type pension plan must report the name and address and other matters thereof to the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution (including the employer that provides records-related services; hereinafter referred to as the "corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc.").

①Pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. must prepare a register of participants or instructors of the corporate-type pension plan, record therein the names and addresses, the dates of acquisition and loss of the status, the amounts of assets managed per individual, and other particulars specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare with regard to participants or instructors of the corporate-type pension plan, and keep it.

②A person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (including a person who is eligible to receive a lump-sum death benefit) may make a request for inspection of the register referred to in the preceding paragraph or make an inquiry on the particulars recorded in that register to the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. In this case, the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. must not refuse the request for inspection or refuse to answer the inquiry, unless there are legitimate grounds therefor.

①An employer periodically makes contributions at least once a year, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

②The amount of the employer's contribution is to be specified by the corporate-type pension plan rules.

③A participant of a corporate-type pension plan may periodically make own contributions pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules that are in accordance with the standards specified by Cabinet Order.

④The amount of the participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution is decided or changed by the participant of a corporate-type pension plan pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules.

The total annual amount of the employer's contributions to be made for each participant of a corporate-type pension plan (if the participant of a corporate-type pension plan contributes to a participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution, the sum of the amount of the employer's contributions and the amount of the participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution; hereinafter the same applies in this Article) must not exceed the amount of the contribution limit (meaning the amount specified by Cabinet Order as the maximum total amount of the employer's contributions that may be made per year, taking into account whether the participant of a corporate-type pension plan has the eligibility as a participant of a defined benefit corporate pension plan and other factors).

①An employer is to pay the employer's contribution to the asset management institution by the day specified by the corporate-type pension plan rules.

②When an employer pays the employer's contributions, , pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare the employer must give notice of the amount of the employer's contribution for each participant of a corporate-type pension plan to the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution; provided, however, that this does not apply to a case where the employer provides all of the records-related services.

①A participant of a corporate-type pension plan who makes a participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution is to pay the participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution to the asset management institution through the employer by the day specified by the corporate-type pension plan rules.

②The provisions of paragraph (2) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the case where the employer pays the contributions of a participant of a corporate-type pension plan.

①If an employer that pays the participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article also pays the salary of the participant of a corporate-type pension plan in currency, the employer may deduct the participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution from their salary.

②When an employer has deducted a participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the employer must prepare a calculation sheet concerning the deduction of the participant of a corporate-type pension plan's contribution, and give notice of the amount deducted to the participant of a corporate-type pension plan.

①An employer must endeavor to continuously take necessary measures, such as providing basic materials on investment of assets, for the participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan of the corporate-type pension plan the employer implements, in order to contribute to their instructions on investment referred to in Article 25, paragraph (1).

②When an employer takes the measures referred to in the preceding paragraph, the employer is to give consideration so that the measures improve the knowledge of the participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan concerning investment of assets, and enable them to effectively utilize the knowledge in their instructions on investment referred to in Article 25, paragraph (1).

①A defined contribution pension plan operational management institution that provides investment-related services relating to participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan (including an employer that provides investment-related services; hereinafter referred to as a "corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc.") must, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, select the following investment methods which are specified by Cabinet Order (referred to as the "subject investment methods" in paragraph (1) of the following Article) in a number not more than the number specified by Cabinet Order as the maximum number for contributing to appropriate selection of an investment method by participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan and not less than three, and present them to the participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules:

②The selection of investment methods under the provisions of the preceding paragraph must be made in a manner that the characteristics of the expected returns on the investment, such as the expected rate of returns and the possibility of volatility in returns, are not similar, and in accordance with other standards specified by Cabinet Order.

③When a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. selects investment methods pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, it must make the selection based on expert knowledge on investment of assets.

①Pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. may select one investment method from among the subject investment methods and present it to a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, in addition to the investment methods presented pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article.

②The investment method selected pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as the "default investment method") must be one that complies with the standards specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as those for securing profits from a long-term perspective to provide against losses that may be caused due to changes in prices and other economic situations.

③The provisions of paragraph (3) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the case of selecting a default investment method pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1).

Pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. must provide participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan with information that is necessary for them to give instructions on investment referred to in Article 25, paragraph (1), such as the expected return and the risk of loss, with regard to the investment methods presented pursuant to the provisions of Article 23, paragraph (1).

If a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. has selected and presented a default investment method pursuant to the provisions of Article 23-2, paragraph (1), pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, it must provide a participant of a corporate-type pension plan with information on the following particulars:

①Participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan are to give instructions on investment with regard to their assets managed per individual of the reserve fund, pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules.

②The instructions on investment referred to in the preceding paragraph (hereinafter simply referred to as the "instructions on investment" in this Chapter) are to be given by selecting one investment method or two or more investment methods from among the investment methods presented pursuant to the provisions of Article 23, paragraph (1) (if a default investment method has been presented pursuant to the provisions of Article 23-2, paragraph (1), including that default investment method; hereinafter the same applies in this Article) (referred to as the "presented investment methods" in Article 26, paragraph (1)), deciding on the amount to be allocated to each investment method, and indicating these particulars to the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc.

③When a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. receives instructions on investment, it is to assemble the instructions on investment given at the same time for each investment method presented pursuant to the provisions of Article 23, paragraph (1), and give notice of their contents to the asset management institution, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

④When an asset management institution receives the notice referred to in the preceding paragraph, it must promptly take necessary measures, such as concluding, changing, or canceling contracts, with regard to the respective investment methods, according to the notice referred to in that paragraph.

①If a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. has not received instructions on investment from a participant of a corporate-type pension plan even after the passage of a period specified by the corporate-type pension plan rules (referred to as the "specified period" in the following paragraph) that is three months or more from the days specified in the following items for the respective categories of cases set forth in those items, the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. must give notice of the particulars referred to in the following paragraph and the default investment method to the participant of a corporate-type pension plan:

②If a participant of a corporate-type pension plan who has received a notice under the provisions of the preceding paragraph does not give instructions on investment even after the passage of a period specified by the corporate-type pension plan rules (referred to as the "grace period" in the following paragraph) that is two weeks or more from the day of passage of the specified period, the participant of a corporate-type pension plan is deemed to have selected the default investment method pertaining to that notice, and to have given an instruction on investment to allot the entire amount of that person's uninstructed assets managed per individual to the default investment method.

③The "uninstructed assets managed per individual" referred to in the preceding paragraph means assets managed per individual for which no instructions on investment have been given by the day on which the grace period pertaining to the notice under the provisions of paragraph (1) ends and those for which no instructions on investment have been given with regard to the employer's contribution, etc. paid after that day.

①When a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. intends to exclude an investment method from the presented investment methods, pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules, it must obtain consent of two-thirds or more of the participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan that have given instructions on investment by selecting the investment method to be excluded (hereinafter referred to as the "instructors using the investment method to be excluded" in this Article) (excluding those whose whereabouts are unknown); provided, however, that this does not apply if the institution, etc. intends to exclude the investment method due to the counterparty to the contract for that investment method ceasing to be available or due to any other grounds specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②If the instructors using the investment method to be excluded have not manifested their intention of consent or non-consent even after the passage of a period specified by the corporate-type pension plan rules that is three weeks or more from the day of giving notice for obtaining the consent referred to in the preceding paragraph to the instructors using the investment method to be excluded, the corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. may deem that the instructors using the investment method to be excluded have given the consent referred to in that paragraph, pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules. In this case, a statement to that effect must have been included in that notice.

③When a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. has excluded an investment method pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), it must give notice to that effect to the instructors using the investment method to be excluded.

④If a corporate-type pension plan investment-related operational management institution, etc. is unable to give the notice referred to in the preceding paragraph due to the whereabouts of the instructors using the investment method to be excluded being unknown, it must give public notice to the effect that the investment method has been excluded, in lieu of the notice referred to in that paragraph.

①A corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. must give notice to participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan about the amount of assets managed per individual and other particulars specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare with regard to that participant or instructor of a corporate-type pension plan at least once every year.

②A corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. must make information on the particulars specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, such as the status of contributions, with regard to a participant or instructor of a corporate-type pension plan available for inspection by that participant or instructor of a corporate-type pension plan through a means of using information and communications technology, such as a means of using an electronic data processing system, which is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The benefits of a corporate-type pension plan (hereinafter referred to as "benefits" in this Subsection and Article 48-2) are to be as follows:

①A corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. issues a ruling confirming a person's right to receive benefits at the request of the person who has that right (hereinafter referred to as the "beneficiary" in this Section).

②When a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. has issued a ruling pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, it must give notice of the contents thereof to the asset management institution without delay.

The amount of benefits is the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules.

①Payment of benefits which are paid as pensions (referred to as "pension benefits" in the following paragraph) is to commence in the month following the month in which the grounds for paying the benefits occurred and end in the month in which the right to receive benefits extinguishes.

②The payment months of pension benefits are to be in accordance with the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules.

①The right to receive benefits may not be transferred, provided as collateral, or seized; provided, however, that this does not apply to a case of seizing the right to receive old-age benefits and a lump-sum death benefit based on a disposition of national tax delinquency (including a disposition governed by the same rules).

②Taxes and other public charges may not be imposed based on money paid as disability benefits.

①If a person who was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under that corporate-type pension plan, and excluding a beneficiary of disability benefits of that corporate-type pension plan or a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of another corporate-type pension plan; hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph) and who is set forth in any of the following items has a total enrollment period of the number of years or months set forth in the respective items or longer, that person is entitled to claim the payment of old-age benefits from a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc., pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; provided, however, that a person who was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan and who is aged 60 or over but under 75 is entitled to claim the payment of old-age benefits from a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. from the day on which five years have passed from the day specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, such as the day on which that person became a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, even if the person does not have that total enrollment period:

②The total enrollment period referred to in the preceding paragraph means a period totaling the following periods for the person prescribed in that paragraph (limited to the periods in or before the month containing the day preceding the day on which that person reached the age of 60) pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order:

③When the claim referred to in paragraph (1) has been filed, the asset management institution pays old-age benefits to the person who filed the claim, based on a ruling by the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc.

When a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under the corporate-type pension plan) reaches the age of 75 without claiming the payment of old-age benefits pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article, the asset management institution pays old-age benefits to that person, based on a ruling by the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc.

①Old-age benefits are paid as pensions.

②If the corporate-type pension plan rules provide that all or part of old-age benefits may be paid in lump sum, old-age benefits may be paid in lump sum pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

The right to receive old-age benefits extinguishes when the beneficiary falls under any of the following items:

①If a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under the corporate-type pension plan) has contracted an illness or suffered an injury and has come to have a disability of a degree of severity specified by Cabinet Order due to that injury or illness or an illness caused by that illness or injury (hereinafter referred to as an " illness or injury") during the period from the day on which one year and six months have passed since the day on which the person received the first medical examination from a doctor or dentist for that illness or injury (hereinafter referred to as the "day of initial examination") (if the illness or injury has healed on any day within this period (including a day on which the symptoms thereof have stabilized to a level where no curative effect is expected), the period from that day; the starting day of the period is hereinafter referred to as the "day of disability assessment"), until the day preceding the day on which the person reaches the age of 75, the person is entitled to claim the payment of disability benefits from a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. during that period.

②If a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under the corporate-type pension plan) has contracted an illness or suffered an injury and, as of the day of initial examination for that illness or injury (hereinafter referred to as the "base illness or injury" in this paragraph), had a disability caused by an illness or injury other than the base illness or injury, and if, during the period from the day of disability assessment for the base illness or injury until the day preceding the day on which the person reaches the age of 75, the person has come to have the disability of a degree of severity specified by Cabinet Order referred to in the preceding paragraph, for the first time, by combining the disability caused by the base illness or injury and the other disability (limited to the case where the day of initial examination for the base illness or injury is on or after the day of initial examination for the illness or injury other than the base illness or injury (if there are two or more injuries or illnesses other than the base illness or injury, the days of initial examination for all of the injuries or illnesses other than the base illness or injury)), the person is entitled to claim the payment of disability benefits from a corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. during that period.

③When the claim referred to in either of the preceding two paragraphs has been filed, the asset management institution pays disability benefits to the person who filed the claim, based on a ruling by the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc.

①Disability benefits are paid as pensions.

②If the corporate-type pension plan rules provide that all or part of disability benefits may be paid in a lump sum, disability benefits may be paid in a lump sum pursuant to the provisions of the corporate-type pension plan rules, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

The right to receive disability benefits extinguishes when the beneficiary falls under any of the following items:

When a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under the corporate-type pension plan) dies, the asset management institution pays a lump-sum death benefit to that person's surviving family member, based on a ruling by the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc.

①The surviving family member who is eligible to receive a lump-sum death benefit is to be among the following persons; provided, however, that this does not apply if the deceased person had designated the family member who is to receive the lump-sum death benefit from among the person's spouse (including a person with whom notification of marriage has not been made, but who has been in a de facto marital relationship with the deceased person; hereinafter the same applies in this Article), children, father, mother, grandchildren, grandfather, grandmother, or siblings and had indicated that family member to the corporate-type pension plan records-related operational management institution, etc. before the person's death:

②In the case referred to in the main clause of the preceding paragraph, the order of the surviving family member who is eligible to receive the lump-sum death benefit is based on the order of the items of that paragraph, and for the persons set forth in items (ii) and (iv) of that paragraph, it is based on the order in which the persons are listed in those items. In this case, the order of parents is to be the order of adoptive parents, followed by natural parents, and the order of grandparents is to be the order of adoptive parents of adoptive parents, followed by natural parents of adoptive parents, adoptive parents of natural parents, and then natural parents of natural parents.

③If there are two or more surviving family members who are eligible to receive a lump-sum death benefit pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph and who are in the same rank of order, the lump-sum death benefit is paid to them by equally dividing the benefit by that number of persons.

④If there is no surviving family member who is eligible to receive a lump-sum death benefit, money in an amount equivalent to the amount of assets managed per individual relating to the deceased person is deemed to be an estate of the deceased person.

⑤If a person who is eligible to receive a lump-sum death benefit does not file a claim for a ruling to confirm the right to receive the benefit within five years after the death of the deceased person, the provisions of the preceding paragraph apply by deeming that there is no surviving family member who is eligible to receive the lump-sum death benefit.

A person who has caused the death of a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan by committing an intentional criminal act may not receive the lump-sum death benefit, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article. The same applies to a person who has, before the death of a person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, caused the death of the person who was eligible to receive a lump-sum death benefit upon the death of the person who is or was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, by committing an intentional criminal act.

①An employer must comply with laws and regulations, dispositions made by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare based on laws and regulations, and the corporate-type pension plan rules, and loyally perform its duties in the interest of participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan.

②When an employer keeps or uses personal information of a participant or instructor of a corporate-type pension plan, such as the name, address, date of birth, and the amount of assets managed per individual relating to the participant or instructor of a corporate-type pension plan, in connection to services relating to implementation of a corporate-type pension plan, the employer must keep or use that personal information within the scope necessary for performing those services; provided, however, that this does not apply if the person's consent has been obtained or if there are other justifiable grounds.

③An employer must not conduct the following acts:

④An employer (limited to one that provides investment-related services) must not conduct the following acts:

An asset management institution must comply with laws and regulations and asset management contracts, and loyally perform its duties in the interest of participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan.

A corporate-type pension plan terminates when it comes to fall under any of the following items:

①When an employer intends to terminate a corporate-type pension plan, the employer must obtain approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare by obtaining the consent of a labor union consisting of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured persons employed at the place of business implementing the plan, if there is any such labor union, or the consent of the person representative of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured persons, if there is no labor union consisting of the majority of the category I or IV EPI insured persons.

②In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, if there are two or more places of business implementing the plan, the consent referred to in that paragraph must be obtained for each place of business implementing the plan.

③The provisions of Article 4, paragraphs (2) and (3) apply mutatis mutandis to the case where an application for the approval for termination referred to in paragraph (1) has been filed.

When an employer (if employers jointly implement a corporate-type pension plan, all of the employers implementing the corporate-type pension plan) comes to fall under any of the following items, the approval for the corporate-type pension plan rules of the corporate-type pension plan the employer implements ceases to be effective. In this case, the persons respectively specified in those items must make notification to that effect to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare within thirty days from the day on which the employer came to fall under those respective items (in the case of item (i), from the day of coming to know that fact):

Beyond what is provided for in this Section, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary particulars in connection with termination of a corporate-type pension plan.

An employer may entrust all or part of the services to collect, organize, or analyze the information on participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan which is necessary for paying benefits (excluding operational management services; hereinafter referred to as "information-collecting services") and the services to take necessary measures, such as providing basic materials on investment of assets, in order to contribute to the instructions on investment by participants or instructors of a corporate-type pension plan (hereinafter referred to as "material-providing services") to the Pension Fund Association (meaning the Pension Fund Association prescribed in Article 91-2, paragraph (1) of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act; the same applies hereinafter).

In addition to services under the provisions of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act the Pension Fund Association may provide information-collecting services and material-providing services as entrusted under the provisions of the preceding Article (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 73).

The Pension Fund Association must separate the accounting for information-collecting services and material-providing services from other accounting.

When information-collecting services or material-providing services of the Pension Fund Association are provided pursuant to the provisions of Article 48-3, the term "this Act" in Article 121 of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act is deemed to be replaced with "this Act or Article 48-3 of the Defined Contribution Pension Act", and Cabinet Order prescribes other necessary particulars in connection with application of the provisions of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act.

An employer (limited to one that provides operational management services) must prepare and keep books and documents concerning operational management services, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

An employer must submit reports on the services relating to the corporate-type pension plan to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①To the extent necessary for the enforcement of this Act the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may collect reports on the status of implementation of a corporate-type pension plan from an employer or have the relevant officials enter the place of business, ask persons concerned questions, or conduct on-site inspection on the status of implementation.

②The officials who ask questions and conduct inspections pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph must carry identification cards showing their official status, and present them when requested by persons concerned.

③The authority under the provisions of paragraph (1) must not be construed as being granted for criminal investigation purposes.

①If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare collects reports, asks questions, or conducts inspections pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article, and finds that the employer violates laws or regulations, the corporate-type pension plan rules, or a disposition made by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with regard to a corporate-type pension plan the employer implements, or finds that the employer's operation of a corporate-type pension plan is extremely inappropriate, the minister may order the employer to take necessary measures for rectifying the violation or making improvement within a specified period.

②If an employer violates the order referred to in the preceding paragraph or if it is found difficult to continue the implementation of a corporate-type pension plan in light of the status of its implementation, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may rescind the approval for the corporate-type pension plan rules of that employer.

①A corporate pension fund may provide services relating to an asset management contract pursuant to the provisions of its rules.

②A corporate pension fund must separate the accounting for services relating to an asset management contract from other accounting.

③When services of a corporate pension fund are provided pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), the term "this Act" in Article 121 of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act is deemed to be replaced with "this Act or Article 53, paragraph (1) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act", and Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary particulars in connection with application of the provisions of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act.

①Pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order an asset management institution of a corporate-type pension plan may receive transfer of all or part of assets relating to a defined benefit corporate pension plan, the retirement allowance mutual aid under the provisions of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Retirement Allowance Cooperative Act (Act No. 160 of 1959), or the retirement allowance system, implemented at the place of business implementing the plan with regard to the relevant corporate-type pension plan.

②When an asset management institution receives transfer of assets pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the period during which each participant of a corporate-type pension plan was employed by the employer of the place of business implementing the plan (limited to the period in or before the month containing the day preceding the day on which the participant of a corporate-type pension plan reached the age of 60) or other period equivalent thereto specified by Cabinet Order is to be included in the total enrollment period referred to in Article 33, paragraph (1) relating to that participant of a corporate-type pension plan.

①Pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order an asset management institution of a corporate-type pension plan may receive transfer of an amount equivalent to lump-sum withdrawal payment, etc. (an amount equivalent to a lump-sum withdrawal payment (meaning the amount equivalent to a lump-sum withdrawal payment prescribed in Article 81-2, paragraph (1) of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act) of a defined benefit corporate pension plan or the reserve fund (meaning the reserve fund prescribed in Article 59 of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act) specified by the rules of the Pension Fund Association; the same applies hereinafter).

②When an asset management institution receives transfer of an amount equivalent to a lump-sum withdrawal payment, etc. pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the period during which each participant of a corporate-type pension plan was employed by the employer of the place of business implementing the plan with regard to the relevant defined benefit corporate pension plan (limited to the period in or before the month containing the day preceding the day on which the participant of a corporate-type pension plan reached the age of 60) or other period equivalent thereto specified by Cabinet Order is to be included in the total enrollment period referred to in Article 33, paragraph (1) relating to that participant of a corporate-type pension plan.

With regard to the application of Article 25-2 when there are assets or an amount equivalent to a lump-sum withdrawal payment, etc. transferred pursuant to the provisions of Article 54, paragraph (1) or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the phrase "and those for which ... after that day" in paragraph (3) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with ", those for which ... after that day," and the phrase "means ... that day" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "means ... that day, and those for which no instructions on investment have been given with regard to the assets or the amount equivalent to lump-sum withdrawal payment, etc. transferred pursuant to the provisions of Article 54, paragraph (1) or Article 54-2, paragraph (1) after that day".

①If a person who was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of a corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under the corporate-type pension plan) acquires the status as a participant of a defined benefit corporate pension plan, and the rules concerning the defined benefit corporate pension plan provides in advance that the assets managed per individual may be transferred from the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan, that person may request the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan to transfer that person's assets managed per individual.

②If a request under the provisions of the preceding paragraph has been made, the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan is to transfer the assets managed per individual relating to the person who made the request to the asset management and investment institution, etc. (meaning the asset management and investment institution, etc. prescribed in Article 30 of the Defined Benefit Corporate Pension Act; the same applies hereinafter) of the defined benefit corporate pension plan.

①If the rules of the Pension Fund Association provide in advance that the assets managed per individual may be transferred from the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan, a person who was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan of the corporate-type pension plan (limited to a person who has assets managed per individual under the corporate-type pension plan, and excluding the instructor of a corporate-type pension plan prescribed in Article 15, paragraph (1), item (i)) may request the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan to transfer that person's assets managed per individual.

②If a request under the provisions of the preceding paragraph has been made, the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan is to transfer the assets managed per individual relating to the person who made the request to the Pension Fund Association.

If an employer with a place of business implementing the plan has conducted a merger, a company split, or an act specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as any other act under the provisions of laws such as the Companies Act (Act No. 86 of 2005) (hereinafter referred to as a "merger, etc." in this Article), and the employer involved in the merger, etc. concludes a retirement allowance mutual aid contract prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (3) of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Retirement Allowance Cooperative Act under which the persons who have, as a result of the merger, etc., lost the status as a participant of a corporate-type pension plan in a corporate-type pension plan are as the persons covered by mutual aid prescribed in paragraph (7) of that Article, with the consent of the persons who have been a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, the employer may request the asset management institution of the corporate-type pension plan to transfer the assets managed per individual relating to the persons who have been participants of corporate-type pension plans and have given the consent, to the Organization for Workers' Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid (referred to as the "Organization" in the following Article).

Beyond what is provided for in Article 54 through the preceding Article, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary particulars in connection with the transfer of assets and an amount equivalent to a lump-sum withdrawal payment, etc. to the asset management institution of a corporate-type pension plan and transfer of assets managed per individual to the asset management and investment institution, etc. of a defined benefit corporate pension plan, the Pension Fund Association, and the Organization.

①The Association must prepare rules concerning an individual-type pension plan and obtain approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for those rules.

②The rules concerning the individual-type pension plan must provide for the following particulars: