On November 9, local business advocacy group the Surinamese Employers Association (Vereniging Surinaams Bedrijfsleven, VSB) formally laid out a series of critical demands for accountability and regulatory alignment for the national General Pension Fund (Algemeen Pensioenfonds, APF) as the country’s National Assembly debates landmark new pension sector legislation. The VSB presented its formal positions during a Wednesday session of the Assembly’s Rapporteurs Committee, which is currently reviewing two key draft bills: the Pension and Provident Funds Act, and the 2024 Supervision of the Insurance Sector Act. At the core of the association’s proposals is a call for complete, unredacted public disclosure of all APF financial records dating back to the 2015 launch of the country’s current national pension system. The VSB is requesting full documentation of total employee and employer pension contributions collected since 2015, the current total value of the fund’s accumulated assets, a full breakdown of every investment vehicle the APF has allocated capital to, and full details of all third-party entities tasked with managing portions of the pension pool. The employers’ group is also pushing to end the APF’s current exempt regulatory status, demanding it be placed under the formal, independent financial supervision of the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) and held to the exact same risk management, reporting, and governance standards that apply to every other licensed pension fund operating in the country. The VSB argues there is no legitimate justification for granting the APF special treatment, given it holds and manages pooled contributions from millions of workers and employers across Suriname. To further boost public accountability, the association has proposed a mandatory quarterly reporting rule that would require the APF to publish a full income statement and condensed balance sheet every three months, so contributors can clearly track the fund’s asset growth, investment performance, and operational spending to confirm their retirement savings are being managed responsibly. Beyond governance and transparency demands, the VSB is also urging lawmakers to adjust the draft legislation to ensure mandatory pension obligations remain financially feasible for Suriname’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, which makes up the vast majority of local businesses and formal employment. The association warned that overly burdensome mandatory contribution requirements in the new rules could put unsustainable cost pressure on SMEs, threatening business survival and undermining the long-term stability of the national pension system itself. The VSB confirmed it will submit a full, detailed written brief to the Rapporteurs Committee in the coming days, including data-backed analysis of both draft bills and targeted, actionable policy recommendations. The group emphasized that the final version of the pension reform framework must deliver a financially sustainable, long-term system that equally protects the retirement security of workers and the operational viability of local employers.