Firstly thanks to the 13,000 of you who signed the petition supporting our campaign to keep the pension fund in the UN.

The board of the fund supported this approach and asked that staff representatives be included in negotiations for an administrative relationship agreement, to be concluded by 30 September.

As of today, we have not seen a draft of this agreement and regret the culture of secrecy instituted by fund CEO, Sergio Arvizu and his team.

We also regret the reports reaching us of an escalation in threats and intimidation against pension fund staff, elected representatives and suspected whistleblowers since the start of our campaign. 

Furthermore, pension fund staff have been told that they may no longer report suspected fraud to the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services but must report instead in-house. We have notified OIOS of this and they are examining the matter.

And if it couldn’t get any worse, the Secretary-General recently appointed a new Assistant Secretary-General of investments, with an interesting background (see news reports below). 

http://pension360.org/united-nations-appoints-new-cio-to-pension-fund/

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2001-10-30/news/0110300143_1_pension-system-pension-fund-percentile

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2002-11-19/news/0211190230_1_pension-system-pension-board-bond

When we asked New York administration for an explanation, they confirmed that the incidents were known and discussed with the appointee during the interview process; moreover, several background checks were made and did not unearth any new fact. The Secretary-General subsequently decided to maintain his appointment.

The way our fund is managed affects each and everyone of you and we will keep you informed on the progress of our campaign.