Good afternoon.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I'm greatly honoured to be here today.
It's good to see you.
My name is Maryscott Greenwood. I serve as the global head of government relations at Manulife. It's an honour to appear before this parliamentary committee. The meeting was noticed quickly, so I'm appearing remotely from Washington, for which I apologize.
I am pleased to provide background on Manulife's pension business in the Indo-Pacific region and to try to answer your questions.
A proudly Canadian company, Manulife was founded 137 years ago. Today we provide financial services to 35 million customers around the world, including seven million Canadians. Financial services are one of Canada's most important export categories. We are proud not only of our Canadian heritage, but also of our role in shaping Canada's impact on the largest growing population in the world, the Indo-Pacific, where we have had a presence for 125 years.
Manulife has been providing financial services in Hong Kong since 1898. We currently have 2.5 million customers there and 2,470 employees.
We're here today to talk about pensions. A pension is a long-term product. Pensions are designed to ensure that people fund their retirement. Almost all pension systems, including pensions in Canada and in the United States, restrict individuals from accessing their pension money before retirement age. This is done to ensure that the funds are available for retirement. Hong Kong pensions, like ours here at home, are similarly restricted.
In 1995, Hong Kong passed legislation to require most workers to have a pension. These pensions, called MPF, were launched in 2000, and Manulife was one of the first companies to offer these pension plans to workers. Currently, there are 13 MPF trustees, including Manulife, that offer 27 MPF plans to about 4.5 million members and 330,000 participating employers.
The pension laws in Hong Kong allow for pensions to be withdrawn prior to the age of 65 only in specific circumstances set out in legislation, including early retirement after the age of 60, permanent departure from Hong Kong, total incapacity, terminal illness, small balance or death.
To unlock their pension due to a permanent departure from Hong Kong, a customer must provide evidence, which includes documents showing that they have obtained a right to permanently reside in a jurisdiction outside of Hong Kong. For Hong Kong pension holders moving to Canada, this means providing evidence that they have been granted permanent residency or have Canadian citizenship. Once we receive Canadian government-authorized evidence of permanent residence status or citizenship and have satisfied all the requirements, Manulife's MPF operations in Hong Kong can process the application for early unlocking of the pension.
For total clarity, Manulife does not and is not authorized to waive the residency or citizenship requirement to unlock the pension for Hong Kong workers.
From 2021 to 2023, Manulife received about 4,650 requests from customers requesting that pension funds be unlocked for reasons of permanent departure from Hong Kong to Canada. Manulife was able to process applications on the grounds of permanent departure for 3,750 applicants who moved to Canada. We were unable to process applications from about 900 customers for a variety of reasons, including insufficient documentation, forms filled out incorrectly or having previously unlocked an MPF pension.
In offering life insurance and pension products, Manulife makes a long-term commitment to its customers for their financial security. We abide by our contracts in accordance with relevant laws. Our commitments span decades, and our responsibility to honour our obligations to our customers has been at the core of our business for 137 years.
We are proud that 35 million customers around the world have chosen Manulife to help them save for retirement and protect their families with life and health insurance.
Thank you very much. I would be happy to try to answer your questions.