Frequently asked questions
Does CPIC pay, like insurance companies, a guaranteed interest rate on the money paid into beneficiaries’ accounts?
No. Any surplus realised by CPIC’s investments is added immediately and in its entirety to the beneficiaries’ capital after deduction of expenses.
Between 1973 and 2024, the mean annual performance of the main portfolio, i.e. the growth portfolio expressed in euros, was 5.47%.
Between 2004 and of 2024, the mean annual performance the growth portfolio expressed in euros was 3.96%.
As for the rate of interest credited by insurance companies, it is the one applicable at the moment the payments are received and is not guaranteed for future payments. It should be borne in mind that insurance companies do not distribute the entire surplus that remains after deduction of expenses.
On the subject of expenses, what can we say?
CPIC, being a non-profit-making organisation, has no shareholders and no marketing outlay. It obtains competitive rates for the collective investment of the beneficiaries’ assets through the banks commissioned by it.
YES, on condition that you are a member or candidate of AIIC. If not, you must provide the Foundation Board of CPIC with proof that you work as a conference interpreter and your application will be examined.
You have to complete the membership form, furnish a photocopy of your passport or of your identity card and pay the entrance fee which currently is € 50.–.
NO, ou are not obliged to make payments at fixed intervals.
Simply by bank or postal transfer to the address you will find in the confirmation of your CPIC membership. You may also send a cheque to the CPIC Secretariat.
It is CHF 46’000.‒ (at present € 46’000.‒).
NO, this group insurance policy is optional and separate from a beneficiary’s providence capital
All the capital will be paid out to the COMPULSORY RIGHTFUL CLAIMANTS: to the surviving spouse, or failing which, to the civil partner and the children who are still under age.
In case of contention between the spouse or the civil partner and underage children, 40% of the beneficiary’s accrued capital will be shared equally among the latter.
In the absence of compulsory rightful claimants, all the capital will be paid out to the OPTIONAL RIGHTFUL CLAIMANTS. Persons who may be designated freely are, for example: children of age, father and mother, brothers and sisters, blood relatives such as nephews, nieces and other legal heirs or any other person(s) whose needs the beneficiary provided for in a substantial manner at the time of the his/her death.
YES, you may make provisions as to the way in which your capital will be paid out in the event of death. To do this, you must draw up a beneficiary clause which will be added to your CPIC file. You can obtain the official form from the CPIC Secretariat.
Pursuant to Art. 11 of the CPIC By-laws “…A partnership is the de facto union of two unmarried, unrelated persons of the same or opposite sex, who have signed a written contract, which has been notified to the Fund during the Beneficiary’s lifetime. The partnership contract shall be concluded using the partnership form drawn up by the Fund …”.
The de facto union is defined as the act of living together, but not necessarily under the same roof.
NO, any withdrawal implies loss of your status as active beneficiary of CPIC.
Should you decide to leave CPIC before you are 60years old, you may withdraw the capital you yourself have paid into CPIC, if any, as well as the “interpreter” share of the compulsory benefits paid in by Organisations as part of the providence scheme. The “employer” share of the benefits will have to be transferred to a pension scheme approved by the organisations that so require (NATO for example), as well as by CPIC.
When you are 60 years old, but at the latest when you are 70.
Should you wish to become a beneficiary of CPIC once more, you will have to put in the same amount of capital you received when you left CPIC, complete a new beneficiary’s application form and pay the entrance fee, currently € 50.‒. You will be given your old beneficiary’s number if possible.
YES, your capital is taxed when the money is no longer invested by CPIC. As a general rule, if you are domiciled abroad, tax will be withheld when the funds are transferred. You may apply for a refund of the tax on condition that your country of domicile has signed a double taxation agreement with Switzerland (to avoid double taxation). If such an agreement exists, you must send a declaration to the Swiss tax authorities confirming that the tax authorities of your country of domicile have been informed about the transfer. If you are domiciled in Switzerland, the capital transferred by CPIC will be taxed accordingly (separate tax return).
Please contact the CPIC Secretariat if you have any further queries.
13 bis If I am not a Swiss tax resident, how will my capital be taxed in my country of tax domicile?
Your CPIC capital will be subject to the legislation of the country of your tax domicile. Since national fiscal legislations vary considerably from country to country and change constantly, be advised to consult a tax expert or your local tax authorities.
If you leave CPIC before you are 60 years old, you can recover the “interpreter’s” contributions from your capital and any personal contributions you might have paid voluntarily. The “employer’s” contributions must be transferred to another institution approved by CPIC.
In order to allow the Fund to complete the withdrawal formalities, you will have to send the secretariat:
- a letter of withdrawal (an original copy of one page) stating
a. the full details of the new pension fund (postal address and bank account details with IBAN code) with which you intend to have the employer’s share of your contributions deposited and your contract number
b. your complete personal bank account details (including the IBAN code) to be used to transfer your interpreter’s share
c. if the capital amounts to € 6’800.‒ : you must make sure that your signature on the letter of withdrawal is authenticated by a notary public or another official body - a photocopy of your passport or identity card
- if you are domiciled in Switzerland: a certificate of domicile drawn up according to the model which you will receive from CPIC
If you leave CPIC after you are 60 years old, you may withdraw the total amount of the capital accumulated in your name.
In order to allow the Fund to complete the withdrawal formalities, you must send the secretariat:
- a letter of withdrawal (an original copy of one page) indicating your complete personal bank account details (including the IBAN code) to be used to transfer the capital
- if the capital amounts to € 6’800.‒: you must make sure that your signature on the letter of withdrawal is authenticated by a notary public or another official body
- a photocopy of your passport or identity card
- if you are domiciled in Switzerland: a certificate of tax liability to be requested from the tax office of your canton of residence and your AHV number
Between 60 and 70 years
Either at the time you leave CPIC
Between 60 and 70 years
In this case, you are no longer considered an active beneficiary and, from that time on, you have a “pensioner” status. You can therefore no longer be covered by the optional collective insurance schemes or take part in General Assemblies. Moreover, if you continue to work, you must solve the problem of how to receive your future contributions which CPIC will no longer be able to accept.
Or before you leave CPIC.
Between 60 and 70 years
In this case, you can receive an immediate payment of a partial pension under the following conditions:
- you continue working part time
- you receive a lump sum payment, which must be at least 30% and at most 50% of the total capital.
You will keep your active beneficiary status until the mandatory leaving age of 70.
N.B. The year before the first pension payment is to be made, the beneficiary is to submit a written declaration “on his/her word of honour”, giving an undertaking only to exercise the profession at a reduced level of activity. Failing that, the beneficiary shall be required to leave the Fund.
Please refer to the information on this subject that can be consulted on the CPIC website under the heading “Pensions”.
It depends on the following parameters:
- the amount of the capital allocated to the annuity
- the gender of the insured person
- the type of pension chosen: ordinary pension or pension with reversion
- the applicable collective tariff, which varies according to the year in which one subscribes to the annuity.
Once the pension contract has been subscribed the tariff applied to calculate the annuity can no longer be altered.
In the event of a beneficiary’s death, the surviving spouse, or if there is none, the civil partner who has been designated in a beneficiary clause included in the CPIC dossier of the deceased, can decide to convert into a survivor’s pension all or part of the amount which is due to him/her as the rightful claimant.
YES, up until the beneficiary’s death or, in the case of a pension with reversion, until the death of his/her spouse or, if there is none, of his/her civil partner.
Les Rentes Genevoises, the institution with which the CPIC’s collective pension contract has been concluded, is an independent public-law institution with social aims and legal status. It pays State-guaranteed pensions.
Pensions are revalued subject to the conditions set by the re-insurer pursuant to the law governing re-insurance. Revaluation depends on the re-insurer’s results.
Pensions in Swiss francs
The law on Les Rentes Genevoises specifies in Article 13:
- para. 1: “In the odd years the benefits paid by Les Rentes Genevoises to their insured are revalued, provided that they have been paid for at least one year.”
- para. 2: “The revaluation that is awarded is based, subject to paragraph 3 of this article, on the average increase in the Geneva consumer price index recorded during the previous two years.”
- para. 3: “The amount of the revaluation, which is determined by an actuarial calculation, depends on the existing revaluation reserve.
Pensions will thus not be revalued in the odd years in which there is no existing reserve (this was the case in 2003).
Pensions in euros
Amendment 1 to the reinsurance contract between Les Rentes Genevoises and CPIC specifies in article 5:
- para 2: “In odd years, pensions paid in Euros are adjusted, provided that they have been paid for at least one year.”
- para 3: “For pensions paid in Euros, the adjustment is based on the bond yield rate for Government bonds in the Eurozone, subject to paragraph 4 of this article.”
- para 4: “The amount of the adjustment, which is determined by an actuarial calculation, depends on the existing contractual adjustment reserve for pensions paid in Euros. The revaluation of pensions paid in Euros is limited to 2%.”
- para 5: “The contractual adjustment reserve for pensions paid in Euros shall be funded or dissolved according to the results of Les Rentes Genevoises. The Board of Administration (of the reinsurer) shall be free to decide, at the end of each fiscal year, what amount shall be allocated or deducted from the reserve.”
Because you must leave CPIC once you join a pension scheme, the revaluation does not have any impact on CPIC’s capital.
The one-off premium transferred to Rentes Genevoises is not liable to taxation.
As far as the pension is concerned: if the pension holder has his/her tax domicile in Switzerland, the pension will be taxed through the annual tax return; if the pension holder has his/her tax domicile abroad, taxation of the pension shall be governed by the Double Taxation Agreement between Switzerland and the country in which he/she has his tax domicile.
The pension is paid by Les Rentes Genevoises directly to the pension holders, in Swiss francs and in euros, inclusive of all charges, on the 5th day of each month. The possible charges for making payments to foreign countries are paid by the pension holders.
CPIC’s reinsurer can pay a penison with a minimum one-off premium of 20,000 Euros under the current rules.
From the age of 55 years onwards.
All you have to do is refer to the CPIC website under the heading “Conservative Segment in Euros” and download the documents entitled “regulation” and “subscription form”.
NO.
CPIC’s growth segment in euros (Segment A), in which your assets are invested, focuses on generating a return over the long term. It enables to participate in economic growth through diversified investments, chiefly in stocks and bonds. Its expectation of a higher return is, however, accompanied by short-term volatility which can at times be significant, both upwards and downwards.
In contrast, the conservative segment in euros (Segment B), which is invested essentially in bonds and fixed-income instruments, aims at preserving your nominal assets excluding inflation by considerably limiting volatility, but with the expectation of a lower return.
YES, this rule also applies to them.
All you have to do is refer to the CPIC website under the heading “Growth Segment in Swiss Francs” and download the documents entitled “regulation” and “subscription form”.
CPIC’s Foundation Board has decided to introduce this third segment in consideration of the exchange-rate volatility affecting beneficiaries living in regions other than the euro zone, in particular in Switzerland. The aim of this segment is to produce a long-term return. It is open to those beneficiaries who wish to subscribe to it.
The CPIC unit value or share is calculated by dividing the total Fund value by the number of existing shares (units). It is used for the monthly conversion of beneficiary payments into shares (units).
Payments are converted into CPIC shares (units) on a set date, irrespective of financial market expectations, i.e. on the value date of the first day of the month following receipt of payments.
All payments are invested, regardless of their date of receipt. However, investment income is calculated once a month on the value date of the first day of the following month.
Temporary interpreters and civil servants who no longer work for the European Union must first send a pension rights transfer request to the institution in question – European Commission, Court of Justice or European Parliament – and ask for an estimate of the sum to be transferred.
You should then send these documents to the CPIC Secretariat, which will in turn send you a form to fill out to enable CPIC to request the transfer of your pension rights.
The European Union do not authorise capital benefits. They require that the pension entitlements be used for settling pensions, with reversion or survival benefits as applicable, payable upon your 60th birthday at the earliest and your 66th birthday at the latest.
The beneficiary has the choice of either leaving the Fund or, if he/she wishes to continue its professional activity on a part-time basis, remaining an active CPIC beneficiary until the retirement age of 70 years.
Your transferred pension entitlements are considered to be “employer” contributions, which must be blocked in a CPIC approved pension scheme, and must also meet the European Union.
The European Union do not authorise capital benefits. They require that the pension entitlements be used for settling pensions, with reversion or survival benefits as applicable, payable upon your 60th birthday at the earliest and your 66th birthday at the latest.
The beneficiary has the choice of either leaving the Fund or, if he/she wishes to continue its professional activity on a part-time basis, remaining an active CPIC beneficiary until the retirement age of 70 years.