Glossary

Accounting Date

means the last calendar day of the financial period which shall be 31 December in each year commencing on the date hereof or such other date as decided by the Approved Trustee from time to time, subject to the prior approval of the MPFA and provided that, the Members, Employers and service providers are all given one month prior written notice (or such shorter notice as the MPFA may agree from time to time).

Accrued Benefits
has the same meaning as in the MPF Ordinance.

Annual Fee
means a fee charged by the Approved Trustee on an annual basis and payable by the Employers and/or Members.

APIF
means an approved pooled investment fund approved in accordance with the Regulation.

Application of Participation
means the enrolment instructions for the purpose of applying to be an Employer or Member (as the case may be) of the Scheme.

Approved ITCIS

means an index-tracking collective investment scheme, as defined in section 1(1) of Schedule 1 to the Regulation, approved by the MPFA for the purposes of section 6A of Schedule 1 to the Regulation.

Approved Trustee

means Bank of Communications Trustee Limited in its capacity as trustee of the Scheme.

Authorized Financial Institution

has the same meaning as in the MPF Ordinance.

Bid Spread
means the fee charged by the Approved Trustee upon redemption of units of a constituent fund by a Member. Bid spread does not apply to the BCOM MPF Conservative Fund. Bid spread for a transfer of benefits, withdrawal of benefits in a lump sum, or the first four withdrawals of benefits by instalments in a year can only include necessary transaction costs incurred or reasonably likely to be incurred in selling or purchasing investments in order to give effect to the transfer or withdrawal and are payable to a party other than the Approved Trustee.

Business Day
means a day, other than (i) a Saturday, (ii) a public holiday, or (iii) a gale warning day or black rainstorm warning day as defined under section 71(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1 of the Laws of Hong Kong) on which banks are open for normal banking business provided that where, as a result of a number 8 typhoon signal or higher or a black rainstorm warning or other similar event, the period during which banks in Hong Kong generally are open for normal banking business on any day is reduced, such day shall not be a Business Day.

Constituent Fund

means a separate pool of assets of the Scheme, which is invested and administered separately from assets of the Scheme.

Contributions
means:

• contributions to the Scheme made by an Employer, Member or the MPFA in accordance with the Governing Rules; and 
• any sums received from the trustees or other administrators of any other scheme under the MPF Ordinance or Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance.

Contribution Account
has the same meaning as in the Regulation.

Contribution Charge
means a fee charged by the Approved Trustee against any contributions paid to the Scheme. This fee is charged as a percentage of Contributions and will be deducted from the Contributions. This charge does not apply to the BCOM MPF Conservative Fund.

DIS

means the MPF Default Investment Strategy.

eMPF Platform

means an electronic MPF system administered and operated by the Platform Company to provide scheme administration services to facilitate the Approved Trustee in performing its scheme administration functions, although the eMPF Platform and the Platform Company are not service providers of the Approved Trustee or assume the role of trustee or sponsor of the Scheme.

Employee
means an employee of the Employer and such other employee or class of employees as the Approved Trustee may from time to time at its discretion determine.

Employee Member
means an Employee who has applied to become a Member in such manner as the Approved Trustee may reasonably require.

Employer
means a person who is an employer from time to time participating in the Scheme.

Employment-Related MCs and VCs
means the Mandatory Contributions and Voluntary Contributions (if any) paid by a Member or (if that Member is an Employee Member) in respect of a Member, in respect of his employment or self-employment to the Scheme.

Feeder Fund
means a fund the assets of which being invested in a single APIF/approved ITCIS.

Financial Period
means: 

(a) the first financial period which is the period beginning with the date on which the Scheme was registered with the MPFA and ending on a date determined by the Approved Trustee. The date so determined must be a date not more than 12 months from the date of registration of the Scheme or such later date as the Approved Trustee, with prior approval of the MPFA so determines; and 

(b) every subsequent financial period which is to be the period ending on each anniversary of the last date of the first financial period determined by the Approved Trustee.

Guarantee Charge
refers to an amount that is deducted out of the assets of the BCOM Guaranteed (CF) Fund for the purpose of providing a guarantee. This fee is usually charged as a percentage of the NAV of the BCOM Guaranteed (CF) Fund.

Governing Rules or Rules
means the rules of the Scheme contained in the Schedule of the Trust Deed and forming part of the Trust Deed as may be amended or supplemented from time to time.

Greater China

means the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau and Taiwan

Higher Risk Assets
has the meaning given to it in the MPF Ordinance, and generally means equities or similar investments.

Hong Kong

means the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China

Individual Relevant Employee
means a relevant employee or Self-employed Person as defined in the MPF Ordinance other than an Employee Member or Self-employed Member.

Individual Relevant Employee Member
means any Individual Relevant Employee who has joined the Scheme in such manner as the Approved Trustee may reasonably require.

Individual RE's VC
means in respect of an Individual Relevant Employee Member, any Voluntary Contributions the Individual Relevant Employee Member makes to the Scheme.

Joining Fee
means a one-off fee charged by the Approved Trustee and payable by the Employers and/or Members upon joining the Scheme.

Lower Risk Assets
means those assets not being Higher Risk Assets, including without limitation global bonds and money market instruments.

Management Fees
include fees paid to the Approved Trustee, the custodian, the Platform Company and investment manager (including fees based on fund performance, if any) and the Sponsor for providing their services to the relevant constituent fund(s). They are usually charged as a percentage of the NAV of the relevant constituent fund(s). In the case of each of the BCOM Core Accumulation Fund and the BCOM Age 65 Plus Fund, management fees payable to the parties named above, or their delegates, can only (subject to certain exceptions in the MPF Ordinance) be charged as a percentage of the NAV of the fund. These management fees are also subject to a statutory daily limit equivalent to 0.75% p.a. of the NAV of the relevant constituent fund which applies across both the constituent fund and underlying funds.

Mandatory Contribution
has the same meaning as in the MPF Ordinance.

Member
means a person admitted to and continuing in membership of the Scheme in accordance with the Governing Rules including Employee Member, Individual Relevant Employee Member, Self-employed Member, Personal Account Member and TVC Account Member and includes any person participating in the Scheme in one or more of the above capacities.

Member Account
means the account or accounts maintained in the books of the Approved Trustee in respect of a Member to which are credited all Contributions held in respect of that Member including the Contribution Account, the Personal Account and the TVC account.

Member Choice Balance
means
(i)  any accrued benefits attributable to the Member under the Scheme which relate to the Member’s own Mandatory Contributions that are attributable to the Member’s current employment with an Employer, and
(ii) any accrued benefits attributable to the Member under the Scheme which relate to the Mandatory Contributions made by or in respect of the Member that are attributable to the Member’s former employment or former self-employment.

Member Fund Account
means an account of the Member kept by the Approved Trustee on his behalf in respect of each constituent fund.

MPF Ordinance

means the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485).

MPFA
means the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority of Hong Kong.

NAV

means net asset value.

Non-Employment Related VCs
means the special voluntary contributions paid by a Member to the Scheme and which do not form part of the Employment-Related MCs and VCs.

Offer Price
means the NAV of a Unit upon subscription on any Valuation Date plus the offer spread.

Offer Spread
means the fee charged by the Approved Trustee upon subscription of units of a constituent fund by a Member. Offer spread does not apply to the BCOM MPF Conservative Fund. Offer spread for a transfer of benefits can only include necessary transaction costs incurred or reasonably likely to be incurred in selling or purchasing investments in order to give effect to the transfer and are payable to a party other than the Approved Trustee.

Personal Account
has the same meaning as defined in section 2 of the Regulation.

Personal Account Holder
means a person with a Personal Account held with another registered scheme.

Personal Account Member
means a Member with a Personal Account held in the Scheme.

Platform Company

means eMPF Platform Company Limited.

QFI

qualified foreign investor(s) approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to invest in mainland China securities and futures markets.

Redemption Price
means the NAV of a Unit upon redemption on any Valuation Date less the bid spread.

Reference Portfolio
means, in respect of each of the BCOM Core Accumulation Fund and the BCOM Age 65 Plus Fund, the MPF industry developed reference portfolio adopted for the purpose of DIS to provide a common reference point for the performance and asset allocation of the BCOM Core Accumulation Fund and the BCOM Age 65 Plus Fund (as the case may be).

Registered Scheme
has the same meaning as in the MPF Ordinance.

Regulation
means the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) Regulation (Cap. 485A) and any amendments made thereto from time to time.

Relevant Circumstances

means the following events: 

(a) the Approved Trustee having reason to know that information and documents provided to the Approved Trustee are incorrect or incomplete; 

(b) failure of applicants to provide information and documents as required by the Approved Trustee to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations relating to anti-money laundering or tax reporting; and/or 

(c) other circumstances which the Approved Trustee may consider appropriate.

Relevant Recipients

means: 

(a) the eMPF Platform, where the new registered scheme has been onboarded the eMPF Platform by the time of the issuance of the instruction as referred to in sub-section 4 “Transfers” in the section “VI. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES”; OR 

(b) the transferee trustee of the new registered scheme, where the new registered scheme does not meet the requirement in (a) above.

Relevant Income
has the same meaning as defined in section 2 of the MPF Ordinance.

Retirement Age
has the same meaning as in the MPF Ordinance.

RMB

means renminbi, the currency of the People's Republic of China.

Scheme

means the BCOM Joyful Retirement MPF Scheme.

Self-employed Person
means a "self-employed person" as defined in the MPF Ordinance.

Self-employed Member
means any Self-employed Person who has joined the Scheme in such manner as the Approved Trustee may reasonably require.

SFC
means the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

Special Contribution
means a Contribution paid by the MPFA to the Scheme in accordance with the MPF Ordinance.

Specific Investment Instruction

means: 

1. an instruction for investment allocations meeting the following requirements: 

(A) the minimum investment allocation in any constituent fund selected must be an integer and should not be less than 10%; and

(B) the total (or in the case of any switching instruction, the switch-in total) must be 100%; or 

2. any confirmation (whether through hard copy or online submission of the relevant administration forms) by a Member with regard to any investment arrangements of the existing accrued benefits and/or future contributions and accrued benefits transferred from another registered scheme. 

A Specific Investment Instruction applies to all types of Contributions and accrued benefits attributable to any type of Contributions, paid by or in respect of the Member under the Scheme. 

Any investment mandate, change of investment mandate or switching instruction must meet the requirements for a "Specific Investment Instruction". For the purpose of this MPF Scheme Brochure, each reference to “Specific Investment Instruction” means an investment mandate, change of investment mandate or switching instruction meeting the requirements for a “Specific Investment Instruction”.

Substantial Financial Institution

has the same meaning as in the Regulation.

Trust Deed

means the trust deed dated 26 January 2000 (as amended) governing the Scheme.

TVC

means the tax deductible voluntary contributions as defined in section 2(1) of the MPF Ordinance.

TVC account

means an account opened under section 11A(1) of the MPF Ordinance.

TVC Account Member

means a Member with a TVC account held in the Scheme.

TVC Benefits

means benefits accrued from TVC which comprise the value of a Member’s TVC account as determined in accordance with the Trust Deed.

Unit
means one equal undivided part or share of and in the unitized constituent fund including as the context may require, a fraction of a Unit.

USD or US dollars

means the currency of the United States of America.

Valuation Date
in respect of each constituent fund shall be every Business Day and may be subject to change from time to time by the Approved Trustee by giving one month notice in writing to Employers and Members (or such shorter or longer notice period as the MPFA may require).

Voluntary Contribution
means a Contribution paid to the Scheme in accordance with Rule 6A of the Governing Rules and shall include any Individual RE's VC.

Withdrawal Charge
means a fee charged by the Approved Trustee upon withdrawal of accrued benefits from the Scheme. This fee is usually charged as a percentage of the withdrawal amount and will be deducted from the withdrawal amount. This charge does not apply to the BCOM MPF Conservative Fund. A withdrawal charge for a transfer of benefits, withdrawal of benefits in a lump sum, or the first four withdrawals of benefits in instalments in a year can only include necessary transaction costs incurred or reasonably likely to be incurred in selling or purchasing investments in order to give effect to the transfer or withdrawal and are payable to a party other than the Approved Trustee.