KUALA LUMPUR: Some 71 per cent of the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) members have agreed to have a syariah-compliant retirement scheme, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yeong said.
While the remainder of 29 per cent disagreed to the scheme.
"Out of the number, 45 per cent would pick syariah compliance if given the option to choose from the conventional scheme.
The questions were asked during a survey carried out two months ago, if EPF should introduce a syariah compliance retirement scheme.
"EPF will evaluate the survey and come out with the best framework for the contributors," he said in reply to a question by Senator Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki at the Dewan Negara today.
Chua also said EPF had increased the dividends paid from RM10 billion in 2004 to RM36 billion by 2014.
To ensure the retirement savings of contributors are protected, he said EPF as a trustee strictly follows a prudent investment policy and adopts high standards of integrity for every investment decision implemented.
"Our investments are subjected to audit by the internal audit department on a quarterly basis while the state audit office will do it annually.
“For investments that are not provided under the EPF Act, written approval of the finance minister is required," he said.