The Belgium Financial Services and Markets Authority has published its 2025 annual report and, alongside it, set out options to reform Belgium's third-pillar pension savings regime. The pension proposals aim to modernize a EUR 42 billion market so it remains relevant for retail investors while continuing to channel savings into Europe, with the main levers being simpler investment rules and easier switching between pension savings products. The annual report itself also reviews the authority's 2025 work on fraud prevention and awareness, international cooperation, retail investor behaviour, data analytics and its 15th anniversary. FSMA said pension savings assets reached EUR 42 billion at the end of 2024, although the increase was driven mainly by financial market developments and excess contributions. It argued that the current tax-law investment requirements have become overly complex relative to the original 1986 policy design, and that a back-to-the-roots simplification could reduce costs, widen product choice and make passive investing possible. In support of keeping pension savings central to household wealth building, FSMA highlighted that pension savings products have moderate costs, have delivered decent returns and that pension savings funds invest 88% of their assets in Europe, including EUR 2.1 billion in European small caps and EUR 357 million in Belgian shares. It also identified greater mobility between products as another reform path, with barriers to transfers to be removed. FSMA presented this work as the first of four planned 2026 phases linked to Belgium's contribution to the European Savings and Investment Union debate. Later phases are intended to cover collective asset management without tax incentives, individual investing and measures to improve the stock market climate.

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