Opposition Lawmakers Demand Government Urgency on ‘Return the Money’ Bill to Compensate Pension Fund Losses

Original article: Parlamentarios de Oposición exigen al Gobierno dar urgencia al proyecto «Devuelvan la plata» para obligar a las AFP a restituir pérdidas millonarias

On Wednesday, October 21, opposition lawmakers called on the government to prioritize and support the «Return the Money» bill, which aims to compel pension fund administrators (AFPs) to reimburse lost pension savings.

The appeal was made by Deputy Luis Cuello (PC), Senator Daniel Núñez (PC), and Deputies Consuelo Veloso (FA), Juan Santana (PS), and Patricio Pinilla (DC), who urged the Executive to expedite the bill’s passage to provide relief for affected workers.

The initiative, proposed by Cuello and Núñez, stipulates that AFPs must compensate members of Fund E who experienced a decrease in their savings between January 1 and September 30, 2026.

The compensation should account for the difference between the amounts outlined in the initiative, adjusted for the consumer price index (CPI), and contains a maximum timeframe of one year for payment from the law’s enactment.

In this context, Deputy Cuello remarked: «Today, the Government has shifted its stance. Initially, it expressed it would remain passive, lamenting the situation. However, due to public pressure and citizen discontent, the Government announced it will initiate an investigation led by the Superintendency.»

«This investigation will take nine months. In my view, this may also represent a delaying tactic by the Ministry of Finance to cool down the situation and ultimately prevent AFPs from reimbursing workers’ pension funds,» he added.

«We demand that the Government prioritize and sponsor the bill to return the money, so that we have a solid one-year deadline for AFPs to respond and refund amounts they have illegitimately taken from the resources belonging to all Chilean workers,» emphasized Deputy Cuello.

Senator Daniel Núñez (PC) concurred, stating, «A Superintendency investigation could objectively take at least 6 to 9 months. If this investigation finds negligence, as is the case here, and there is a need to return those funds, that decision could be challenged legally by the AFPs.»

«What does that mean? We could very well be waiting two or three years for the return of funds to workers. That is utterly unacceptable,» Núñez argued.

Meanwhile, Deputy Consuelo Veloso (FA) noted: «The far-right, which has staunchly defended this AFP system, once said ‘not with my money,’ yet allowed AFPs to mismanage those funds. The fate of the people’s savings became a gamble, and when losses occurred, we faced what we had anticipated—those responsible for managing the people’s money now must bear the consequences of their failed investments.»

Veloso further asserted, «The Government has an opportunity to show where it stands. When we had the chance to improve the pension fund management system, they sided with big capital and AFPs. Now, they must demonstrate, as the authorities of this country, whether they will side with the people or not; this is their chance to sponsor this bill.»

In line with this, Deputy Juan Santana (PS) argued, «We need to be very clear: there is also political responsibility here. Last year, when we discussed where to allocate additional contributions proposed by the reform, some of us wanted to strengthen solidarity through social security, while others, those currently in the presidential palace, opted to bolster individual capitalization accounts managed by AFPs.»

«Thus, there is indeed political accountability, since a sector has consistently defended the interests of the industry rather than those of the workers in our country for decades,» Santana expressed.

Lastly, Deputy Patricio Pinilla (DC) stated, «It is only fair that this money is returned, and those who committed these reckless acts, to put it mildly, also take financial responsibility. This adds to the other measures being pursued both in Parliament and through administrative action.»

«Personally, we have also submitted a request to the Public Ministry to investigate potential mismanagement by the corporate governance of the AFPs. There are many suspicious activities that need thorough investigation from all angles,» Pinilla announced.

We will continue to provide updates.