5 Fifth question: the position of the beneficiary or client

An outsourcing arrangement must not alter the relationship with thebeneficiaries or clients. It is difficult to imagine that it could, in the legalsense. The beneficiary or client has a relationship with his pension fund orfinancial institution. It is the pension fund or financial institution that is responsible for the performance of its obligations towards its beneficiaries or clients, whether that company has outsourced certain activities or not.

Nevertheless, the relationship with the beneficiary or client may change if the pension fund or financial institution has agreed to an exclusion of liability for the service provider (or at least to a further extent than it has limited its liability for its own actions). In such a case, the opportunities for a beneficiary or client to tackle his pension fund or financial institution about deficiencies or to take recourse are limited by the outsourcing arrangement. Therefore, an outsourcing company cannot limit its liability for acts or omissions of its service providers to a further extent than it has limited its liability for its own acts and omissions.