April 2024
24Apr

UK. DWP declares 34,500 claimants have to pay back benefits or face fines up to £20,000

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing a storm of criticism as it has ordered 34,500 people to repay benefits, with fines reaching up to £20,000. This comes amid calls for the DWP to review its handling of Carer's Allowance after it was revealed that thousands of carers are being overpaid and later hit with hefty repayment demands. In a dramatic turn of events, a UK government dementia adviser has stepped down in protest against the DWP's "beyond the pale" legal...

April 24, 2024
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19Apr

Pension Fund Trustees and Fiduciary Duties: Decision-making in the context of Sustainability and the subject of Climate Change

By Financial Markets Law Committee For pension funds, setting investment strategy, principles and policies and making investment decisions have all become more challenging in the context of sustainability and the subject of climate change.  This has given rise to renewed uncertainty over what the “fiduciary duties” or trust duties owed by trustees of pension funds require in this context. Since the pensions sector is a major allocator of capital, legal uncertainties affecting pension fund trustees have the potential to adversely affect...

April 19, 2024
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19Apr

US. House committee advances resolution to overturn SEC climate rule along party lines

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee advanced a resolution to overturn the SEC’s climate disclosure rule, in addition to advancing several other resolutions aimed at rolling back various Biden administration rule-making. “Let us make no mistake, the commission finalized this rule despite no clear authorization from Congress,” said Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who introduced the resolution to overturn the SEC’s climate rule, at the markup April 17. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to disapprove, by a simple majority vote, a final...

April 19, 2024
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19Apr

UK. How TPR rates trustees on climate action

Analysis by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) has found that more than 60% of climate reports by pension schemes had some form of net zero goal with a target date of 2050 or earlier. Schemes with more than £1bn in assets under management have been required to publish climate reports since 2022. TPR has analysed a selection of 30 reports and published its findings last week to help raise standards across industry. More than 60% of TPR’s sample had some form of...

April 19, 2024
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12Apr

UK. TPR finds trustees are taking action on climate risks and opportunities

Pension trustees are acting to address climate risks and opportunities, with more than 60 per cent of pension schemes included in The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) latest review having some form of net-zero goal with a target date of 2050 or earlier. Following the introduction of new climate-related disclosures for schemes with more than £1bn in assets under management in 2022, TPR undertook an analysis of a selection of reports in an effort to help raise standards across the industry. This review...

April 12, 2024
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05Apr

UK: FCA to examine asset management fees, pensions

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is to launch a market study on asset management to examine charges paid by investors, the regulator said on Tuesday, as it laid out its business plan for the coming year. Other areas of focus include examining whether pension firms are helping consumers make the right choices, following an overhaul announced in 2014 which eased requirements on people to buy annuities as part of their pension. “The business plan is set against the backdrop of the...

April 5, 2024
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04Apr

UK. The Pensions Regulator unveils fresh 2030 climate targets

UK regulator plans to focus on cutting gas, electricity, business travel, water and waste emissions in short term on course to achieving net zero across its operations and supply chain by 2050 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has unveiled a suite of fresh climate targets, including a goal to slash its operational greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by the end of the decade compared to 2017/18 levels. The UK regulator, which set out its first climate change strategy three years...

April 4, 2024
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03Apr

UK: Pensions Regulator: Chief Executive Outlines Changing Role Of Regulator

On March 12, 2024, the Chief Executive of the Regulator, Nausicaa Delfas, delivered a speech on the changes to the pensions sector and how the Regulator is responding. The speech addresses the growing influence of scheme consolidation across both DB and DC schemes, the changing role of trustees in producing transparency and value for members, the emergence of superfunds and the broadening powers of the Regulator around compliance, oversight and analysis. On the Government's Mansion House reforms, the Regulator believes that productive assets...

April 3, 2024
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March 2024
27Mar

Autonomy or Delegation, Libertarianism or Paternalism: What I Like for Myself and What I Like for Others on Pension Savings

By Carmen Sainz Villalba By using an online survey conducted with Bilendi&Respondi, we correlate the variables of people’s perception of howdifferent they are from others with respect to their pension plan preferences, how informed they are about financial matters in general, and what are their preferences toward the government intervention of savings plans. The empirical approach is inspired by theory results of Konrad (2023). His game-theory analysis suggest that two factors increase the citizen’s desire for autonomous economic decision-making: eccentricity...

March 27, 2024
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27Mar

US. Group of senators urge finalization of DOL fiduciary rule

Nine senators urged the Labor Department and Office of Management and Budget to quickly finalize the DOL’s proposed rule amending the definition of a fiduciary. The Labor Department proposed the Retirement Security Rule, commonly referred to as the fiduciary rule, in late October. The rule would make changes to the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA, causing one-time advice, such as rollovers, to fall under the fiduciary definition if other conditions are met. “The proposed rule ensures that every...

March 27, 2024
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