December 2018

21Dec

Tax relief and fintech could help self-employed to save more into pension

Government will look to nudge self-employed workers to save towards a pension with the help of tech but tax reliefs may provide more effective in the long-run. The amount of self-employed workers who save towards their pension has more than halved in ten years, from 30 per cent in 2006/07 to 14 per cent in 2016/17 while self-employed workers grew from 3.3 million in 2001 to around 4.8 million this year. This has helped to create a self-employed pensions...

December 21, 2018
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19Dec

UK. Can The Government Really Help Self-Employed Workers With Their Pensions?

In 2012, the UK Government launched a minimum contribution pension scheme for employed workers, meaning that a proportion of their monthly salary would be automatically withdrawn and saved for them to access at retirement age. The scheme was well-received, with 10 million workers being automatically opted in and only 9% of those enrolled choosing to opt-out. However, this automatic enrolment didn’t account for the self-employed, who make up an estimated 15% of the UK workforce. According to Guy Opperman, Minister for...

December 19, 2018
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19Dec

No-deal Brexit: New government guidance won’t reassure pensioners in France

The UK government released more "no-deal" Brexit guidance on Tuesday aimed at reassuring those citizens living in the France who receive pensions and benefits but the information is unlikely to ease their worries. The British government announced on Tuesday that it would implement its no-deal Brexit contingency plans in full, which will include putting 3,500 troops on standby and reserving ferry space for supplies. With Theresa May's Brexit deal seemingly doomed the government has decided to ramp up its no-deal planning,...

December 19, 2018
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18Dec

UK. Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell forced to pay £124,000 for failing to provide information about pension scheme

BHS went into administration in April 2016 leaving a pension deficit worth £571m, following Sir Phillip Green’s sale of the business to Mr Chappell the previous year. Sir Philip Green ordered to pay £363m into BHS pension scheme The Pensions Regulator (TPR) says it requested vital information about the sale of the business and its pension scheme from the former bankrupt three times. The ruling follows an appeal from Mr Chappell against his original conviction in January. BHS owner fined by pensions regulator Judge...

December 18, 2018
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12Dec

UK watchdog orders shake up of advisors to pension trustees

Poor competition in the market for advice to pension fund trustees has resulted in "substantial customer detriment", Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday. UK pension schemes have total assets of 1.6 trillion pounds ($2.04 trillion), and the dominant advisors are Aon, Mercer, and Willis Towers Watson. Half of pension schemes buy fiduciary management that makes investment decisions on their behalf, from their existing investment consultant. It announced a range of reforms to the investment consultancy and fiduciary management sector, saying...

December 12, 2018
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11Dec

UK in push to consolidate defined benefit pension schemes into ‘superfunds’

The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation into the prospect of consolidating defined benefit (DB) pension schemes into so-called ‘superfunds’ to improve security for members. The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation into the prospect of consolidating defined benefit (DB) pension schemes into so-called ‘superfunds’ to improve security for members. The consultation paper (68 page / 688KB PDF) suggests that encouraging a well-managed superfund sector could be a more effective way...

December 11, 2018
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07Dec

Brits living in the EU risk having their pensions frozen

Britons living in the EU, who qualify for a state pensions uprate, could lose the guarantee after disorderly Brexit. The British government has today outlined the ways how it intends to protect rights of its citizens living in the EU in the case of “no-deal Brexit.” As one of the protections, the Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay pledged to keep uprating state pensions of UK nationals living in the EU – but only if the EU reciprocates. If the EU as a bloc...

December 7, 2018
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07Dec

UK. Devilish details of where pension transfers went wrong

The failure of senior management at advice firms to identify the risks associated with defined benefit transfers, was named as one of the reasons behind widespread problems in the field. The Financial Conduct Authority published the findings of its recent investigation of pension transfer advice today (December 6), saying less than 50 per cent of the advice it had reviewed was deemed suitable. The regulator had looked at 18 firms, which had given advice to 48,248 clients on their defined benefit...

December 7, 2018
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06Dec

UK. Pension scam enquiries up 462%

Visits to the FCA’s Scam Smart website have increased 462 per cent in less than two months following its joint scam awareness campaign with The Pensions Regulator. The Scam Smart site – which allows people to compare pension fund options and find information on potential scams – previously had an average 562 page views daily. This rose to an average of 3,145 a day in the 55 days immediately following the summer campaign, the regulators have said. The regulators’ campaign is calling...

December 6, 2018
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06Dec

UK pension funds may have to clear, post-Brexit

Delays to Emir review raise fears that UK schemes may lose exemption Large UK pension funds may have to start clearing derivatives trades with European counterparties in the event of a no-deal Brexit, lawyers warn. The funds are currently exempt from clearing thanks to a carve-out from the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. But once Britain leaves the European Union, UK funds will be considered “third-country” entities – unless regulators strike a deal on equivalence. “From the point of view of a bank...

December 6, 2018
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