The UK’s financial and pension regulators are working together to develop a pensions regulatory strategy for the next five to 10 years, they announced today.
In a joint statement, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) indicated they were doing so in light of significant change in pensions in the last five years, such as as a result of the introduction of pension freedoms and auto-enrolment.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the sector works well for consumers and workplace pension savers, we are working together on a pensions strategy which will look at how we will work together, and with stakeholders, in the coming years,” they said.
The regulators are planning to engage with stakeholders in the spring to discuss their collective view of the current situation in the pensions sector and their respective regulatory remits.
The regulators’ likely key areas of focus in the coming years will also be a topic of discussion with stakeholders.
They said their work on developing a strategy will also be informed by the FCA’s research, the TPR’s ongoing work on reviewing the way it works, the outcome of the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s inquiry into the pension freedoms, and the impact of a government review of auto-enrolment.
The FCA and TPR have collaborated on joint publications before, such as guidance on defined contribution pension schemes, and they were both heavily involved with the British Steel Pension Scheme, for different reasons.
Malcolm McLean, senior consultant at Barnet Waddingham, said the collaboration was welcome as there were “clear areas of overlap and duplication between the two bodies that can sometime create delays and a degree of confusion and uncertainty for stakeholders”.
In the longer-term a single regulator for pensions might be better, however, he suggested.
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