In Brief - January 2012
HSBC fined £10.5m
The Financial Services Authority has issued its largest ever retail fine of £10.5m to HSBC because of inappropriate investment advice provided by one of its subsidiaries, NHFA, to elderly customers. Compensation to NHFA customers will be approximately £29.3m in addition to the fine.
SSAS snag
Rowanmoor Pensions is calling for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to bring in regulations to avert the bureaucracy that will result unless small self-administered schemes (SSASs) are exempt from new requirements under the Pensions Act.
The call is being made because of changes to the definition of money purchase benefits in this year’s Pensions Act which mean that occupational money purchase schemes, including SSASs, which offer scheme pensions, are to be classified as defined benefit.
£2,000 exemption
Funds of £2,000 or less held in personal pension arrangements, from 6 April 2012, can be paid out as lump sums to individuals aged 60 or over. Lump sums can be made regardless of the value of the individual’s total pension savings and in addition to any trivial commutation payments from occupational pension schemes. However, an individual can only have two such lump sum payments in their life time.
Towers Watson says the changes will put personal pensions on a level playing field with occupational schemes, which have been able to pay lump sums of £2,000 or less as authorised payments since April 2009.
QROPs changes
HMRC has published draft regulations on the rules relating to transfer payments from UK registered schemes to qualifying registered overseas pension schemes (QROPS) to prevent them being used to avoid tax.
Six principles from TPR
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has invited the pensions sector to take part in a dialogue on six principles for good design and governance of workplace defined contribution pension provision.
www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
Bulk buys
The TI Group Pension Scheme has entered into a £150m bulk annuity deal (held as a buyin policy) with Rothesay Life. It secures the benefits relating to approximately 1,800 pensions in payment.
PPF opts for LDI
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has recruited four liability driven investment (LDI) managers. They are: Blackrock Investment Management; F&C Management; Insight Investment Management (Global); and Legal & General Assurance (Pensions Management).
www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk
Infrastructure win
AMP Capital has won an investment allocation to the AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund from East Riding of Yorkshire Council Pension Fund.
Author: Pensions World
Pensions World is the leading monthly magazine for pensions professionals published by Butterworths Tolley.
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