Law & Regulation

The Office of Fair Trading’s investigation into workplace pensions is too strongly focused on charges and overlooks areas such as administration and the level of service at schemes, industry figures have said.

Leading signatories to the Association of British Insurers' charges disclosure agreement have said more providers would feel pressure to sign up if the Pensions Regulator policed the standards.

Industry experts have urged the government to require actuarial certification before scheme rules are changed without trustee consent, following the announcement employers will be allowed to unilaterally amend benefits to cover the lost contracting-out rebate.

Diageo Pension Scheme has asked pensioners to help with its efforts to trace former employees as part of a data clean-up exercise to meet targets set by the Pensions Regulator.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has given fresh details of complaints from the public regarding scam calls promising a £1,000 pension bonus.

Small defined contribution schemes may find it difficult to comply with the key quality features and governance code proposed by the Pensions Regulator yesterday, industry figures have said. 

Pensions minister Steve Webb was told defined contribution was an "awful" system that the government and industry must "urgently" work on, during a House of Lords select committee meeting yesterday.

Deferred members are increasingly less likely to get the same early retirement benefits than active members, partly due to the current economic climate, legal experts have said. 

Round-up: Hurdles faced by employers implementing auto-enrolment in 2012.

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