7 days


7 Days is a weekly round up of developments in pensions, normally published on Monday afternoons. We collate this information from key industry sources, such as the DWP, HMRC and TPR.

In this 7 Days

Pension fund clearing exemption to be maintained for the longer-term

On 10 January 2025, HM Treasury published a response to its call for evidence on the temporary exemption that pension funds currently have from the obligation to clear certain derivatives contracts. The exemption was made in recognition that clearing contracts through a central counterparty, which typically requires collateral to be provided in cash, could cause particular challenges for pension funds.

Having analysed the responses and having engaged with the UK regulatory authorities, the Government has decided that the exemption should be maintained for the longer-term. It intends to take forward legislation to ensure that the exemption does not expire on 18 June 2025 (as currently scheduled) and to remove any further time limit on the exemption. This policy will, however, be kept under review in coordination with the UK regulatory authorities.

PDP publishes blog on updated draft reporting standards

On 8 January 2025, the PDP published a blog on its draft reporting standards, which were updated in November 2024. The reporting standards set out the requirements on pension providers and schemes for generating and recording operational information and reporting it to the MaPS. Among the changes was a new 2-phase approach, with pension providers and schemes initially only being required to keep records from April 2025. An additional duty to routinely send data to MaPS will apply at a later date. Operational monitoring has also been removed.

PDP does not expect to make significant changes to the reporting standards before seeking formal approval from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with a view to publish the final standards in the first quarter of 2025. However, it may make minor corrections and clarifications, if necessary.