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

• TPR’s Annual Funding Statement 2022
• GMP Conversion Bill receives Royal Assent
• PASA Good Practice Guidance on DB Transfers
• PDP report on dashboard progress
• FRC consultation on proposed changes to AS TM1 deadline extended
• Government and FCA response to WPC report
• HMRC pension schemes newsletter 138
• Updated timing for regulations on trustee oversight of investment consultants and fiduciary managers

TPR’s Annual Funding Statement 2022

TPR’s latest annual funding statement was published on 27 April 2022. TPR focuses on the current period of “significant economic uncertainty” and how this may impact schemes. The statement follows themes from previous years: an integrated approach to risk management, an emphasis on long term planning and the importance of an open dialogue with the employer. See our Alert for more detail.

GMP Conversion Bill receives Royal Assent

The Private Member’s Bill which aims to clarify certain aspects of the statutory process for the conversion of GMPs received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. The Pension Schemes (Conversion of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions) Act 2022 will be brought into force in full on a day to be appointed by regulations.

PASA Good Practice Guidance on DB Transfers

On 3 May 2022, PASA published its Good Practice Guidance on DB Transfers. The guidance, which has been updated to reflect the new conditions on statutory transfers (see our Alert), sets out principles and suggested approaches for “faster, safer and more efficient transfers which comply with regulations”.

PDP report on dashboard progress

The PDP has published its fifth progress update report and summary of achievements as well as a blog on its progress to date. It confirms that it will continue to work on testing and integrating the different elements of the central technical architecture for dashboards throughout the summer.

PDP’s data, technical, reporting and design standards are expected to be published for consultation in summer 2022 following the DWP’s response to its consultation on the regulations for pensions dashboards (see our Alert).

FRC consultation on proposed changes to AS TM1 deadline extended

On 29 April 2022, the FRC announced that it has extended the deadline for responding to the consultation on proposed changes to AS TM1  from 6 May 2022 to 31 May 2022.

Government and FCA response to WPC report

On 27 April 2022 the WPC published the government and FCA’s responses to the WPC’s Fifth Report on protecting pension savers. The government’s response includes a statement that it intends to issue a call for evidence in May 2022 to understand what issues exist in relation to how occupational pension scheme members access their pensions.

HMRC pension schemes newsletter 138

HMRC published pension schemes newsletter 138 on 29 April 2022. Amongst other things, it has articles on submitting annual return information for relief at source, and submitting Accounting for Tax returns using the Managing Pension Schemes service.

Updated timing for regulations on trustee oversight of investment consultants and fiduciary managers

In a report published on 27 April 2022, the CMA states the DWP plans to make regulations relating to trustee oversight of investment consultants and fiduciary managers “in late 2022”, following its 2019 consultation. The report also states that HMT plans to make changes to the Regulated Activities Order in 2022 which will allow the FCA to consult on rules for investment consultants and fiduciary managers in 2023, with the aim of bringing investment consultancy into the FCA’s regulatory regime in 2024.