ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

ICAS responds to joint strategy proposals from the FCA and TPR

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By Christine Scott, Head of Charities & Pensions

20 June 2018

Key points

  • The FCA and TPR are committed to delivering a joint strategy towards regulating the pensions and retirement income sector.
  • ICAS favours this joint approach while emphasising that each regulator’s distinctive approach is essential for the effective regulation of the sector.
  • Building public confidence more broadly in the pensions and retirement income sector is a role for both regulators. Public confidence is important if savers are going to be encouraged to seek advice or guidance.

The ICAS Pensions Panel sets out its views on proposals from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) on their first joint strategy: Regulating the pensions and retirement income sector.

The proposed strategy, due to be finalised in October this year, illustrates clearly the pensions and retirement income sector’s complex regulatory landscape.

The remits of the FCA and TPR intersect around the challenge of dealing with pension liberation schemes.

The FCA and TPR have identified the following areas for joint action:

  • Getting saving off to a good start: access to pensions.
  • Making sure pensions are well run and funded; effective governance and securing funding.
  • Making sure pensions offer good value for money.
  • Supporting good choices and outcomes for consumers and members.

The remits of the FCA and TPR intersect around the challenge of dealing with pension liberation schemes:

  • From TPR’s perspective, ICAS believes it would be helpful if the power of pension trustees to block DB to DC transfers was strengthened through legislation.
  • From an FCA perspective, the ICAS view is that more attention needs to be given to the regulation of the investment vehicles receiving ‘liberated’ funds.

In recent years, complexity has increased with TPR acquiring responsibility for the implementation of pensions auto-enrolment, including enforcement powers over employers. TPR will also be responsible for the authorisation of defined contribution (DC) master trusts when the new regulatory regime commences in October.

While welcoming a joint approach, ICAS believes that the best way for the FCA and TPR to be effective is to retain their distinctive roles which require different regulatory approaches:

  • Occupational trust-based pension schemes and auto-enrolment compliance should remain TPR’s focus.
  • The FCA’s role is to regulate financial products, product providers and advisers. Its role as the regulator of product providers means that there are aspects of master trust regulation which would perhaps have sat better with the FCA.

Further powers are expected to come to TPR as the UK Government takes steps to implement the proposals set out in its White Paper Protecting defined benefit (DB) schemes. New powers are expected to include, for example, the power to fine those who deliberately put their pension scheme at risk. ICAS broadly supports the extension of TPR’s powers and awaits publication of further details.

TPR’s long-standing objectives to protect people’s workplace savings and to reduce the risk of pension schemes ending up in the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) are at odds with its more recent objective, acquired in 2014, to make sure employers balance the needs of their DB pension scheme with growing their business.

At the time, ICAS did not support the addition of this objective on the basis that existing regulatory arrangements were working and the obvious tension with TPR’s existing statutory objectives.

The regulators must work closely together to supervise DC master trusts.

ICAS highlights the following additional strategic considerations for both regulators, and in some cases for government:

  • Building public confidence more broadly in the pensions and retirement income sector is a role for both regulators and is important if savers are going to be encouraged to seek advice or guidance.
  • While financial education does not fall within the remit of the FCA and TPR, improvements in financial education could support the proposed joint strategy. Therefore, engaging with government at all levels may be necessary to drive this point home.
  • Future increases in longevity would raise the expectation of even longer working lives and time in retirement, meaning that creating an environment where people do save adequately for retirement must be at the centre of government policy and at the heart of the work of the regulators.
  • The opportunity to build a long-term relationship with a trusted financial adviser could be incredibly valuable for savers. However, from an individual perspective, it will be those with larger pots who seek regulated independent financial advice. For those with smaller pots, employer-funded advice is likely to be the way forward. Anything the regulators could do to develop this market would be welcome: TPR has experience of engaging with employers and the FCA has experience of engaging with providers and advisers but a fresh approach may now be needed to those relationships.
  • The regulators must work closely together to supervise DC master trusts. TPR is to be responsible for the authorisation, as well as supervision of master trusts, while the FCA regulates the entities which provide master trusts. DC master trusts will therefore need clarity from both regulators as to how master trust regulation will work in practice.
  • There is more scope for intelligence sharing between TPR and the FCA, with master trust regulation being an area where this will be essential.
shutterstock_191426

The pensions dashboard: achievable goal or pipe dream?

By Liz Duffy, Policy Adviser, Pensions at ICAS

22 August 2016

2022-11-mitigo 2022-11-mitigo
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: