The Bill is now an Act of Parliament (law).
Geographical extent – The Pension Schemes Act 2017 extends to England and Wales and Scotland.
The Pensions Regulator has the following information on their website about master trust pension schemes:
If you run a master trust you need to comply with duties set out in the Pension Schemes Act 2017. Some of these duties start immediately.
The 2017 Act introduces a definition of 'master trust'. You should assess whether your scheme meets this definition.
A master trust is defined as an occupational pension scheme that: provides money purchase benefits is used, or intended to be used, by two or more employers is not used, or intended to be used, only by employers which are connected with each other is not a public service pension scheme .
If your scheme also offers other benefits, the duties will generally only apply to the money purchase benefits provision. If you are unsure how this applies to your scheme, you should seek advice.
What you need to do now If you are involved with a master trust you have duties to report certain ‘triggering events’ to us. These events may indicate that the scheme cannot continue to operate. You also cannot increase charges to members during a triggering event period. Read more about these triggering event duties .
You should continue to comply with the standards set out in our DC code .
We also expect you to obtain master trust assurance to help you show that you have governance and administration standards that meet the DC code.
Future responsibilities The 2017 Act also introduces measures for authorising and supervising master trusts . These will start after regulations have been developed.
This information will be updated here once further details are available.
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Recognised overseas pension schemes notification list 4 May 2017
The list of Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes (ROPS) notifications has been updated.
The list is of schemes that have told HMRC they meet the conditions to be a ROPS and have asked to be included on the list. Seven schemes have been added to the list and ten have been removed.
An updated list of ROPS notifications is published on the first and 15th day of each month. If this date falls on a weekend or UK public holiday the list will be published on the next working day. Sometimes the list is updated at short notice to temporarily remove schemes while reviews are carried out, for example, where fraudulent activity is suspected. The requirements to be a ROPS changed from 6 April 2017. You’ll need to check that the scheme you’re transferring to on or after that date meets the new requirements. HMRC can’t guarantee these are ROPS or that any transfers to them will be free of UK tax. It’s your responsibility to find out if you have to pay tax on any transfer of pension savings. HMRC will usually pursue any UK tax charges (and interest for late payment) arising from transfers to overseas entities that don’t meet the ROPS requirements even when they appear on this list. This includes where the ROPS requirements have changed and where taxpayers are overseas. HMRC will also charge penalties in appropriate cases.
Find out about the changes for ROPS requirements .
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