Anna Copestake comments in Pensions Expert on the Pensions Regulator’s plans to extend its reach
The Pensions Regulator’s head of regulatory policy, David Fairs, announced plans to “ramp up” its reach on Friday. The plans clearly state that trustees cannot get away with ignoring the regulator’s requirements, bringing small and medium pension schemes closer into the regulator’s orbit.
Anna Copestake said, “It’s clear that the old saying of being ‘beneath the radar’ really is falling away.”
She continued, “As an industry, we are guilty of thinking that a regulatory risk-based approach means simply concentrating on schemes with the biggest number of members or assets. But that’s often not where the greatest risk really lies. So this is a welcomed new focus by the Pensions Regulator in my view.”
Anna also urged that “there’s a balance to be found”, adding, “Being small doesn’t automatically mean a scheme is poorly governed and not delivering to members.”
Further to this, she continued, “So the hope is that the Pensions Regulator focuses their efforts on smaller but underperforming trustee boards, ensuring they use their regulatory resources where they can make the most impact, and not unnecessarily increasing the regulatory burden on smaller schemes who are operating well.”
Read Anna’s comments in Pensions Expert
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