The Pension Schemes Act 2021: a summary of the key clauses

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After prolonged and Brexit-delayed parliamentary debate, the Pension Schemes Bill 2019/21 finally received Royal Assent in February 2021, becoming the Pension Schemes Act 2021.

Although most of the provisions are not yet in force, they are expected to come into effect over the course of the next year, once secondary legislation has been passed.

In the meantime, Guy Opperman, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, has confirmed that changes to The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR’s) powers will not apply retrospectively – saying the new criminal sanctions and information gathering powers will “apply to all schemes where the act occurs” from autumn 2021 onwards.

In follow-up, TPR has since published a draft of its “criminal sanctions policy” on how it intends to approach investigation and prosecution under the new powers conferred by the Act.

Further consultations are also expected later in the year in relation to other clauses in the legislation, including the key provisions relating to the below. 

  • Measures to enhance TPR’s powers to protect defined benefit (DB) schemes in relation to corporate transactions
  • Establishing a new Scheme funding regime, introducing a requirement for schemes to have a “funding and investment strategy” and to report on to TPR in a “statement of strategy”
  • The creation of pensions dashboards
  • The establishment of Collective Money Purchase schemes (aka Collective Defined Contribution schemes)
  • Requiring pension schemes to report on how they manage the financial risks of climate change
  • Tightening the conditions for paying statutory transfer values to protect members from scams

Download the briefing note below. 

The Pension Schemes Act 2021

Read our summary of the key clauses contained in The Pension Schemes Act 2021. 

Download now

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