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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS


2005 No. 577

PENSIONS

The Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations 2005

  Made 9th March 2005 
  Laid before Parliament 14th March 2005 
  Coming into force 6th April 2005 

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 1(1)(b) and (5), 8(1) and 83(4) and (6) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999[1] and all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation
     1.  - (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 6th April 2005.

    (2) In these Regulations, a reference to a numbered regulation is to the regulation bearing that number in the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000[
2].

Amendment of provisions relating to interpretation
     2.  - (1) Regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (3) - 

    (3) For paragraph (4) substitute - 

    (4) Omit paragraph (8).

Amendment of provisions relating to winding-up
     3.  - (1) Regulation 6 (procedure for discharging rights on winding-up) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (5) - 

    (3) In paragraph (6) - 

Amendment of provisions relating to investments
    
4.  - (1) Regulation 8 (requirement applying to all stakeholder pension schemes as regards investments) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In both paragraph (4) and paragraph (5), for "have scheme assets that are represented by" substitute "directly hold, for the purposes of the scheme,".

New provisions relating to investments
    
5. The following regulations shall be inserted after regulation 10 - 

Amendment of provisions relating to charges
    
6.  - (1) Regulation 13 (expenses, commission etc. - principles) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1), after "regulation 14" insert "or 14B".

    (3) In paragraph (2)(b), for the words from "their obligations" to the end substitute "an order of the court".

    (4) In paragraph (3), for "regulation 14" substitute "regulations 14 and 14B".

New provisions relating to charges
    
7.  - (1) The following regulations shall be substituted for regulation 14 (charges etc. - permitted reductions in members' rights) - 

    (2) In regulation 3(4), for "or 14" substitute ", 14 or 14B".

    (3) In each of the following provisions, for "and 14" substitute ", 14 and 14B" - 

Amendment of provisions relating to with-profit funds
     8.  - (1) Regulation 15 (requirement for trustees or manager to satisfy certain conditions in relation to with-profit funds) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (3)(c), for "company" substitute "insurer".

    (3) In paragraph (4), omit "appointed".

    (4) For paragraph (6) substitute - 



Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.


Malcolm Wicks
Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

9th March 2005



EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)


These Regulations amend the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1403) ("the Principal Regulations").

The principal change is the insertion, by regulation 5, of provisions for the rights of a member of a stakeholder pension scheme who has made no choice as to how his contributions should be invested to be subject to "lifestyling", from at least five years before his retirement date. "Lifestyling" is defined in new regulation 10A(5) of the Principal Regulations as a process aimed at reducing the potential for variations in the value of a member's rights caused by market conditions. New regulation 10B excludes the obligation to provide for lifestyling in the case of a scheme which is closed to new members, and new regulation 10E allows individual members to opt out of the lifestyling process before it has begun. Lifestyling is to be provided automatically in the case of eligible members joining a scheme after these Regulations come into force, but only on request (following a notification procedure provided for in new regulation 10D) in the case of existing members.

Other changes to the Principal Regulations are largely technical. Regulation 2 amends the definition of "securities", a term used in regulation 12 of the Principal Regulations, so as to include shares in an investment trust; it also amends the definition of the "dilution levy" by reference to the FSA Handbook. The provision in regulation 1(4) of the Principal Regulations for references to notice in writing to be taken to include notice sent to a member of a scheme electronically is replaced by a provision for all of the communications to members provided for in the Regulations to be sent electronically.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 6 of the Principal Regulations, which provides for the trustees or manager of a scheme which is in the course of winding up to transfer the rights of members to another scheme. The effect of the amendments is that a member who withdraws an application for a transfer to a scheme of his choice must be given a month's notice before the trustees or manager of the scheme may transfer his rights to a scheme of their choice.

Regulation 4 amends provisions in regulation 8 of the Principal Regulations which prohibit the trustees or manager of a scheme from holding units or shares in a collective investment scheme or an insurance-linked fund which are not "single-priced". The amendment is intended to make it clear that this prohibition only applies in relation to investments held directly by the trustees or manager; not to investments held by the collective investment scheme or fund.

Regulations 6 and 7 concern the deductions that the trustees or manager of a scheme may make to sums attributable to the rights of members. Regulation 13(2) of the Principal Regulations, which provides for deductions to be made in order to comply with orders made in matrimonial proceedings, is extended to cover compliance with court orders generally. Regulation 14 of the Principal Regulations is replaced by new regulations 14 - 14C, which incorporate a number of changes. The cap on charges deducted from the value of a member's rights is raised, in respect of the first 10 years of membership for individuals joining a scheme after 6th April 2005, from 1% to 1.5% per year; the cap is also expressly applied in relation to indirect as well as direct management costs. The range of permitted deductions is extended to include costs incurred in complying with a court order, indirect as well as direct dealing costs, charges connected with property holdings and market value adjustments. New regulation 14B gives the trustees or manager of a scheme the option of deducting dealing costs and charges connected with property holdings from the value of funds held for the purposes of the scheme rather than the value of members' rights.

Regulation 8 amends provisions in regulation 15 of the Principal Regulations under which the trustees or manager of a scheme invested in a with-profits fund must obtain actuarial certificates from the insurer maintaining the fund. The effect of the amendments is that certificates relating to the insurer's supervisory systems and controls and certificates needed in order to allow the trustees or manager to make declarations about systems and controls relating to the scheme may be given by the same person. The amendments are made to take account of changes to rules of the Financial Services Authority concerning actuarial functions.

An assessment of the impact of these Regulations on business, charities and the voluntary sector has been made. Copies of this Regulatory Impact Assessment have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Additional copies can be obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions, Regulatory Impact Unit, Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT.


Notes:

[1] 1999 c.30; section 8(1) is cited for the definition of "prescribed".back

[2] S.I. 2000/1403; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2001/934, 2001/3649, 2002/1383, 2002/1555 and 2002/2098.back

[3] 2000 c.8.back

[4] Regulation 12 was substituted by S.I. 2002/2098.back



ISBN 0 11 072489 5


 © Crown copyright 2005

Prepared 14 March 2005


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