Aegon’s “arduous” pension transfer process is creating barriers to stop customers transferring out and risks them becoming immune to red flags and falling victim to scams, the chief executive of PensionBee wrote in an open letter to her Aegon counterpart.
A petition has been set up to get the UK Government to scrap the “unfair” and “discriminatory” 25% charge on qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (Qrops) transfers.
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (Cisi) level 6 certificate in pension transfers and planning advice has been officially approved by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Advisers are mulling the implications of FCA plans to incorporate the term ‘insistent client’ into its handbook guidance. The regulator has outlined what it sees as best practice – a move that could see advisers producing two suitability reports, with a particular focus on pension transfer advice.
As part of its crackdown on pension scams, HM Treasury has confirmed that it will limit the statutory right to transfer but will extend the proposed criteria to include qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (Qrops).
The FCA has proposed overhauling the rules for advising on DB to DC pension transfers. Rob Morris, partner at RPC, looks at the risks these changes create for financial advisers and their insurers.
The UK financial services regulator has “failed to deliver a working model” for overseas pension transfers, says industry expert Bethell Codrington, amid concerns the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) planned overhaul leaves products such as Qrops “open to mis-selling”.
UK advice firm Heather Dunne IFA (HDIFA) has been ordered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to stop proving advice on pension transfers making it the latest in a string of firms to be sanctioned under an industry-wide crackdown.
A UK firm which writes third party Qrops transfer reports has suspended its defined benefit pension transfer business following an FCA audit.
There are exciting new market opportunities for the taking, two years after the UK pension freedoms were introduced that raised customer awareness of the need for pension planning, says Matt Ward, communications director at AKG Financial Analytics
The financial planning industry in the UK has welcomed the FCA’s plans to overhaul advice on pension transfers, with many describing the reforms as long overdue.
Nine countries were dropped and one added when HM Revenue & Customs updated its list of qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (Qrops) on Tuesday after it was temporarily suspended following drastic changes to overseas pension transfers.
