A UK court has ruled that a £75,000 ($92,106, €87,429) loan taken out by a client to fund investments as part of a pension transfer was a form of pension liberation and should be subject to tax.
Providers of recognised overseas pension schemes (Rops) have voiced concerns over the UK’s plan to scrap the advice safeguard for expats, with some arguing that the move may create a “consumer protection gap”.
All French and Italian schemes have been removed from the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) list of recognised overseas pension schemes (Rops) said to meet the conditions for accepting UK retirement pots.
International pensions provider Sovereign Group has removed ‘ad hoc’ transactional fees from all its new and existing recognised overseas pensions scheme (Rops) products.
The UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has launched a new pension transfers qualification to support those seeking to provide specialist advice, both domestically and internationally.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has voiced concerns about the “inappropriate influence” that unauthorised introducers have on investment choices made by UK advisers, revealing that it has seen a growing number of cases where client pensions are being transferred into unregulated high risk products.
Legal & General has entered into a second US pension risk transfer deal with a buy-out of around $65m (£44.9m, €57.7m) in pension liabilities.
Savers suffering from ill health could see their pension pots subject to inheritance tax if they transfer to a scheme that gives them greater access to the UK’s pension flexibilities, Old Mutual Wealth has warned.
The UK Government is currently looking to close a loophole that allows expats to transfer their unfunded public sector pensions into qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS).
International pension provider, Concept Group, has hit back at a recent report from Aegon, which claimed that 80% of overseas pension transfer requests were fraudulent.
Aegon has warned that 80% of the requests it has received for transfers into qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) are designed to swindle savers out of their pension pots.
Pension transfers into QROPS could face mass rejection as non-UK advisers miss new qualification requirements finalised earlier this week, a senior industry figure has warned.
