PENSIONS ROUND-UP JANUARY 2018 IN THIS ISSUE. 07 Case Law. 02 Introduction. 03 The Pensions Regulator. 09 Other News. 04 Pension Protection Fund

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1 PENSIONS ROUND-UP JANUARY 2018 IN THIS ISSUE 02 Introduction 03 The Pensions Regulator 04 Pension Protection Fund 05 Legislation 07 Case Law 09 Other News 10 On the Horizon 11 Contact Details

2 INTRODUCTION Welcome to the latest edition of DLA Piper s Pensions Round-Up newsletter in which we provide an overview of developments in pension legislation, case law and regulatory guidance. In this edition we look at key developments from January 2018 including the following. The Pensions Regulator: the publication of further information in relation to the Regulator s 21st century trusteeship campaign; the ninth edition of the Regulator s annual DC trust statistics; and a press release reporting on a case concerning pension scams. Pension Protection Fund: the publication of updated forms and guidance in relation to contingent assets; and legislation to address an issue in relation to PPF compensation and bridging pensions. Legislation: a reminder of an upcoming deadline for passing resolutions in relation to the end of DC contracting-out; an update on timing of changes to the employer debt legislation; further guidance from the Information Commissioner s Office about the General Data Protection Regulation; and updated FAQs from HMRC about obligations on trustees in anti-money laundering legislation in relation to record-keeping and registration of information. Case Law: a High Court judgment about whether the rules of a particular section of a scheme permit a move from RPI to CPI for the purposes of pension increases; Employment Appeal Tribunal judgments about whether transitional provisions in relation to the judicial pension scheme and the firefighters pension scheme constitute unlawful discrimination; and a High Court judgment about whether a notice served in 2006 had closed a DB scheme to future accrual with no final salary link. Other News: an update on timing of the DB White Paper; the publication by HMRC of a countdown bulletin in relation to the end of contracting-out, a pension schemes newsletter and statistics about flexible payments; and the response to the November 2016 consultation on indexation and equalisation of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions in public service pension schemes. On the Horizon: a timeline of some of the key future developments in pensions to help employers and trustees plan ahead. If you would like further information about any of the issues raised in this edition of Pensions Round-Up, please get in touch with Cathryn Everest or your usual DLA Piper pensions contact. Contact details are at the end of this newsletter. 02 Pensions Round-Up January 2018

3 THE PENSIONS REGULATOR 21ST CENTURY TRUSTEESHIP Following the launch of its 21st Century Trusteeship raising the standards of governance campaign in September 2017, the Regulator has added some further content to the 21st century trusteeship section of its website. The new content is entitled Trustee training and improving your knowledge and includes information about the Trustee Toolkit, timescales for new trustees to have the required knowledge and understanding, and assessing knowledge and training needs. It states that trustees should: (i) identify their strengths, weaknesses and any gaps in knowledge and understanding by carrying out self-evaluations and board evaluations; and (ii) link training plans with the scheme s business plan to ensure that the training is more effective and meets the demands of the scheme. The Regulator also provides some examples of behaviours that are working well (which relate to constructive feedback, event specific training and shadowing and mentoring) and those where improvements can be made (which relate to levels of reliance on advisers and out of date training policies). The Regulator states that trustees should annually assess their knowledge, understanding and skills and evaluate the decisions they have made over the past year which will help them to identify strengths and weaknesses and any gaps to address in their training plan. Trustees who have not assessed their knowledge and understanding in the last 12 months should therefore consider reviewing the Regulator s guidance and taking action on this issue, including putting in place a plan to address any gaps. DC TRUST On 25 January the Regulator published DC trust: presentation of scheme return data which is the ninth edition of its annual statistics publication on occupational DC trust-based pension provision in the UK including information on the number and membership of schemes, and details on DC memberships of hybrid dual section schemes. The report is based on data provided by schemes on returns which the Regulator issued from July to December 2017 and related to the levy year 2016/17 or earlier. Key findings included the following. Membership increased to 12.6 million people, up by 29% over the past year, and has increased by over 400% since the beginning of Membership of master trusts has increased from 270,000 at the beginning of 2012 to almost 10 million in % of all private sector workplace pension members are in DC schemes and 90% of all those currently saving are investing into a DC scheme. Since 2010 the number of schemes, not including micro or self-administered schemes, has reduced by 52% from 4,560 to 2,180. PENSION SCAMS On 23 January the Regulator published a press release reporting that four people who ran a series of scam pension schemes have been ordered to pay back 13.7 million they took from their victims. The press release explains that 245 people were persuaded via cold calling and similar techniques to transfer their pension savings into one of 11 scam schemes operated by Friendly Pensions Limited. It goes on to state that the Regulator had asked the High Court to order the defendants to repay the funds they dishonestly misused or misappropriated from the pension schemes, this is the first time such an order has been obtained, and the independent trustee appointed by the Regulator to take over the running of the schemes will now be able to seek the confiscation of the scammers assets for the benefit of their victims. 03

4 PENSION PROTECTION FUND CONTINGENT ASSETS The PPF s December 2017 Policy Statement in relation to the 2018/19 Levy Rules stated that, following its October 2017 consultation, it expected to publish updated contingent asset forms in mid-january. On 18 January the PPF published the updated standard form contingent asset agreements as well as revised contingent asset guidance. The new forms must be used for agreements entered into on or after 18 January The PPF explains that the main changes to the forms are: updates to streamline the amendment and release provisions to provide greater flexibility for the contracting parties; and changes in relation to fixed caps to clarify the circumstances in which payments under the agreement will reduce the cap and to give the option to include a pre-insolvency demand cap as well as the required postinsolvency demand cap. The PPF also explains that for the 2019/20 levy year it anticipates that Type A and B contingent assets that include a fixed cap will be required to be re-executed on the new standard forms by the deadline for that levy year. The PPF states that schemes should therefore start planning ahead. The PPF also flags some other changes in relation to contingent assets for the 2018/19 levy year. Further information on these requirements is contained in the updated guidance. If trustees are certifying or re-certifying a Type A contingent asset and the levy reduction as a result will be 100,000 or more, they must first obtain a guarantor strength report. The PPF states that this will affect around one in five guarantees. The requirements where there is more than one guarantor and where the guarantor is also a scheme employer have been made easier for guarantors to undertake. It should also be remembered that the deadline for certifying/re-certifying contingent assets on Exchange for 2018/19 is midnight on 31 March 2018 and any hard copy documents must be received by the PPF by 5pm on 29 March BRIDGING PENSIONS In 2017 the DWP published consultations on proposals to address an anomaly in the PPF legislation whereby if a member is being paid a bridging pension immediately before their scheme enters a PPF assessment period, that member s PPF compensation will be based on the higher rate of pension for life as it will not take account of the scheduled reduction in pension that had been due to take place under the scheme rules when the bridging pension ended. In January 2018 the DWP published the response to those consultations and the Pension Protection Fund (Compensation) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 were laid before Parliament. The regulations come into force on 24 February 2018 and the changes will apply to schemes which enter into an assessment period on or after that date. The final version of the regulations uses the term step-down pension to refer to the type of arrangement in question and bridging element to describe the additional amount that is paid on a temporary basis. The regulations make provision so that the level of compensation in respect of a step-down pension will take account of future reductions which would have occurred in the rate of the pension under the rules of the original scheme. LEVY CEILING AND COMPENSATION CAP The Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Levy Ceiling and Compensation Cap) Order 2018 was laid before Parliament on 16 January The Order increases the following amounts from April 2018 to ensure that rises in average earnings are taken into account so that they maintain their value: (i) the levy ceiling which controls the maximum amount of levy that the PPF can charge schemes; and (ii) the cap on PPF compensation. 04 Pensions Round-Up January 2018

5 LEGISLATION DEADLINE APPROACHING CONTRACTING OUT ON A DC BASIS When contracting-out on a defined contribution (DC) basis was abolished in April 2012, the statutory restrictions relating to the treatment of those contracted-out rights (known as Protected Rights) were removed. However, if the terms of the relevant legislation were entrenched in a scheme s rules, the statutory restrictions would only cease to apply if the rules were amended. In recognition of the fact that some schemes would need to amend their rules in order to remove these restrictions, a power was introduced in legislation in 2012 to allow trustees to modify their scheme by a resolution passed before 6 April 2018 which can have retrospective effect to 6 April 2012 without having to comply with section 67 of the Pensions Act 1995 (the legislative provision which protects accrued rights). Given that this power is soon to expire, employers and trustees of schemes which were previously contracted-out on a DC basis should consider seeking advice about whether any amendments need to be made before 6 April A REMINDER ON AUTOMATIC ENROLMENT CONTRIBUTIONS The minimum DC contribution requirements under the automatic enrolment legislation are due to increase on 6 April 2018 to a total of at least 5% of qualifying earnings, at least 2% of which must be paid by the employer. Where employers are using certification, different contribution rates may apply but they are still subject to increases on 6 April Employers that are currently paying contributions at the minimum level will need to ensure that they are ready to comply with the increase from April EMPLOYER DEBT REGULATIONS In April 2017 the DWP published a consultation on draft regulations to amend the legislation on section 75 employer debt, with the main proposal being the introduction of a new mechanism the deferred debt arrangement which, provided certain conditions are met, employers in multi-employer schemes could use to defer payment of an employer debt where there has been an employment-cessation event. It was originally proposed that the changes would come into force on 1 October 2017 but a response to consultation and final form regulations have not yet been published. In January 2018, during a debate in the House of Commons, it was stated that the Government aims to introduce these regulations in April. PROVISION OF INFORMATION REGULATIONS The Registered Pension Schemes and Overseas Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 came into force on 30 January The regulations: (i) make consequential amendments to some of the legislation about providing information to members, such as the provisions on pension savings statements, to reflect the reduction in the money purchase annual allowance to 4,000; and (ii) introduce a new reportable event for the 2018/19 tax year onwards where a scheme ceases to be or becomes a master trust scheme. GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR) In January 2018 the Information Commissioner s Office (ICO) published further updates to its Guide to the GDPR including: (i) to add a new page about the lawful basis of processing of legal obligation which explains that this basis is almost identical to a basis under the current legislation and provides information about when this basis is likely to apply, when processing is necessary for compliance and what else should be considered; and (ii) to expand the page on personal data breaches. The ICO also published more detailed guidance on documentation which sits alongside the Guide to the GDPR and provides guidance to help organisations understand why documenting their processing activities is important, who must maintain such records, what must be recorded and how to document their processing activities. This guidance also notes when the final versions of certain European-wide guidelines are due to be adopted including that the final version of the guidelines in relation to consent are due to be adopted in April

6 LEGISLATION ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LEGISLATION New anti-money laundering regulations came into force on 26 June 2017 introducing obligations on trustees in relation to information on beneficial owners including requirements for record-keeping and registering information with HMRC. For these purposes, beneficial owners include the settlor, the trustees, the beneficiaries and any individual who has control over the trust. HMRC has introduced the Trusts Registration Service for trustees to use to comply with the registration requirements. In the October 2017 edition of Pensions Round-Up we reported on some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) issued by HMRC about the requirements, although we noted that these were not entirely clear on the issue of record-keeping. A draft updated version of the FAQs ( Updated FAQs ) dated 22 November 2017 is now available and in this section we provide an overview of some of the key points in the Updated FAQs for occupational pension schemes. However, the drafting of the Updated FAQs is still not entirely clear on some points and they are in draft form and therefore the position may be subject to change. We will report again if further guidance is issued. Record-keeping requirements The record-keeping requirements apply to relevant trusts and cover certain information about beneficial owners and potential beneficiaries. The definition of relevant trust encompasses UK trusts and certain non-uk trusts which are express trusts, and it is expected that most registered pension schemes will be express trusts. Much of the information in relation to members and beneficiaries may already be held as part of trustees other record-keeping obligations but there is some information (for example, which applies if somebody does not have a national insurance number or unique taxpayer reference and their usual residential address is outside the UK) which may not currently be held. The legislation provides that where the beneficial owners include a class of beneficiaries, not all of whom have been determined, a record can be kept of a description of the class of persons rather than detailed information about each person. The Updated FAQs state that where a beneficiary is named on a trust instrument separate from members of a named class, they can clearly be determined and the trustees must provide the relevant information. However, where the person is un-named, being only part of a class of beneficiaries, a trustee will only need to disclose the identities of the beneficiary when they receive a financial or non-financial benefit from the trust after 26 June The Updated FAQs also state that, in relation to contingent beneficiaries, individuals can be listed as a class of beneficiaries until the contingent event occurs and the individual potentially stands to benefit. HMRC also states that a trustee would not be committing an offence under the legislation if they could show that they had taken all reasonable steps to obtain the relevant information. In our view, the Updated FAQs mean that, aside from in certain circumstances where members are named in the trust instrument, trustees of occupational pension schemes will only need to hold the detailed information set out in the regulations in relation to members and beneficiaries once they are in receipt of scheme benefits. Trustees should therefore: update their processes so that they request the relevant information once benefits come into payment; and consider what steps are needed to address any gaps in records for existing pensioners and beneficiaries. Trustees should also ensure that they hold the information required under the regulations in relation to other types of beneficial owner, such as the trustees and settlor. Registering information with HMRC The requirement to register information with HMRC has a narrower application as it only applies to taxable relevant trusts and whether a trust falls within this definition for a tax year depends on whether particular taxes are payable. If registration is required, the Updated FAQs state that the points set out above in relation to record-keeping also apply in relation to this requirement. In addition, as was the case for the October 2017 version of the FAQs, the Updated FAQs provide that trustees of occupational pension schemes will only have to register the class of beneficiary if the number of named beneficiaries exceed ten. As reported in the December 2017 edition of Pensions Round-Up, whilst the registration deadline is generally 31 January, in this first year of the Trusts Registration Service, HMRC will not impose a penalty if registration takes place no later than 5 March 2018 (although it should be noted that earlier deadlines can apply in certain circumstances). 06 Pensions Round-Up January 2018

7 CASE LAW CHANGING FROM RPI TO CPI On 19 January the High Court issued a judgment concerning whether the rules of a particular section of the BT Pension Scheme permit a move from RPI to CPI for the purpose of pension increases. The main rule under consideration in the judgment refers to increases in line with the increase in the cost of living and states that: The cost of living will be measured by the Government s published General (All Items) Index of Retail Prices or if this ceases to be published or becomes inappropriate, such other measure as the Principal Company, in consultation with the Trustees, decides. The question for the Court was whether RPI has become inappropriate. The High Court concluded that whether this is the case is a question of objective fact, noting that the rule does not confer a power on any particular party to make the determination. Submissions from the employer that the rule should be construed as conferring power on it to determine whether RPI has become inappropriate or that such a term should be implied in to the rule were rejected by the Court. In relation to the meaning of the words becomes inappropriate, the High Court s conclusions included that for RPI to have become inappropriate, it must now in fact be inappropriate (not merely less appropriate than any alternative index) for the purposes of calculating increases in pensions payable to members of the scheme to reflect the inflation experienced by those members, and this would have to constitute a change since 2002 when this wording was first introduced into the rules. In terms of whether RPI has in fact become inappropriate for these purposes, the employer relied on a number of matters as having caused this to be the case including the impact of a change in the collection and use of clothing prices in 2010, the decision by the UK Statistics Authority to freeze RPI in January 2013, the de-designation of RPI as a National Statistic in March 2013 and the statement by the National Statistician in July 2017 that RPI is a flawed measure of inflation. It was concluded that the matters relied on by the employer, whether by themselves or in combination, are not such as to have caused RPI to have become inappropriate for the purposes of uprating pensions under the relevant rule. For example, looking in isolation at the decision to freeze RPI, the High Court s reasoning included that this did not prevent RPI from remaining fit for purpose as it was maintained for legacy purposes. In relation to the cumulative effect of the various matters relied on by the employer, the High Court concluded that RPI had not at this time become inappropriate for the purposes of uprating pensions within the meaning of the relevant scheme rule. Two key factors in this decision on cumulative effect were that: (i) the flaws in RPI which underlie the matters relied on by the employer were present and known to be present when the wording was introduced into the scheme rules in 2002; and (ii) the purpose of the rule is to provide protection for pensioners against increases in the real cost of living to which they are likely to be subjected and there were reasonable grounds to conclude that jettisoning RPI would lead to a material risk that increases in pensions would not keep rate with increases in the cost of living likely to be experienced by the relevant pensioners. The judgment also considered a rule which states If the General Index ceases to be published, or is so amended as to invalidate it in the view of the Principal Company as a continuous basis for purposes of calculating increases,. The High Court thought that the word amended is intended to connote an alteration to the formulation, or method of calculation, of RPI and rejected submissions that this rule could be engaged by a change in the status of RPI. The question of whether scheme rules permit a change from RPI to CPI depends on the construction of the specific rules. On this point it is notable that the judge in this case was referred to other cases on RPI/ CPI but given that they related to different wording did not regard them as assisting in the construction of the rule in question. If employers or trustees are considering this issue in relation to their scheme, they should seek advice in relation to their particular rules. The employer has indicated that it is appealing the judgment in this case. 07

8 CASE LAW OBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION In 2017 two judgments were issued by the Employment Tribunal (ET) concerning whether transitional provisions in relation to the reform of the judicial pension scheme and the firefighters pension scheme constituted unlawful discrimination. The transitional provisions for both schemes permit certain members to remain in the old scheme, which provides more valuable benefits, until retirement (full protection) or until the end of a period of tapered protection. The status of a full protection member and of a tapered protection member depends solely on the member s date of birth and therefore his or her age. In January 2017 the ET concluded that the transitional provisions in relation to the judicial pension scheme were not objectively justified, that is, they had not been shown to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. However, in February 2017 the ET concluded that the transitional provisions in relation to the firefighters pension scheme could be objectively justified. These judgments were the subject of appeal and on 29 January 2018 the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) issued its judgments in relation to both cases. The appeal in relation to the judicial pension scheme was dismissed. Whilst the EAT identified some issues with the approach that the ET took to considering whether a legitimate aim had been established, it concluded that the ET s approach and decision in relation to proportionate means were correct and therefore the ET s decision that the Appellants had failed to show the treatment to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim was correct. In relation to the firefighters pension scheme, the EAT thought that the ET was entitled to conclude that a legitimate aim had been established but did not think that the ET had applied the correct level of scrutiny towards assessing whether the transitional provisions were a proportionate means of achieving those aims. The appeal was therefore upheld in this respect with this issue to be remitted to the ET, and the claims of indirect race and sex discrimination were also remitted to the ET. On 30 January the Fire Brigades Union added a circular to its website which reports that the Government has said that it intends to appeal in relation to both cases, and that the claimants in the case concerning the firefighters pension scheme will use this opportunity to appeal on the issue of legitimate aims. CLOSURE TO FUTURE ACCRUAL In January the High Court issued a judgment which demonstrates complexities that can arise when attempting to close a scheme to future accrual. The judgment considered whether a notice served by the relevant scheme s employers in 2006 had closed the DB scheme to future accrual with no continued final salary link. In order to decide whether the notice was effective, the High Court had to consider whether the power under which the notice was given ( Notice Power ) had been validly introduced into the scheme rules in The Notice Power was a power for the employer to stop contributing in respect of all or some of its employees by giving written notice to the trustee. Assessing whether the Notice Power had been validly introduced involved considering a fetter in the scheme s amendment power which stated that no alteration modification or addition shall be made which (i) shall prejudice or adversely affect any pension or annuity then payable or the rights of any Member. The Court concluded that the rights of any Member means rights which had accrued as a result of past service and does not cover benefits which might in the future be obtained as a result of future service. Counsel for the trustee had accepted that a fetter which prevented interference with accrued rights would also protect the link to final salary of those accrued rights although reserved his position on this point should the matter go further. The Court concluded that, as the Notice Power made it easier for the participating companies to cease to contribute when compared to the previous rules, the fetter meant that the Notice Power had to be read as subject to a limitation that had previously been in the rules such that participating companies could only serve notice if it can be shown they have found it impracticable or inexpedient to participate in the scheme. However, the Court thought that the participating companies could legitimately conclude in 2006 that it was impracticable and inexpedient for them to continue to participate in the scheme because of their difficult financial position. It was therefore concluded that the 2006 notice was effective to close the scheme to future accrual and to break the final salary link. 08 Pensions Round-Up January 2018

9 OTHER NEWS DB WHITE PAPER TIMING On 13 July 2017 the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced that, building on the February 2017 DB Green Paper, the DWP intends to publish a White Paper which will set out proposed next steps on what reform is needed to support the sector, address the commitments in the Government s manifesto in relation to the regulation and rules governing DB private pensions, and consider innovative delivery structures such as consolidation and measures to drive efficiency within the sector. In January 2018 an update was provided on timing of the publication of the White Paper which is now expected to be published in the spring. PUBLICATIONS FROM HMRC On 2 January HMRC published its latest Countdown Bulletin in relation to the end of contracting-out which provides updates including that HMRC is currently looking at refining its processes to get a better understanding of the timelines needed for scheme cessation, and how to deal with certain cases where schemes want liability to be replaced with a Contributions Equivalent Premium. On 24 January HMRC published updated statistics about flexible payments which show that in the fourth quarter of ,000 payments were made to 198,000 individuals and the total value of payments was 1,504 million. On 31 January HMRC published its latest pension schemes newsletter which provides further information about: (i) relief at source for Scottish Income Tax including that HMRC started to release the notification of residency status reports on 29 January and that HMRC is planning to publish another newsletter in mid-february specifically about relief at source for Scottish Income Tax; and (ii) the new pensions online service including a reminder of where to find information about how to update details in the current system and user research for developing the new service. PUBLIC SERVICE PENSIONS AND GMPs On 28 November 2016 the Treasury published a consultation on indexation and equalisation of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) in public service pension schemes. By way of background, the consultation explained that under the arrangements that applied prior to the introduction of the new State Pension on 6 April 2016, the public service pension and the Additional Pension system worked in tandem, providing a mechanism that fully indexed and equalised pension payments of public servants. The removal of the Additional Pension when the new State Pension was introduced means that this mechanism no longer works. However, on 1 March 2016 the government announced that, as an interim solution, it would continue with the previous practice for public service pensioners reaching State Pension age after 5 April 2016 and before 6 December 2018 and fully index their GMPs earned in public service. The November 2016 consultation considered a longer-term solution to GMP indexation and equalisation in public service pension schemes and looked at three options: case-by-case calculations; full indexation (that is, extending the interim solution); and conversion of the GMP to scheme benefit. On 22 January the Treasury published the response to consultation reporting that: (i) the Government does not believe that a case-by-case solution should be implemented; (ii) the interim solution of full indexation will be continued for a further two years and four months which will cover those who reach State Pension age on or after 6 December 2018 and before 6 April 2021; and (iii) during this period the Government will investigate the possibility of implementing conversion as a longer-term solution, consulting with departments and schemes to decide whether a suitable methodology and legislation can be brought forward to enable conversion to take place in the future. 09

10 ON THE HORIZON DATE Unknown Spring 2018 DEVELOPMENT The reforms in relation to Defined Ambition, Collective Benefits and automatic transfers of small DC pots will be revisited once the market has had time and space to adjust to other reforms. In March 2017 the Government published a response to its consultation on equalisation for the effect of GMPs noting that a number of issues will be considered with the industry working group. Following the DB Green Paper published in February 2017, a White Paper setting out options for reform is expected. 6 April 2018 The lifetime allowance is due to increase to 1,030,000. April 2018 Regulations are expected to come into force introducing new requirements in relation to disclosure of information on costs, charges and investments for trustees of occupational pension schemes providing money purchase benefits. Regulations are expected to come into force to simplify the requirements on bulk transfers of DC pensions without member consent from one occupational pension scheme to another occupational pension scheme. Changes to the legislation on valuing safeguarded benefits for the purpose of the advice requirement and to require risk warnings to be given to members with safeguarded-flexible benefits are due to come into force. Changes to the Finance Act 2004 are expected to be made which will allow HMRC to refuse to register or to de-register a scheme if it is an occupational pension scheme and a sponsoring employer is a dormant company. Changes to the contracting-out legislation are expected to come into force to allow, in certain circumstances, bulk transfers of contracted-out rights without member consent to schemes that have never been contracted-out. Statutory minimum DC contributions for automatic enrolment increase to a total of 5% of qualifying earnings, at least 2% of which must be paid by the employer. In April 2017 the DWP published a consultation on amendments to the employer debt legislation. The Government aims to introduce these regulations in April. 25 May 2018 The new EU General Data Protection Regulation will apply. 1 October 2018 The regulations providing detail of the master trust authorisation regime are expected to come into force on 1 October October 2018 The deadline for schemes to submit Scheme Reconciliation Service membership queries to HMRC is 31 October The government will consult on policy and regulations in relation to certain recommendations of the Law Commission in its report on pension funds and social investment and will publish its full response to the report. 2018/19 In the August 2017 response to the consultation on pension scams, it was stated that the government intends to implement the master trust authorisation regime in late 2018, with the regime fully rolled out in 2019, and that changes to limit the statutory right to transfer in order to tackle pension scams are expected to be coordinated with the roll out of the master trust authorisation regime Member States must transpose the IORP II Directive into national law by 13 January The Government will ensure the industry designs, funds and launches a pensions dashboard by On 6 April 2019 statutory minimum DC contributions for automatic enrolment increase to a total of 8% of qualifying earnings, at least 3% of which must be paid by the employer. 10 Pensions Round-Up January 2018

11 CONTACT DETAILS Cathryn Everest Professional Support Lawyer, London T +44 (0) cathryn.everest@dlapiper.com Ben Miller Partner, Liverpool T +44 (0) ben.miller@dlapiper.com Jeremy Harris Partner, Manchester T +44 (0) jeremy.harris@dlapiper.com Claire Bell Partner, Manchester T +44 (0) claire.bell@dlapiper.com Andrew McIlhinney Partner, Leeds T +44 (0) andrew.mcilhinney@dlapiper.com Tamara Calvert Partner, London T +44 (0) tamara.calvert@dlapiper.com Matthew Swynnerton Partner, London T +44 (0) matthew.swynnerton@dlapiper.com 11

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