January 2020

23Jan

UK. Pensions dashboards: Minister urges providers to get data in shape

Pensions minister Guy Opperman has urged companies to help pave the way for the dashboards – apps to help people keep track of their savings . The pensions dashboards will give people information about their pensions via a smartphone app, and have been billed as the solution to bring retirement money “into the digital age”. However, they require secure and accurate data from providers. Schemes will be forced to supply this under new laws, but Opperman said...

January 23, 2020
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15Jan

Managing UK pensions risk: new Pensions Regulator powers and criminal offences

Following the general election, the government has reintroduced the Pension Schemes Bill (the ‘Bill’) into Parliament. The Bill includes a number of provisions which will significantly impact corporate activity involving groups with a UK defined benefit pension scheme. Two new criminal offences of ‘risking accrued scheme benefits’ and ‘avoidance of employer debt’ are proposed, each carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. The circumstances in which the Pensions Regulator (the 'Regulator') can make connected third parties (such...

January 15, 2020
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10Jan

UK. Ombudsman reports pension scheme to TPR

The Pensions Ombudsman has reported the Green Coal Limited Occupational Pension Scheme to the Pensions Regulator with concerns over the “status of the scheme”, after upholding a complaint against it. A client dubbed Mr E complained to the ombudsman that he had not been provided with any information on his pension for a year. Previously employed by the Royal Air Force, Mr E was a deferred member of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, which transferred £20,824 at his request in December 2013...

January 10, 2020
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December 2019

18Dec

UK. Guy Opperman re-appointed as pensions minister

Number 10 and the Department for Work and Pensions have confirmed Guy Opperman has been re-appointed as pensions minister. The MP for Hexham was re-elected with an increased majority of 25,152 in last week’s election. He was first appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state at the DWP on 14 June 2017. He previously served as a government whip (lord commissioner of HM Treasury) from 17 July 2016 to June 2017. In his role as pensions minister, Opperman has urged pension...

December 18, 2019
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13Dec

UK. How Boris Johnson’s election win will affect your pension

The Conservatives’ decisive election victory should give the next UK government a better chance of passing new laws to tackle difficult domestic issues. Many pressing issues have been put on the backburner since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016. Not only has Brexit dominated much parliamentary debate—which may continue—but also weak or non-existent majorities have made passing any legislation harder. One issue the Conservatives could move to address is pension reform, which featured little in the campaign but could...

December 13, 2019
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12Dec

Armenia. Parliament adopts voluntary early retirement plan for most incumbent Justices

By Stepan Kocharyan Parliament passed the early retirement plan for Constitutional Court judges with 75 votes in favor and 34 against. The opposition had earlier said it will vote down the government-backed bill envisaging voluntary early retirement mechanisms for most of the incumbent Constitutional Court Justices. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan told lawmakers in parliament that certain technical amendments were made in the bill after the first reading. According to Badasyan, the bill has been approved by the Venice...

December 12, 2019
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11Dec

MySuper Product Heatmap

By APRA The MySuper Product Heatmap provides assessments of the performance of every MySuper superannuation product. The heatmap provides stakeholders with transparency on the outcomes being delivered by all trustees providing MySuper products. It is designed to lift industry practices and enhance member outcomes by publicly identifying which MySuper products are underperforming and the areas they need to improve. It uses a graduating colour scheme to provide credible, clear and comparable insights into MySuper products across three areas: investment performance, fees...

December 11, 2019
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11Dec

UK. The new pensions levy is deeply unfair

By Gregg Mcclymont Most of us spent our childhoods being conditioned to the reality that life is not fair. However, that does not make it any easier to digest when confronted with a situation that requires us to make our disquiet known. Plenty within the industry are allowing their voices to be heard in regards to the current situation surrounding the General Levy – the mechanism through which the Department for Work and Pensions extracts funding for The Pensions Regulator (TPR), the...

December 11, 2019
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05Dec

Nigeria: Court Orders Govt to Recover Pensions Paid to Ex-Governors Who Serve As Ministers, Senators

The Federal High Court in Lagos in a landmark judgment has ordered the federal government to "recover pensions collected by former governors now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly, and directed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN to challenge the legality of states' pension laws permitting former governors and other ex-public officials to collect such pensions." A certified true copy of the judgment delivered last week was obtained...

December 5, 2019
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05Dec

Chile approves lower-range pension hike amid protests

The Chilean Senate has unanimously passed a bill to gradually increase the lowest pensions in the country by up to 50 per cent amid anti-government protests. The bill had earlier been passed in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, and after its passage in the Senate on Wednesday, it was now ready to be enacted as a law, reports Efe news. Read also Canadian Pensions Acquire Stake in Mexican Construction Firm The initiative was a part of the social...

December 5, 2019
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