The majority (67 per cent) of pension professions believe that The Pensions Regulator (TPR) should adjust its ‘tougher’ approach to focus on the sustainable growth of scheme sponsors amid the economic impact of Covid-19, according to a survey from Herbert Smith Freehills.

The poll, undertaken during a recent webinar, revealed that just 21 per cent thought that the regulator’s existing ‘clearer, quicker, tougher’ approach, initially adopted in light of recent high-profile corporate failures, should be maintained in the current climate.

A focus on covenant sustainability was also prominent in relation to what changes pension professionals thought the regulator should make to its proposed approach to the new defined benefit (DB) funding code.

In particular, almost three quarters (73 per cent) of respondents urged the regulator to introduce short-term easements into the parameters for the proposed fast-track regime for the next valuation cycle, whilst almost a third (32 per cent) called on TPR to increase the prescribed length for recovery plans via the fast-track route.

Furthermore, more than half (53 per cent) of respondents though that TPR should break the link between the fast-track and bespoke approval regimes to ensure schemes which choose the bespoke route are not judged by reference to the regulator’s fast-track parameters. Commenting on the findings, Herbert Smith Freehills head of UK pension practice and partner, Samantha Brown, said: “The regulator’s tougher approach to pensions regulation and the policies leading to the introduction of the new criminal offences and regulatory powers were developed in much more benign economic times.

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