TPR orders 400 schemes to urgently review data
Pardon the Interruption
This article is just an example of the content available to mallowstreet members.
On average over 150 pieces of new content are published from across the industry per month on mallowstreet. Members get access to the latest developments, industry views and a range of in-depth research.
All the content on mallowstreet is accredited for CPD by the PMI and is available to trustees for free.
The Pensions Regulator is asking the trustee boards of 400 schemes to conduct a data review within six months, the regulator has announced, as it believes these schemes have failed to review their data in the last three years.
The trustees will have to tell TPR what proportion of the membership they hold accurate common and scheme-specific data for.
If they fail to do this, they might be sent an improvement notice about their inadequate internal controls. Failure to comply with the notice carries a fine of up to £5,000 for an individual or up to £50,000 in any other case, the regulator pointed out.
Trustees that discover that the data they hold is of poor quality will be expected to draw up improvement plans to rectify the problem.
If they fail to do this, they might be sent an improvement notice about their inadequate internal controls. Failure to comply with the notice carries a fine of up to £5,000 for an individual or up to £50,000 in any other case, the regulator pointed out.
Trustees that discover that the data they hold is of poor quality will be expected to draw up improvement plans to rectify the problem.
In total, the regulator is contacting 1,200 schemes to remind them to carry out data reviews every year.
The crackdown comes as the industry and government agency the Money and Pensions Service are preparing to launch pensions dashboards, which will channel pension fund data to show the information from different schemes on a single screen.
David Fairs, TPR’s executive director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice, said: “Accurate record-keeping is vital to good governance and administration – without it trustees cannot ensure that savers will get accurate information or receive the pensions they are entitled to."
