On the go: Defined benefit trustees will need to contact financial advice firms to check if the adviser listed on members’ transfer documents is employed with them, new guidance from the Pensions Regulator stipulates.
Another option is to check an appropriate third-party directory, the watchdog stated in an update to its DB to defined contribution transfers and conversions guidance, issued on November 11.
Pension scheme trustees are already obliged to check if the adviser has the correct permission to carry out the regulated activity in the Financial Conduct Authority register, after receiving confirmation that appropriate independent advice has been received.
But now, due to the new Senior Managers and Certification Regime being introduced by the FCA, only senior managers and selected other roles will need to be approved.
As a result, other individuals – for example those carrying out customer-facing roles – will be subject to a certification regime carried out by their company and most will not appear on the FCA register going forward, TPR stated.
The pensions watchdog is therefore introducing the additional steps of confirming the employment link of the adviser for trustees, while stating that a new directory containing data on certified individuals will be released in 2020 by the FCA.
The FCA introduced the SMCR in an effort to “reduce harm to consumers and strengthen market integrity” by making individuals more accountable for their conduct and competence in the financial services industry.
It has already rolled out to banks and insurance companies, and will apply to all 47,000 companies the FCA regulates on December 9.
Under the regime anyone who holds a senior management function will need to be approved by the regulator, and every senior manager will need to fill out a statement of responsibilities explaining what they are responsible for.
