On the go: The regulator has disclosed that it has imposed a £3,000 fine against a professional trustee for failing to update their scheme’s register with news of their appointment.
It is the first time that the pensions watchdog has fined a professional trustee for failing “to take all reasonable steps to keep their scheme information accurate and up to date”, according to its latest quarterly bulletin.
The regulator had been corresponding with the trustees of an unnamed defined contribution scheme in relation to their failure to complete a scheme return.
It subsequently discovered that the scheme had hired a professional trustee eight months beforehand, without informing the regulator.
The trustees’ failure to update the scheme’s registrable information constituted a breach of section 62 of the Pensions Act.
The regulator also fined the scheme’s three lay trustees £300 each for failing to disclose that the scheme’s registrable information had changed.
The regulator has been busy of late, but has not always had to resort to levying financial penalties on schemes. In one case, the mere threat of its powers was sufficient.
Its bulletin refers to an unnamed employer which had decided to end the majority of its operations after it had one of its licenses suspended.
During the 2016 negotiation period of its defined benefit scheme’s valuation, the sponsoring employer told the trustees that it was weighing up applying for a regulated apportionment arrangement.
The scheme had an estimated deficit of £3m on an ongoing funding basis and had 130 members.
Unsatisfied that the criteria for an RAA had been met, and with concerns that the submitted valuation had failed to provide a viable funding plan, the regulator opened an anti-avoidance investigation to examine whether the group should offer the scheme financial support.
The regulator issued a section 72 notice to the sponsor, which obliged it to supply the regulator with information in aid of its enquiry.
The trustees asked the employer for greater financial support. The company agreed to engage with the trustees.
The sponsor subsequently disclosed a £3m cash lump sum payment to the scheme and a guarantee for the full buy-out deficit, which was estimated at £33m.
