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<p>Action was taken by the Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Money
Advice and Pension Service on 7 April pointing to the actions members should seek
to take to safeguard against becoming victims of scams. Additional guidance was issued
to trustees, and providers from both The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions
Regulator to support them to produce suitable communications during the Covid-19 outbreak.</p><p>
</p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from
Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension
Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions"
target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p>
</p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf"
target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p>
</p><p>All of Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings amongst those
based in the UK and living overseas with UK based pension savings. We have adopted
a layered approach building from interventions to assist all pension savers seeking
to access their pensions to those who are most at risk of scams.</p><p> </p><p>For
all pension savers aged 50 and over, in the lead up to accessing their pension savings,
our aim is to support them make informed choices about their retirement income. We
are therefore committed to replicating measures introduced by the FCA for contract
based schemes for occupational pension schemes and requiring trustees to provide information
to pensions savers from the age of 50, in a simpler format, to encourage savers to
think about their retirement savings, choices and raise awareness of Pension Wise.</p><p>
</p><p>We want to encourage savers with to take appropriate guidance (currently provided
by MAPS under the Pension Wise brand) when they exercise their Pension Freedoms by
applying to access savings. Recent trials showed a nudge to guidance during the application
process is effective. We want to present taking guidance as a natural part of the
journey when individuals access their pension savings. We are working with the FCA
on rules that would require managers of private pension schemes to Introduce parallel
provisions.</p><p> </p><p>Although the majority of transfers are to safe destinations
there are still fraudsters who try to entice individuals to transfer to schemes for
the purposes of relieving them of their pension savings.</p><p>To help protect people
from pension scams, government has introduced an amendment to clause 125 in the Pension
Schemes Bill 2020 limiting the statutory right to transfer The clause achieves two
things:</p><p> </p><ul><li>it meets the Government’s third commitment in the Pension
Scams consultation, namely to introduce in legislation provisions that enable members
to be required to provide evidence of an employment link or, if transferring abroad,
residency before a statutory transfer can take place; and</li><li>it enables legislation
to require people to confirm they have received information or taken guidance about
the risk of scams in certain circumstances before a transfer can proceed. We are and
will continue to work with industry and regulators to identify the circumstances that
cause trustees most concern when a transfer request is received and set those out
in the legislation. Where any of these circumstances are identified we will require
members seeking to transfer to confirm to trustees that they have obtained information
or guidance on the risks of transfer to scam schemes.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In addition,
the Government, working with the regulators and the Money and Pension Service, has
been communicating with pension savers to alert them to the risk of scams in the current
climate. DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media about the warning
signs of a scam.</p>
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