Clause 45 - Duty to report breaches of the law
Pensions Bill
3:30 pm
Mr Malcolm Wicks (Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions; Croydon North, Labour)
The amendments are to clauses 45 and 46, which are concerned with who has a duty to report breaches of the law to the regulator. Clause 45 deals with the circumstances in which that applies and clause 46 deals with the provision of information to the regulator. Clause 45 is intended to expand the current statutory whistleblowing obligations that apply to schemes. Actuaries and auditors will place an obligation on employers, independent financial advisers, fund managers and scheme administrators to report to the regulator events that might put members' benefits at risk. Amendment No. 194 would remove from the specification of those who are required to report breaches persons involved in advising the trustees or managers of pension schemes. Such individuals may have access to information that is relevant to the work of the regulator and, as such, they should be required to report matters that are considered to be of material significance.