UK - The UK government has decided not to introduce new pensions information disclosure regulations that were due to be introduced in October.
The move was designed to cut ‘red-tape', the government said.
At issue were the Occupational Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2006, which contains 32 regulations and 19 schedules.
Areas covered included annual statements of members' pension benefits, and the concept of information disclosure within a "reasonable time" where fixed time periods had applied previously.
"As a result of a new drive to simplify pensions legislation, regulations due to come into force later this year will now not go ahead," pensions reform minister James Purnell announced today.
Purnell said: "Between 7m-12m people are not saving enough for retirement, which is why we have proposed bold reforms to the pension system - including automatic enrolment into a system of personal accounts, which will particularly help lower earners.
"But we are also committed to strengthening quality occupational provision already being offered by employers. Our goal is to help schemes thrive by reducing costs and red-tape.
"We want to take a step back and look again at the broader framework of regulation. That's why we have decided not to go ahead with this package of regulations.
"It would not be fair to employers to bring in further requirements only for these to be changed as part of our deregulatory review."
Last week saw the closure of the Department for Work and pensions consultation on the calculation of pension transfer values.
Actuaries Punter Southall said the consultation is "missed opportunity to consult more widely on the fundamental principles of social policy underlying the calculation of
pension scheme transfer values".
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