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Combating Pension Scams

The Code of Good Practice

Pension scams can be damaging to individuals, pension schemes and society generally.  People are tempted by such offers, but many find themselves transferring their benefits to dubious and risky unregulated investment structures or their benefits simply disappear. The pensions industry therefore called for guidance to help share good practice and help reduce the risk of successful scams.  We developed and launched the first Code of Good Practice for use by all in the industry in 2015,on 22 June 2018, we published Version 2.0 and on 10 June 2019 version 2.1 was released.
 I am grateful to the members of the Industry Group and all the other organisations and individuals who freely gave their time to help write and review the Code.  I am also grateful to the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion for providing the foreword to the Code.

Margaret Snowdon OBE, Chairman of the Pension Scams Industry Group

 

Version 2.1 of the Code of Good Practice in Combating Pension Scams came into effect on 10 June 2019 and applies to all transfer requests processed on or after that date. 

Key changes from v2.0:

1. The Cold Calling ban  

2. TPR/FCA ScamSmart campaign and TPR Threat Assessment update 

3. Money And Pensions Service (MAPS) reference 

4. TPO determinations update and implications  

5. The rise of claims management firms  

6. FCA Letter “Managing the risks of Defined Benefits to Defined Contribution transfers” 

7. FCA-TPR-TPAS joint protocol 

8. PSIG’s Scams Survey Pilot 2018 

9. Revised Action Fraud reporting guidance 

10. Additional case studies


The current Code can be downloaded HERE or via Dropbox below, and also from the ABI, AMPS, TISA and PLSA websites:

  • The Code is for guidance only and does not purport to constitute legal advice.  The Code is not exhaustive and nothing in the Code can be relied upon as evidence of compliance with any other legal or regulatory requirement.  The Code relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments
  • Following the Code does not relieve a party from its legal or regulatory obligations and following the Code might not prevent a claim being brought against a party.
  • The Code will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure it reflects current risks and good practice.

PSIG gathered information on pensions scams from 3 pilot organisations, Phoenix, Standard Life and XPS during 2018.  Our interesting findings are shown in our report which can be downloaded by clicking here. Alternatively, you can access it via the Dropbox link below.