Pensions

Recent Articles

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    03/08/2022

    Cryptoassets held by individuals: Inheritance tax and pensions tax relief

    Tax Relief on Making Pension Contributions Subject to certain limits, income tax relief is available to members in respect of member contributions paid to registered pension schemes. On the basis that HMRC does not consider cryptoassets to be currency or money, should cryptoassets be paid into a registered pension scheme, such contributions would not attract any income tax relief. If an individual nevertheless contributes cryptoassets into a registered pension scheme, albeit without any income tax advantages, such cryptoassets would become part of the scheme assets which are subject to the tax...
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    13/07/2022

    Crypto and ESG - 11 things you need to know ...

    1. What is ESG? ESG stands for the broad term of “environmental, social and governance”. However, what this means in practice is different from one sector to another and from one jurisdiction to another. In the UK, climate change reporting obligations for a range of businesses have been the key focus area so far, using the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations as the main reference point. For financial services entities, the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has used TCFD as a basis for its ESG Sourcebook, containing onerous and...
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    09/12/2021

    Reforming the Appointed Representative regime

    HMT’s call for evidence HMT has overall responsibility for the legislative framework for the regulation of ARs. The FCA is responsible for the regulation and supervision of principal firms. HMT has not yet reached a conclusion on whether reform is necessary, this is only a call for evidence. If HMT concludes that reform is needed, it will consult on proposals. HMT is asking for comments on these potential reforms: (1) Changing the scope of the AR regime: If there is strong evidence to suggest a regulated activity is generating an unacceptable level of risk for consumers or market integrity,...
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    26/10/2021

    Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing

    What is the Roadmap? On 18 October 2021, the UK Government released its Roadmap to Sustainable Investing (the Roadmap), as part of a series of announcements in the lead up to COP26. The Roadmap sets out the Government’s proposed approach to tackling climate-related financial risks, encouraging UK investors and businesses to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in their decision-making processes. In particular, it is a call to action for the investment and pension sectors – the first step in helping shift investment focus and financial flows to a net-zero and nature...
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    22/07/2021

    5 things to take away from the FCA’s Business Plan

    1. Consumer priorities remain largely unchanged The FCA is taking forward the four consumer priorities it identified in last year’s business plan (effective consumer investment decisions, consumer credit markets that work well, safe and accessible payments and fair value in a digital age). The only new consumer priority this time around is the FCA’s new Consumer Duty (currently under consultation in CP 21/13), which brings a new emphasis on consumer outcomes and the end-to-end customer journey. The FCA really wants to tackle ‘sludge practices’ (these also feature strongly...
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    12/01/2021

    Germany: BaFin publishes General Administrative Act regarding the business of UK insurance undertakings in Germany after 31 December 2020

    On 31 December 2020 – at the end of the transitional period during which the UK was still part of the Customs Union and the Single Market despite its exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020 – , BaFin has issued and published a General Administrative Act ("Allgemeinverfügung zur Durchführung und Abwicklung der grenzübrschreitenden Tätigkeit von Versicherern und EbAV aus UK und GI") stating that insurance undertakings and institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) with their registered office in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern...
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