Sections

The Pensions Regulator

Codes of practice

Codes of practice

Code of practice 01
Reporting breaches of the law

Introduction

  1. This code of practice is issued by the Pensions Regulator, the body that regulates work-based pension arrangements (occupational pension schemes, stakeholder pension schemes and certain aspects of personal pension schemes which have direct payment arrangements, whereby the employer pays contributions on behalf of the employee).
  2. The Pensions Regulator's objectives are to protect the benefits of pension scheme members, to reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), and to promote the good administration of work-based pension schemes.
  3. The Pensions Regulator has a number of regulatory tools, including issuing codes of practice, to enable it to meet its statutory objectives. The Pensions Regulator will target its resources on those areas where members' benefits are at greatest risk.
  4. Codes of practice provide practical guidelines on the requirements of pensions legislation and set out the standards of conduct and practice expected of those who must meet these requirements. The intention is that the standards set out in the code are consistent with how a well-run pension scheme would choose to meet its legal requirements.

    The status of codes of practice

  5. Codes of practice are not statements of the law and there is no penalty for failing to comply with them. It is not necessary for all the provisions of a code of practice to be followed in every circumstance. Any alternative approach to that appearing in the code of practice will nevertheless need to meet the underlying legal requirements, and a penalty may be imposed if these requirements are not met. When determining whether the legal requirements have been met, a court or tribunal must take any relevant codes of practice into account.

    Other regulatory requirements

  6. Pensions legislation also imposes duties to report to the regulator in some specific circumstances, for example changes in registrable information, a failure to pay contributions due1 and certain failures in relation to the funding of defined benefit schemes.2
  7. Additionally, there are requirements placed on trustees and employers to notify the Pensions Regulator about certain events that may affect the pension scheme and the sponsoring employer.3

In this code of practice, references to the law that applies in Great Britain should be taken to include corresponding legislation in Northern Ireland; an annex lists the corresponding references

1 See s228(2) of the Pensions Act 2004.
2 See Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004.
3 See for example s69 and s120 of the Pensions Act 2004. This code of practice does not cover these more specific requirements; if they arise, reference should be made to the relevant legislative provisions and any associated codes of practice.