Protecting pensions against scams: priorities for the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill Contents
Committee’s draft amendments to the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill
1 Cold calling ban
- NC1
- To Move the following Clause—
- “Pensions: ban on cold-calling
- (1) The Secretary of State must make regulations prohibiting the making of unsolicited direct approaches to individual members of the public for the purpose of advertising pension schemes or other services in connection with pensions.
- (2) The regulations must, in particular specify the activities to which the prohibition applies (which may, in particular, include telephone calls, text messages, emails and other forms of direct communication).
- (3) The regulations may—
- (a) make provision about when a communication is to be, or not to be, treated as unsolicited for the purposes of the regulations (which may make provision for consent or an expression of interest to be disregarded in specified circumstances);
- (b) make provision about what is to be, or not to be, treated as advertising for the purposes of the regulations;
- (c) make provision for civil penalties or other methods of enforcement (other than the imposition of criminal offences);
- (d) make provision for the issue of warning notices;
- (e) make provision for the publication of information about persons contravening the prohibition;
- (f) confer enforcement or other functions on the Information Commissioner;
- (g) make provision conferring a discretion on the Information Commissioner or on another specified person;
- (h) apply or replicate, with or without modifications, an enactment relating to pensions or other financial services.
- (4) The regulations—
- (a) shall be made by statutory instrument;
- (b) may make provision that is either general or specific, and may make different provision for different purposes;
- (c) may include incidental, supplemental, consequential and transitional provision; and
- (d) may not be made unless a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.
- (5) If before the end of June in any year from 2018 onwards the Secretary of State has not made regulations under this section (whether or not in that year) a Minister of the Crown must—
- (a) publish a statement, by the end of July in that year, explaining the delay and setting a timetable for making the regulations; and
- (b) lay the statement before each House of Parliament.”.
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would require the Government to make regulations prohibiting cold-calling for the purpose of advertising pension schemes and services.
2 Default guidance
- Clause 5, page 4, line 13, leave out subsection (2) and insert—
- (2) In section 137FB of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FCA general rules: disclosure of information about the availability of pensions guidance) after subsection (3) insert—
- “(3A) In determining what provision to include in the rules, the FCA must include a requirement for members of a scheme, or survivors of members of a scheme, to indicate before gaining access to or arranging individual transfer of their pension assets either—
- (a) that they have received information and guidance made available under section 5 of the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2017 (specific requirements as to the pensions guidance function), or
- (b) that they understand the nature and purpose of that information and guidance and have chosen not to receive it.
- (3B) The rules—
- (a) must impose an obligation on the trustees or managers of a relevant pension scheme to satisfy themselves that the requirement under subsection (3A) has been complied with;
- (b) may make provision about what is to be, or not to be, treated as a sufficient indication under subsection (3A) (which may, in particular, require indication on more than one occasion in specified cases or circumstances);
- (c) must specify that simply accessing a website or receiving published information does not amount to receiving information and guidance for the purposes of the requirement under subsection (3A);
- (d) may include exceptions for specified cases (which may include cases of assets below a specified value, cases where information, guidance or advice has already been received, cases of transfers by way of consolidation and any other cases specified in the rules).”.”.
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would strengthen the provision in the Bill for requiring members of pension schemes to be given access to guidance in specified circumstances, so as to ensure that guidance was actually received or expressly refused.