This consultation form a key part of a wider set of reforms announced at Budget 2014. The government is keen to ensure that individuals who want to save are supported in doing so. The nature of retirement is changing as people are living longer and their needs more varied. In this Government's view the State should not be imposing restrictions on individuals who have made tough choices to save for the future. So from next year there will be no restrictions on people's ability to draw down from their defined contribution pension pots after age 55. The tax rules will be drastically simplified to give flexible access to pension savings. Consumers will therefore also need to be well informed to make their choices and the Government will introduce a new duty on pension providers and schemes to deliver a 'guidance guarantee' by April 2015. They will also make available a £20 million development fund to get the initiative up and running

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

This fifteenth report from Committee of Public Accounts, in the 2007-08 session examines "The Pensions Regulator: progress in establishing its new regulatory arrangements" (HCP 122, ISBN 9780215514684). An earlier report from the NAO is also available, see (HCP 1035, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780102951219). Some 4 million people are still active contributors to work-based pension schemes (final salary schemes), with approximately some 20 million people having at some point contributed to such schemes with the value of the managed funds exceeding £700 billion. The Pensions Regulator (TPR), established in 2005, took over regulatory responsibility for such schemes. The Committee states that the TPR has acted to put the regulation of such schemes on a firmer footing, taking greater account of risk and possesses stronger powers to obtain information and intervene to protect members' benefits. The Committee also states though that the TPR has made a slower start in the regulation of money purchase schemes with room for improvement in the standards of scheme governance and communication with members. Further work is also required to improve the information held by the TPR about schemes and make use of that information to effectively regulate individual schemes.

Connected and Associated: Insolvency and Pensions Law discusses, in detail, the meaning and scope of the 'connected', 'associated' and 'control' tests used in the Insolvency Act 1986. These are in sections 249 and 435, and are incorporated by reference in pensions legislation. It also looks at the linked connected person test in The Administration (Restrictions on Disposal etc. to Connected Persons) Regulations 2021. Connected and Associated: Insolvency and Pensions Law will help you to: - Decide whether a person is connected or associated with another under the insolvency test for the purposes of preferences, transactions at an undervalue, or voting in creditor meetings - Decide whether there is a risk of falling within the potential target net for a contribution notice or financial support direction under the moral hazard powers of the Pensions Regulator in the Pensions Act 2004 - Check whether an investment by a pension scheme is within the limits on employer-related investment under the Pensions Act 1995 - Work out when a disposal by an administrator will be to a connected person - Work out who satisfies the independence test for an evaluator - Deal with connected person voting majorities in a creditor vote in a CVA and a Part A1 Moratorium - Understand the implications of the Administration (Restriction on Disposal etc. to Connected Persons) Regulations 2021 Written by David Pollard, one of the leading experts in this field, this is the only in-depth review of the complex test for connected or associated persons and, as such, is an essential title for insolvency and pension lawyers, litigators, pension trustees, employers, investors, lenders and their advisers. David Pollard is a leading and highly experienced lawyer in the insolvency and pensions fields and in related areas. He is a barrister, practising from Wilberforce Chambers in Lincoln's Inn, and previously practised for 37 years as a solicitor in London and Singapore. David's practice focuses on pensions law; insolvency law and; employment law (involving pensions). He was Chairman of the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) from 2001 to 2003 and has been a vice chair of the Industrial Law Society.

Some 20 million people in England and Wales have private sector work-based pension schemes. The Pensions Regulator was established in April 2005 to regulate these schemes, replacing the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra), with the statutory objectives to protect members' benefits, to promote improved governance of such schemes, and to reduce the risk of compensation being paid out by the Pension Protection Fund. This NAO report examines the regulatory approach taken and whether this addresses the key risks, given that any conclusions on the effectiveness of pensions regulation must be set in the long term context rather than based on shorter term fluctuations. Findings include that the Pensions Regulator has made good progress in establishing a sound risk-based approach to regulation, with clear links between its statutory objectives and its operational approach. As the regulator matures, it has the scope for a presumption of further transparency in its approach, and is taking steps to increase the information it makes available to the pensions sector. The report sets out a number of recommendations for further progress, bearing in mind that risks in the pensions environment can change quickly.

Since the introduction of automatic enrolment in October 2012, almost all larger employers have enrolled their workers in a workplace pension, thereby increasing the number of people saving for retirement. Employer compliance has been high and the proportion of people choosing to opt out from automatic enrolment has been lower than expected. The Department for Work & Pensions, the Pensions Regulator and the National Employment Savings Trust and other pension providers are now facing the more difficult task of supporting 1.8 million small employers through automatic enrolment. They will need to monitor the experiences of small businesses-including 900,000 employers with only 1 or 2 employees-and minimise administrative burdens, while also ensuring that increased enrolment translates into adequate incomes in retirement. We will be returning to this subject, which is of vital importance to both employees themselves and to future governments as they plan for pensions, and we have asked the Department to update us on progress over the next 12 months

The Government established NEST as a low-cost pension scheme to help deliver the auto-enrolment programme and to address a market failure in the pensions industry which meant that many employers and employees were unable to access low-cost, good quality pension provision. However, the Committee believes that certain restrictions placed on NEST will create complexity for employers and will disadvantage some employees. The Committee's report recommends that, if state aid rules allow, the Government should remove the following restrictions: the cap on the annual contributions an individual can make to a NEST scheme; and the ban on individuals transferring existing pension pots into NEST. The Committee further urges the Government to proceed with its plans for State Pension reform, introducing a flat-rate State Pension and reducing the level of means-testing without delay. The report also highlights the difficulties and complexity employers and employees currently face in comparing the fees and charges applied by pension providers and recommends that, from 2013 onwards, if some auto-enrolment schemes still have hidden charges, or charges that represent poor value for money, the Government should use its powers to intervene. Auto-enrolment will impose new costs and may be particularly challenging for small employers however the Committee considers that the Government has taken appropriate steps to minimise the impact on businesses through its gradual and flexible approach ("staging and phasing") to implementation. Exempting small employers would create significant complexity, as well as excluding many employees from the benefits of workplace pension saving