On October 25, 2022, the Regulator published a press release, highlighting its new enforcement strategy in all areas except auto-enrolment and, following a consultation in May 2022, its consolidated enforcement policy, updated prosecution policy and consultation response.

 

The new policies and the strategy are key in implementing the Regulator’s long-term corporate strategy, focusing on addressing issues around pension security, as well as providing an insight into the framework the Regulator applies when selecting cases for enforcement action. In a related blog, also published on October 25, 2022, Erica Carroll, the Regulator’s Director of Enforcement, outlines the reasons behind the new, refreshed, documents on the Regulator’s approach to enforcement. She also announces that the Regulator has published updated versions of its Case Team and Determinations Panel procedures, setting out the steps the Regulator will follow.

 

The updated “scheme management enforcement policy” now includes detail on how the Regulator intends to exercise its new powers bestowed under the Pensions Schemes Act 2021 (the 2021 Act) and replaces and consolidates three previous compliance and enforcement policies on DB, DC and public sector pension schemes. The policy sets out the outcomes the Regulator might pursue, and ways it might go about achieving them, in pursuit of its goal to improve safety and security for pension savers including details of how it may sanction trustees in instances of scams and how or when it may give notice of investigations.

 

The prosecution policy has also been brought up to date to reflect the Regulator’s new criminal powers in the 2021 Act and other developments. It explains how the Regulator will approach the prosecution of pensions criminal offences. 

 

The Regulator states that it would be “as transparent as possible” and would inform parties where appropriate whether it had decided to use its criminal or regulatory powers. In some circumstances though, this would not be possible at the outset, as the route followed could depend on evidence gathered during the investigation. The Regulator has confirmed that it is unlikely to consider genuine unintentional breaches as justifying the use of its criminal powers.

 

 

This new document sets out the Regulator’s strategy in all areas except auto-enrolment, and highlights that the Regulator takes a risk-based approach. It explains that where the Regulator considers that enforcement action is necessary, it will aim to secure one or more of the following outcomes: prevention, remedy, restoration and deterrence.