Publication
Government Investigations in Singapore 2025
We have contributed the Singapore chapter of Getting the Deal Through, Government Investigations 2025.
United Kingdom | Publication | June 2023
On June 21, 2023, the DWP published a review of the Conditions for Transfers Regulations 2021, 18 months after they came into force.
The regulations were intended to reduce the risk of pension scams by limiting a member's statutory right to transfer to another pension scheme. Broadly speaking, trustees may only transfer a member's cash equivalent if they conclude that either:
As part of its review, the DWP gathered feedback on the effectiveness of the Regulations from over 20 schemes, administrators and industry bodies, including data covering approximately 290,000 transfers completed in 2022. The data indicated 94 per cent of transfers were completed under the first condition or the second condition where no flags were present, while 5 per cent of transfers were completed outside the regulations (on a contractual or discretionary basis).
Among 2,400 transfers triggering an amber flag, this most often arose where overseas investments (57 per cent) or high-risk or unregulated investments (15 per cent) were included in the receiving scheme. Only 300 transfers were given a red flag. The commonest trigger was the member failing to provide required information (47 per cent).
Generally, feedback was that the policy intent underlying the regulations was appropriate and the regulations were the best way to deliver this. However, specific concerns were raised around the “overseas investment amber flag” which sometimes needs to be raised even where there were no real concerns, and the “incentives red flag” which is blocking transfers on account of differing interpretations among providers.
Following the review, the DWP has committed to conducting further work with the pensions industry and the Regulator to consider if the transfer process could be improved, without undermining the policy intent. The DWP needs to strike a balance between protection for pension savers and the ability to make transfer decisions without being blocked or impeded by delays. Unfortunately, no timescale has been given for completion of the DWP’s additional work.
Publication
We have contributed the Singapore chapter of Getting the Deal Through, Government Investigations 2025.
Publication
The private credit market and direct lending have grown and diversified immensely in the past decade, offering alternative sources and terms of debt compared to those historically provided by the syndicated leveraged loan and public issuance markets. Consequently, they are fast becoming pivotal components in the capital ecosystem, so much so that the Bank of England consider that the private credit market is currently responsible for approximately $1.8 trillion of debt issuance, which is four times its size in 2015. This growth has been particularly pronounced in Europe and the US but there has also been significant activity in Asia.
Publication
The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation, commonly referred to as the AI Act, is expected to come into force during the summer of 2024 (the AI Act). The AI Act will be the first comprehensive legal framework for the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI), and is intended to ensure that AI systems developed and used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly.
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