Similarly, Geraint Davies, managing director at Montford International, said adviser and trustees seek expert opinion on whether a scheme is considered to have QROPS status or seek out people who can tell them what to look for.
“We have been told by various UK schemes that if an adviser was party to a transfer and it accrued a scheme sanction charge, the pension scheme would go after the adviser,” he said.
“The letter sent by HMRC was simply a courtesy letter reminding them of their obligations. If overseas schemes had kept up with UK rules then there would not be an issue, they simply have not kept up to speed and now they scavenging in the wishful thinking basket.”
Detailed advice
Stewart Davies, chief executive at Momentum Pensions, said exercising caution when transferring to a QROPS was “perfectly reasonable” and that waiting until the list returns shortly would not disadvantage policyholders, provided their transfer is not time sensitive.
“We have always stated the need for detailed advice when deciding to transfer a pension fund to an overseas scheme. It is perfectly reasonable for advisers and prospective members to confirm compliance of the overseas scheme with HMRC rules, in particular, the revised age test,” he said.
“HMRC have clearly had to review all the documentation received from existing schemes, in terms of whether they wish to remain in compliance or not, and the next list was not in fact due to be updated until the week commencing 22 June 2015, so an additional delay to the 1 July should not be considered unreasonable.”
Short term delays
Sean Gillease, sales & marketing manager at Concept Group, said UK registered pensions scheme providers are likely to be nervous and ultimately reluctant to transfer until the list is republished.
“This could result in short term delays for anyone looking to transfer from a UK registered pension scheme to a QROPS, as even where the QROPS continues to meet all necessary conditions, with the UK registered pension scheme providers carrying out a check of the list as a standard part of their transferring out process, they are unlikely to be comfortable progressing a transfer whilst the list is suspended,” he said.
