The Occupational Pension Schemes (Master Trusts) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024

11

The name and address of any scheme administrator.

12

The number of participating employers.

13

The number of members, broken down into active members, deferred members and pensioner members.

14

The numbers of members joining, transferring from and leaving the scheme in the 3 years ending with the effective date.

15

The scheme’s pension registry number.

16

The scheme’s HM Revenue & Customs reference number.

Information about scheme funders

17

If a scheme funder has a single shareholder or is, in the Regulator’s opinion, reliant on a single individual, details of the succession planning in the event that the shareholder or single individual ceases to be connected to the scheme funder.

18

Where section 10(3) of the Act (scheme funder requirements) applies to a scheme funder, a description of those of its activities which do not relate directly to the scheme.

19

Whether a scheme funder is regulated by a financial regulator other than the Regulator and, if so, the identity of that regulator.

Information about the scheme strategist

20

A declaration as to the overall competence of the scheme strategist, with particular reference to the scheme strategist’s experience, knowledge, professional qualifications, and plans to improve that competence by way of continuous professional development or otherwise.

Information following a triggering event

21

Where a triggering event has reduced the value of the assets available to the scheme, the plans and timetable for restoring the scheme’s assets to a level likely to satisfy the Regulator that the scheme is financially sustainable.

PART 2 — Requirements relating to the business plan to be set out in a Code

22

Information to be provided by schemes which provide non-money purchase benefits.

23

The scheme’s objectives and its strategy for meeting them.

24

Costs in relation to money purchase benefits.

25

Assets and liquidity in relation to costs.

26

Income in relation to money purchase benefits.

27

Profit and loss in relation to money purchase benefits.

SCHEDULE 4 — SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES REQUIREMENTS

Features and functionality of IT systems

1

Whether the IT systems have the capacity and capability—

• (a) to process financial transactions securely and accurately, including the core transactions described in regulation 24(2)⁷¹ of the Administration Regulations (requirements for processing financial transactions);

• (b) to make and receive electronic payments;

• (c) to accept contributions from multiple sources;

• (d) to exchange data with other IT systems, including those used by employers and service providers;

• (e) to reconcile data on transactions and produce reports so that those activities can be monitored and transaction errors rectified promptly;

• (f) to identify and categorise transactions and payments for authorisation and countersigning at an appropriate level of authority;

• (g) to be updated to reflect changes in the legal requirements affecting transactions, payments and records, including changes in tax thresholds, the annual allowance and the lifetime allowance.

Standards required of IT systems

2

Whether the IT systems—

• (a) are of sufficient standard to allow the scheme to meet its objectives as set out in the business plan;

• (b) are capable of being upgraded to reflect changes in required transactions and capacity;

• (c) have restricted physical and electronic access, with firewalls and other appropriate protection against viruses and other threats;

• (d) have a back-up system which allows data to be recovered if the main system fails.

Maintenance of IT systems

3

Whether the IT systems—

• (a) are maintained at regular intervals, either automatically or by a person with the appropriate skills and experience;

• (b) are backed up and updated regularly, including the maintenance of firewalls and other preventative systems;

• (c) are monitored to ensure that their capacity is sufficient for the size of the scheme.

Member records

4

Whether the scheme’s systems and processes ensure that—

• (a) there is an accurate record of each member’s details, including the contributions made in respect of each active member for each pay period, on the relevant IT system;

• (b) any unpaid contribution in respect of active members can be explained to the Regulator and remedied;

• (c) members’ records are reviewed regularly for completeness and accuracy and updated promptly with changes of information;

• (d) errors in members’ records can be identified and addressed, and any financial impact of such errors on members can be rectified;

• (e) records are maintained in respect of each member in decumulation for each financial year including—

• (i) the method of decumulation;

• (ii) the total amount withdrawn from the scheme and the amount taken as free from income tax, and

• (iii) the amount of pension income received.

Trustees and others

5

Whether there are systems and processes—

• (a) for the fair and transparent recruitment, appointment, resignation and removal of trustees;

• (b) for determining and recording that persons involved in the scheme in the capacities listed in section 7(2) and (3) of the Act (fit and proper persons requirements) are, and remain, fit and proper;

• (c) for monitoring and recording trustees’ learning and development, and for ensuring that it is appropriate to the scheme’s activities;

• (d) in relation to meetings of trustees, including—

• (i) the intervals at which meetings of trustees are to take place;

• (ii) the number of trustees required to authorise decisions on risk management, resource planning and investments;

• (iii) the process for managing the scheme’s business between meetings of the trustees;

• (e) for recording, maintaining and managing all documents relating to the trustees in an accessible, intelligible and durable medium;

• (f) for managing the scheme’s business if one or more trustees are absent.

Contracts and service providers

6

Whether there are systems and processes—

• (a) for ensuring that trustees and the scheme strategist are properly informed about service providers, and appropriately involved in decisions about them;

• (b) for establishing and recording that service providers are, and remain, fit and proper;

• (c) for informing the trustees about the appointment, removal, roles and responsibilities of service providers;

• (d) for informing the trustees of—

• (i) any failure by service providers to deliver services;

• (ii) any actions or omissions by service providers which may prejudice—

• (aa) the effective running of the scheme, or

• (bb) the ability to meet the objectives set out in the scheme’s business plan;

• (e) for recording, maintaining and managing all documents relating to service providers in an accessible, intelligible and durable medium.

Risk management

7

Whether there are systems and processes—

• (a) for identifying, managing and monitoring operational, financial, regulatory and compliance risks;

• (b) for recording and documenting risks in an appropriate and durable format;

• (c) for ensuring that risks are managed in a timely manner by the appropriate persons;

• (d) for informing the trustees about risks that have arisen and the steps being taken to manage them.

Security

8

Whether there are systems and processes—

• (a) for preventing unauthorised access to sensitive records and infrastructure, including those containing member information, financial details or investment information;

• (b) for monitoring and recording electronic and physical access to sensitive records and infrastructure;

• (c) for ensuring the secure transfer of physical and electronic data and the secure conduct of transactions.

Resource planning

9

Whether there are systems and processes for ensuring that there are sufficient human resources with the skills, qualifications and capacity necessary to comply with the requirements of Part 1 of the Act and, in particular—

• (a) to run and maintain the scheme’s systems and processes;

• (b) to meet the objectives in the scheme’s business plan, and

• (c) to send appropriate and timely notifications, information and documents to the Regulator, including information about the scheme’s systems and processes.

Investments

10

Whether there are systems and processes—

• (a) for investing contributions in a timely manner in accordance with members’ instructions or, in the absence of instructions, with the scheme’s default investment policy;

• (b) for recording investment decisions and the associated instructions from members, or confirmation that a decision has been made without instructions;

• (c) for managing the scheme’s interaction with investment managers, and recording key decisions;

• (d) for recording, managing and reviewing the risks associated with investment decisions;

• (e) for informing trustees about questions, decisions and risks relating to investments;

• (f) for ensuring that members receive timely and appropriate investment information and prompt replies to their enquiries and correspondence.

Member communication

11

Whether there are systems and processes—

• (a) for facilitating members’ engagement with the scheme;

• (b) for bringing members’ views to the attention of the trustees;

• (c) for directing members’ complaints to the correct channels for resolution.

SCHEDULE 5 — CONTINUITY OPTION 1: TRANSFER OUT AND WINDING UP

Interpretation

1

• (1) In this Schedule—

• “applicable scheme” means whichever of the employer default scheme or the trustee default scheme was included in the notice sent to members under paragraph 5;

• “employer default scheme” means the alternative scheme nominated by an employer in accordance with paragraph 5(1)(b);

• “receiving scheme” means the trustee default scheme, the employer default scheme or an alternative scheme to which member benefits are to be transferred;

• “transfer date” means the date on which the accrued rights and benefits of members of the transferring scheme are transferred to a receiving scheme;

• “transferring scheme” means the Master Trust scheme referred to in regulation 20;

• “trustee default scheme” means the pension scheme identified by the trustees under section 24(1)(a) of the Act (continuity option 1: transfer out and winding up).

• (2) Notices given under this Schedule must be sent—

• (a) in writing, by post or by email;

• (b) to the addressee’s last known address, and

• (c) in accordance with any further requirements set out in a Code.

• (3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2), a person’s email address is—

• (a) any email address provided for the time being by that person as an address for contacting that person, or

• (b) if no such address has been provided, any email address by means of which the sender reasonably believes that the notice will come to the attention of that person or (where that person is a body corporate) any director or other officer of that body corporate.

• (4) A notice under this Schedule sent to a person by email is taken to have been received by that person 48 hours after it is sent.

• (5) This Schedule overrides any provision of the Master Trust scheme to the extent that there is a conflict.

Calculation of cash equivalent

2

• (1) In this Schedule, a “cash equivalent” of any rights and benefits to which a member is entitled is the realisable value of those rights and benefits.

• (2) A cash equivalent must be calculated—

• (a) in accordance with these Regulations and with the rules of the scheme to which it relates;

• (b) in a manner which is approved by the trustees;

• (c) as an estimate as at the date when the employers are informed of the transfer date under paragraph 9, and

• (d) as a final figure as at the transfer date.

• (3) In calculating a cash equivalent, account must be taken of any surrender, commutation or forfeiture of the whole or part of a member’s pension.

Trustees’ powers

3

• (1) The trustees of a scheme that is pursuing continuity option 1 may, without members’ consent, provide—

• (a) for either—

• (i) a member’s accrued rights and benefits (including any transfer credits allowed under the scheme) to be transferred, or

• (ii) a transfer payment in respect of a member’s rights to be made,

to a trustee default scheme or an employer default scheme in accordance with this Schedule, with a view to acquiring transfer credits for the member under that scheme, or

• (b) for arrangements to be made in accordance with paragraph 12 (trustees’ power to transfer otherwise than to a scheme).

• (2) A transfer payment made under sub-paragraph (1)(a)(ii) must be of an amount at least equal to the cash equivalent of the member’s rights under the scheme, calculated in accordance with paragraph 2.

• (3) The trustees of a scheme that is pursuing continuity option 1 may, where appropriate, decline a member’s request for a drawdown pension (as defined in paragraph 4 of Schedule 28 to the Finance Act 2004⁷²) (drawdown pension) in the transferring scheme.

• (4) A transfer, transfer payment or alternative arrangement under this paragraph is prescribed for the purposes of section 69(4)(b) of the Pension Schemes Act (form of short service benefit and its alternatives).

Trustees’ first notice to employers and members

4

• (1) When the trustees have identified the trustee default scheme, they must send a notice to each participating employer, each member and the trustees of the trustee default scheme.

• (2) A notice under this paragraph must be sent within the period of 14 days beginning with—

• (a) the date on which the trustees identify the trustee default scheme, or

• (b) if later, the date on which the Regulator notifies the trustees that the implementation strategy has been approved.

• (3) A notice sent to a member under this paragraph must include information about—

• (a) where the member can obtain guidance about the proposed transfer;

• (b) the member’s right to choose whether his or her accrued rights and benefits in the transferring scheme are transferred to—

• (i) a scheme selected by the trustees or, where applicable, the member’s employer, or

• (ii) an alternative scheme selected by the member;

• (c) the member’s right to require the cash equivalent of his or her accrued rights and benefits to be used to buy one or more policies as set out in paragraph 7(1)(b), and

• (d) the timetable for future communication with the member.

• (4) A notice sent to an employer under this paragraph must include information about—

• (a) the trustee default scheme, including its name;

• (b) the expected date on which the transferring scheme will stop accepting contributions;

• (c) the employer’s options for complying with its automatic enrolment duties when the transferring scheme has stopped accepting contributions;

• (d) where the employer can obtain guidance about the proposed transfer;

• (e) the employer’s option to nominate an employer default scheme in respect of its workers who are active members of the transferring scheme;

• (f) the fact that if the employer does not nominate an employer default scheme, active members will be transferred to the trustee default scheme, and

• (g) the timetable for future communication with the employer.

• (5) A notice sent to the trustees of the trustee default scheme under this paragraph must state that the trustee default scheme has been selected under section 24(1)(a) of the Act (continuity option 1: transfer out and winding up).

Employer’s response to trustees

5

• (1) Each employer which receives a notice under paragraph 4 must give notice to the trustees of whether—

• (a) it accepts the choice of trustee default scheme in relation to members then employed by it, or

• (b) it opts to nominate an alternative scheme (the trustees of which are able and willing to accept the transfer) as the employer default scheme for those members, in which case it must state the name of that scheme and inform the trustees of that scheme that it has been so nominated.

• (2) Each employer that has opted to nominate an alternative scheme as the employer default scheme must give notice of that nomination to those of its workers who are active members of the transferring scheme.

• (3) A notice to trustees or workers under this paragraph must be sent within the period of 8 weeks beginning with the date when the employer received the notice under paragraph 4.

• (4) If the trustees receive no notice from an employer under this paragraph, the employer is deemed to have accepted the trustee default scheme as the default scheme for members then employed by it.

Trustees’ second notice to members

6

• (1) After the period allowed for employers to send notice to the trustees under paragraph 5, the trustees must send a second notice to each member of the transferring scheme.

• (2) A notice under this paragraph must be sent within the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which the trustees sent notice to members and employers under paragraph 4.

• (3) A notice under this paragraph must state—

• (a) the proposed transfer date;

• (b) if the member’s employer has not nominated an employer default scheme—

• (i) the fact that the member will be transferred to the trustee default scheme unless the member specifies otherwise, and

• (ii) the name of, and information about—

• (aa) the trustee default scheme, and

• (bb) the default arrangement in that scheme;

• (c) if the member’s employer has nominated an employer default scheme—

• (i) the fact that the member will be transferred to the employer default scheme unless the member specifies otherwise, and

• (ii) the name of, and information about—

• (aa) the employer default scheme, and

• (bb) the default arrangement in that scheme;

• (d) the member’s ability to obtain information about arrangements from the applicable scheme;

• (e) the fact that the member’s funds will be allocated to the default arrangement unless the member specifies otherwise;

• (f) where the member can obtain guidance about the proposed transfer;

• (g) the member’s right to choose whether the member’s accrued rights and benefits in the transferring scheme are transferred to—

• (i) the applicable scheme, or

• (ii) an alternative scheme selected by the member;

• (h) the requirement for a member who has selected an alternative scheme to send the trustees of the transferring scheme a notice that meets the requirements of paragraph 7(2);

• (i) the member’s rights under Part 4ZA⁷³ of the Pension Schemes Act (transfers and contribution refunds);

• (j) the member’s right to require the cash equivalent of the member’s accrued rights and benefits to be used to buy one or more policies as set out in paragraph 7(1)(b);

• (k) the consequences for the member of his or her choice of receiving scheme, with particular reference to its effect on payment of contributions by the member’s employer;

• (l) the timetable for future communication with members.

Member’s response to trustees

7

• (1) A member who has received notice from the trustees under paragraph 6 may give notice to the trustees requiring them—

• (a) to transfer the member’s accrued rights and benefits in the transferring scheme to—

• (i) the applicable scheme, or

• (ii) an alternative scheme selected by the member, the trustees of which are able and willing to accept the transfer, or

• (b) to use the cash equivalent of the member’s accrued rights and benefits to purchase one or more policies from one or more insurers authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority⁷⁴ for carrying on long-term insurance business in the United Kingdom.

• (2) A notice under this paragraph—

• (a) must be sent within the period of 3 months beginning with the day when the member received notice from the trustees under paragraph 6 (“the option period”), and

• (b) must contain sufficient information about the alternative scheme referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a)(ii) or the destination of the cash equivalent referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b), including bank account details, necessary for the trustees to comply with paragraph 8(1).

• (3) An alternative scheme selected by the member must be—

• (a) a Master Trust scheme authorised under the Act, or

• (b) a personal pension scheme as defined in section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act (categories of pension schemes).

Trustees’ duty to transfer

8

• (1) If the trustees receive notice from a member in accordance with paragraph 7, they must—

• (a) arrange for the member’s accrued rights and benefits to be transferred, or the member’s cash equivalent applied, as specified in the notice;

• (b) notify the member of the value of the cash equivalent of his or her accrued rights if the member is not yet receiving benefits under the transferring scheme, and

• (c) notify the member of the value of his or her remaining benefits if the member is receiving benefits under the transferring scheme.

• (2) If the trustees do not receive notice from a member under paragraph 7, the member’s accrued rights and benefits must be transferred to the applicable scheme.

• (3) Any transfer of a member’s rights and benefits, and any application of a member’s cash equivalent, under this paragraph must be made within the period of 3 months beginning with the end of the option period referred to in paragraph 7(2)(a).

Notice of expected transfer date

9

Not less than one month before the expected transfer date, the trustees must notify each participating employer of the expected transfer date.

Transfer requirements: choice of arrangements

10

• (1) The trustees of the applicable scheme must, as soon as reasonably practicable, contact each member whose accrued rights or benefits are to be transferred to that scheme and must invite them to select an arrangement of the applicable scheme into which those rights or benefits are to be transferred.

• (2) The accrued rights of members who do not respond to the applicable scheme within 8 weeks after the date on which they received the invitation referred to in sub-paragraph (1) must remain in an arrangement which—

• (a) meets the conditions for use as the default arrangement of the applicable scheme, and

• (b) complies with Chapter 1⁷⁵ (default arrangements, non-contributing members and payments to advisers) of Part 2 (restrictions on charges) of the Charges and Governance Regulations.

Requirements to be met by default schemes

11

The trustee default scheme and any employer default scheme must each be—

• (a) a Master Trust scheme authorised under the Act, and

• (b) an automatic enrolment scheme in relation to the members being transferred, as defined in section 17 of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (automatic enrolment schemes), or a scheme which would be an automatic enrolment scheme if the members being transferred were jobholders as defined in section 16(1) of that Act.

Trustees’ power to transfer otherwise than to a scheme

12

• (1) Where the trustees cannot identify a scheme which they consider appropriate for use as a default scheme in respect of a member of the transferring scheme, the trustees may make arrangements to transfer that member’s accrued rights and benefits to a vehicle which will secure suitable benefits for the member that are comparable to those in the transferring scheme.

• (2) Before making arrangements under sub-paragraph (1), the trustees must notify the members to whom the arrangements relate of their intention to do so.

• (3) The arrangements permitted by sub-paragraph (1) are the purchase of one or more policies from one or more insurers authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority for carrying on long-term insurance business in the United Kingdom.

• (4) A transfer under sub-paragraph (1) is prescribed for the purposes of section 69(4)(b) of the Pension Schemes Act (form of short service benefit and its alternatives).

Administration charges

13

• (1) For the purposes of section 24(5)(i) of the Act (continuity option 1: transfer out and winding up), the trustees of an applicable scheme must provide to the Regulator a document setting out the administration charges in accordance with the following provisions.

• (2) The document must be provided within the period of 28 days beginning with—

• (a) in the case of the trustee default scheme, the date on which the trustees received notice from the trustees of the transferring scheme under paragraph 4(1), or

• (b) in the case of an employer default scheme, the date on which the trustees received notice from the employer under paragraph 5(1)(b).

• (3) The document must set out all levels of administration charges for each charge structure, including any discounted levels—

• (a) for each arrangement, including a default arrangement, and any different levels in relation to any one arrangement;

• (b) for any additional charges, including the reason for imposing them;

• (c) for any third-party charges, including the reason for imposing them, and

• (d) for any other type of administration charge in the scheme, including the reason for imposing it.

• (4) The charges must be set out as at the most recent date, not falling within a triggering event period in relation to the transferring scheme, on which the applicable scheme submitted a continuity strategy to the Regulator.

• (5) The levels must be set out on an annualised basis.

• (6) Where there is a discounted level, the reason for charging the lower level must also be set out.

• (7) The document must include a statement explaining—

• (a) how the applicable scheme has complied with section 33(2) of the Act (prohibition on increasing charges during triggering event period);

• (b) whether the applicable scheme is liable for the costs mentioned in section 33(3) of the Act, and

• (c) if the applicable scheme is liable for those costs, how it is to meet them.

Future contributions

14

The trustees of a scheme that is pursuing continuity option 1 may—

• (a) arrange for the future contributions of employers and active members to be paid to the trustee default scheme from a date to be decided by the trustees, and

• (b) arrange for any contributions received from employers and active members after the date referred to in sub-paragraph (a) to be forwarded to the trustees of the applicable scheme.

Cessation of accruals

15

• (1) On the transfer date, the trustees of the transferring scheme are discharged from any obligation to receive contributions from members or maintain arrangements for the accrual of rights to benefits in respect of them.

• (2) When the accrued rights and benefits of members of the transferring scheme have been transferred to a receiving scheme, the trustees of the transferring scheme are discharged from any obligation to provide benefits to those members.

• (3) This paragraph does not apply in respect of members who are transferring out of the scheme in accordance with Part 4ZA of the Pension Schemes Act (transfers and contribution refunds).

Winding up

16

The Regulator may direct the trustees of the transferring scheme to wind up the scheme where continuity option 1 is being pursued.

Regulator’s power to direct

17

The trustees of a Master Trust scheme must comply with a direction issued by the Regulator requiring them to do anything permitted or required by this Schedule.

Civil penalties

18

Article 10 of the 1995 Order (civil penalties) applies to a person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed by this Schedule, including where the requirement is contained in a direction made under it.

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 26th March 2024

Patrick Rooney — A senior officer of the Department for Communities

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations revoke and re-enact the Occupational Pension Schemes (Master Trusts) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 (“the Master Trusts Regulations”) which would otherwise cease to have effect by virtue of section 42(2)(b) of the Pension Schemes Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 (“the Act”). Like the Master Trusts Regulations, the Regulations implement the new authorisation and supervisory regime for Master Trust pension schemes under the provisions of the Act.

Regulation 3 sets out when one employer is treated as connected with another employer for the purpose of section 1(3)(b) of the Act.

Regulation 4 sets out the information to be included in a Master Trust scheme’s application for authorisation by the Pensions Regulator (“the Regulator”) under section 4 of the Act, and specifies the application fee payable to the Regulator.

Regulation 5 introduces Schedule 1, which sets out the matters that the Regulator must take into account in assessing whether a person involved in a Master Trust scheme is a fit and proper person.

Regulation 6 introduces Schedule 2, which sets out the matters that the Regulator must take into account in deciding whether it is satisfied that a Master Trust scheme is financially sustainable.

Regulation 7 and Schedule 3 contain requirements in relation to the business plan which a Master Trust scheme must submit to the Regulator under section 9 of the Act.

Regulation 8 sets out the requirements on scheme funders which are applying for exemption from the requirement, in section 10(3) of the Act, that they should only carry out activities that relate directly to Master Trust schemes that they are, or will be, funding.

Regulation 9 contains requirements in respect of a scheme funder’s accounts and auditing, and requirements in respect of any undertaking funding a scheme funder.

Regulation 10 introduces Schedule 4, which sets out the matters that the Regulator must take into account in deciding whether it is satisfied that the systems and processes used in running a Master Trust scheme are sufficient to ensure that it is run effectively.

Regulation 11 contains requirements in respect of the section of a Master Trust scheme’s continuity strategy which sets out the levels of administration charges imposed by the scheme. (The continuity strategy is a document addressing how members’ interests will be protected if a triggering event occurs in relation to the scheme.)

Regulation 12 specifies the information which the continuity strategy must contain, and how it must be prepared.

Regulation 13 sets out the information which the Regulator may require to be included in the supervisory return (a document which it may require schemes to submit in writing).

Regulation 14 lists the significant events in relation to the scheme which must be notified to the Regulator.

Regulation 15 sets out the fixed and escalating penalties that the Regulator can impose on a person that has not complied with a request for information.

Regulation 16 contains the matters which the trustees of a scheme must notify to employers who use the scheme when a triggering event occurs in relation to the scheme.

Regulation 17 sets the deadlines for a scheme’s implementation strategy to be submitted when it requires approval by the Regulator (the implementation strategy is a document setting out how members’ interests are to be protected after a triggering event has occurred in relation to the scheme).

Regulation 18 states how a scheme’s administration charges must be calculated and set out in the implementation strategy.

Regulation 19 stipulates what a scheme’s implementation strategy must contain and how it must be prepared and made available to employers.

Regulation 20 introduces Schedule 5, which sets out the procedure to be followed when a triggering event has occurred and the scheme’s trustees are pursuing continuity option 1, under which members’ accrued rights and benefits are transferred out of the scheme and the scheme is wound up.

Regulation 21 prescribes the deadline for a scheme’s trustees to notify the Regulator when they believe that a triggering event has been resolved.

Regulation 22 prescribes the deadline for a scheme’s trustees to submit their first periodic report to the Regulator during a triggering event period, and specifies the information which reports must contain in addition to that required by the Act.

Regulation 23 modifies various Articles of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 on fraud compensation, as they apply to Master Trust schemes or other schemes to which Part 1 of the Act applies. Consequential modifications are also made to the Occupational Pension Schemes (Fraud Compensation Payments and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005.

Regulation 24 modifies section 95 of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 (trustees’ duties) as it applies to a Master Trust scheme in respect of which the Regulator has made a pause order under section 31 of the Act. Consequential modifications are also made to the Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

Regulation 25 sets out the types of costs that must not be included in the administration charges that apply in relation to the members of a Master Trust.

Regulation 26 provides that the authorisation and regulatory regime in Part 1 of the Act does not apply to hybrid schemes whose membership is limited to members or former members of a statutory pension scheme and which are closed to new members.

Regulation 27 provides that the regime in Part 1 of the Act does not apply to schemes whose only member is employed by 2 or more employers; to small self-administered schemes; or to schemes where the only money purchase benefits provided are those attributable to additional voluntary contributions made by non-money purchase members or to transfers from other schemes in respect of those members.

Regulation 28 modifies Part 1 of the Act to disapply certain requirements relating to scheme funders in respect of existing hybrid schemes which have more than one scheme funder, each of which is a participating employer.

Regulation 29 provides that 2 or more pension schemes under common control are treated as a single Master Trust scheme for the purposes of Part 1 of the Act if they are money purchase or hybrid schemes, each of which is used by one employer or multiple connected employers, or if they comprise a Master Trust scheme and its associated decumulation-only scheme.

Regulation 30 amends the Companies Act 2006 to exclude scheme funders of Master Trust schemes from the less stringent regime available to small and medium-sized companies, and certain subsidiaries, under that Act.

Regulation 31 amends the Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008 to exclude scheme funders which are limited liability partnerships from the less stringent regime available to small and medium-sized LLPs, and certain subsidiaries, under those Regulations.

Regulation 32 amends the Overseas Companies Regulations 2009 to exclude scheme funders of Master Trust schemes which are registered outside the UK from the less stringent accounting requirements which would otherwise apply to such overseas companies.

Regulation 33 revokes the Master Trusts Regulations.

An assessment of the impact of this legislation is included in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the Act, a copy of which has been laid in the Business Office and the Library of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies of the Assessment are available from the Department for Communities, Social Security Policy, Legislation and Decision Making Services, Level 8, Causeway Exchange, 1-7 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7EG or from the website: https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/articles/pension-information.

Footnotes

Editorial notes