The Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

Amendment of regulation 12

4.  For regulation 12(1) (requirement for annual declaration) there shall be substituted the following regulation –

“Requirement for declaration by trustees or manager

12.— (1) For the purposes of Article 3(1)(b), it shall be a condition of a scheme being a stakeholder pension scheme that the requirements of this regulation are complied with.

(2) Subject to paragraph (11), the trustees or manager of the scheme shall, no later than the end of 6 months beginning with each reporting date –

(a) make a declaration in writing signed by the trustees or manager containing the statements set out in paragraph (5) in relation to the reporting period or, in so far as they are unable to make those statements, containing a statement explaining why they are unable to do so, and

(b) obtain from the reporting accountant the statement specified in paragraph (7) or, in so far as the reporting accountant is unable to make that statement, a statement from the reporting accountant explaining why he is unable to do so.

(3) Subject to paragraph (10), in this regulation “reporting date” means –

(a) in the case of the first reporting date, a date chosen by the trustees or manager that is no later than the last day of the period of 12 months beginning with the date on which the scheme is registered under Article 4, and

(b) in the case of each subsequent reporting date, a date chosen by the trustees or manager that is no later than the last day of the period of 12 months beginning with the date immediately following the previous reporting date.

(4) Subject to paragraph (10), in this regulation “reporting period” means –

(a) in the case of the first reporting period, the period beginning on the date of registration of the scheme under Article 4 and ending on the first reporting date;

(b) in the case of subsequent reporting periods, the period beginning on the date immediately following the previous reporting date and ending on the reporting date.

(5) The statements specified in paragraph (2)(a) shall be –

(a) a statement that in the opinion of the trustees or manager there are systems and controls in place which provide reasonable assurance that –

(i) regulations 13 and 14(2) have been complied with in relation to the scheme;

(ii) transactions for the purposes of the scheme in securities, property or other assets have occurred at a fair market value;

(iii) the value of members' rights has been determined in accordance with the provisions in the instruments establishing the scheme, and

(iv) adequate records have been maintained for the purposes of providing to members the statement required by regulation 18(2)(3);

(b) a statement describing the process that the trustees or manager have or has undertaken in order to arrive at the opinion expressed in the statement described in sub-paragraph (a);

(c) a statement that in the opinion of the trustees or manager there are systems and controls in place which provide reasonable assurance that the scheme has complied with the conditions in Article 3(1), apart from those conditions that are covered by the statement in sub-paragraph (a), and

(d) a statement which explains that –

(i) regulations 13 and 14 impose limits on the amount of charges and deductions which may be made by a stakeholder pension scheme and on the manner in which charges may be made by such a scheme, and

(ii) regulation 18(2) requires a stakeholder pension scheme to provide an annual benefit statement to each member.

(6) The trustees or manager shall provide the reporting accountant with documentation to demonstrate that the process described in the statement in paragraph (5)(b) has taken place.

(7) The statement specified in paragraph (2)(b) shall be a statement that –

(a) the reporting accountant has been provided with documentation as required by paragraph (6), and

(b) nothing has come to the attention of the reporting accountant that is inconsistent with the statement made in paragraph (5)(b).

(8) The trustees or manager shall make available to members and beneficiaries of the scheme on request the declaration made by the trustees or manager and the statement obtained from the reporting accountant in accordance with paragraph (2).

(9) If the statement to be obtained by the trustees or manager under paragraph (2)(b) is obtained from the reporting accountant acting as such while ineligible in contravention of regulation 11(7A)(a) –

(a) the trustees or manager shall not be regarded as having complied with paragraph (2)(b), and

(b) for the purposes of paragraph (8), the statement from the reporting accountant shall not be regarded as obtained in accordance with paragraph (2)(b).

(10) Where a scheme is registered under Article 4 on or before 6th April 2001 –

(a) the first reporting date shall be 5th April 2002, and

(b) the first reporting period shall be the period beginning on 6th April 2001 and ending on 5th April 2002.

(11) Where the reporting date is on or before 30th September 2002 the trustees or manager of the scheme shall make the declaration specified in paragraph (2)(a) and obtain the statement specified in paragraph (2)(b) from the reporting accountant –

(a) on or before 31st December 2002, or

(b) by the end of 6 months beginning with the reporting date,

whichever is later.”.

(1)

Regulation 12 was amended by regulation 8 of S.R. 2001 No. 119 and regulation 2(3) of S.R. 2002 No. 216

(2)

Regulation 13 was amended by regulation 9, and regulation 14 was amended by regulation 10, of S.R. 2001 No. 119

(3)

Regulation 18(2) was substituted by regulation 13(2) of S.R. 2001 No. 119