Today the Financial Assistance Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regs (SI 2006/3370) were officially published on the opsi website: they came into force on 16 December 2006.

These Regs have emerged from an eight-week consultation on draft regs in the late summer of this year, and have been subjected to some Parliamentary scrutiny. They further amend the Financial Assistance Scheme Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1986) and the Financial Assistance Scheme (Internal Review) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1994); they also amend the Financial Assistance Scheme (Appeals) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3273).

In particular the new regs extend the class of qualifying members and former members to include those who would have reached normal retirement age on or before 14 May 2019 (ie were within 15 years of their NRA on 14 May 2004); previously the cut-off date was 14 May 2007. In addition, a member of a qualifying pension scheme who satisfies the relevant conditions will still be a qualifying member even if he died before the coming into force of the FAS Regulations, as long as he would have satisfied those conditions.

Trustees who think perhaps their scheme may have eligible members, and former members of schemes which have completed winding up who wish to claim support from the FAS, must supply the required information on form FAS(A)1 08/05 by 28 February 2007: the new regs have extended the original 2006 cut-off date for qualifying insolvency events by one year (SI 2006/3370 Reg 4 (1).

The regs also give the FAS manager (currently the DWP) discretion to accept as a qualifying insolvency event a situation where the employer is unlikely to continue as a going concern, the employer's assets are less than its liabilities and the employer is unable to pay its debts as they fall due (SI 2006/3370 Reg 4 (4).

The total amount of money made available by the Government was originally limited to £400m, in 2004 terms, over a period of 20 years. However, when in its May 2006 White Paper 'Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system' the Government proposed to extend the coverage of the FAS as detailed above, it increased its total commitment to some £2.3 billion. For more information about the FAS see the official DWP sub-site.

The Pensions Act 2004 (Disclosure of Restricted Information) (Amendment of Specified Persons) Order 2006 (SI 2006/2937)

These amending regs came into force on 7 December 2006 and permit the following disclosures of information:

1. by the Pensions Regulator to the Financial Reporting Council (to allow the FRC to efficiently levy large pension schemes for its regulatory oversight of the actuarial profession); and
2. by the PPF Board to the Financial Ombudsman.