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| 31 December | All stakeholder schemes registered before 1 October 2001 must finalise their first annual declaration and the reporting accountant's statement by this date. more |
| 23 December | Further amendments (13 pages) to The State Pension Credit Regs 2002 laid before Parliament (SI 2002/3197). |
| 20 December | Two new Pensions Updates: No. 134 (changes to Info. Powers Regs) and No. 135 (special circumstances in which IR SPSS will permit payment of a second tax-free lump sum from an occupational scheme or buy-out contract). more |
| 17 December | Government publishes Green Paper "Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement", accompanied by more radical Inland Revenue proposals "Simplifying the taxation of pensions: increasing choice and flexibility for all". more |
| 10 December | The State Pension Credit Regs 2002 amended (SI 2002/3019) (36 pages). more |
| 5 December | The Occupational Pension Schemes (Revaluation) Order 2002 (SI 2002/2591) laid before Parliament. more |
| | The Retirement Benefits Schemes (Information Powers) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/3006) laid before Parliament. more |
| 2 December | Aries releases new version of Aries Pensions System (v8.6) including new text on FURBS and UURBS. more |
| 27 November | Chancellor confirms in Pre-Budget Report that tax-free lump sums and existing tax reliefs for pension contributions by employees, employers and the self-employed will both remain after Green Paper to be published on 17 December. more |
| 14 November | Eighth meeting of IR SPSS Customer Forum. more |
| 28 October | FSA drops CP 121 proposal to require IFAs to agree fees in advance with clients,instead of being paid via commission. more |
| 16 October | Aries launches Statutory Money Purchase Illustration (SMPI) program. more |
| 7 October | National Association of Pensions Funds (NAPF) publishes ideas for future of UK retirement in "Pensions Plain and Simple". more |
| 6 October | SERPS inheritance rate to reduce over next 8 years from 100% to 50%. |
| 3 October | ECJ rules in case of Kuopio, Finland v Rolf Dieter Danner that voluntary pension contributions paid to pension providers in other Member States should be allowed as tax deductible in the domestic Member State. |
| 1 October | The Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 and The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (Amendment) Regulations 2002 in force. more |
| 16 September | Member-Nominated Trustee Regs amended, extending existing employer opt-outs for four years more |
| 1 September | FSA rules require PP providers to inform members of all options for buying an annuity at retirement, including the open market option. |
| 14 August | The Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2098) laid, further amending the reporting rules. more |
| 30 July | The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2035) and The Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2034) made. more |
| 11 July | The Pickering Report ("A Simpler Way to Better Pensions") published. more |
| 9 July | "The Sandler Review ("Medium and Long Term Retail Savings in the UK") published. more |
| 8 July | Employment Act 2002 received Royal Assent. The Act is the vehicle for implementing the Government’s obligations under the EC Directive on Fixed-Term Work. more |
| 5 July | IR SPSS Pensions Update No 133 published, permitting approval applications using definitive documentation deficient in pension sharing on divorce provisions until 5 October 2002. more |
| 4 July | The Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations 2002 came into force, extending until 31 December 2002 the deadline by which all schemes registered before 1 October 2001 have to finalise their first annual declaration and the reporting accountant's statement. more |
| 3 July | Inland Revenue published a draft Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Bill as part of the consultation on the Tax Law Rewrite Project. more |
| 25 June | Pension Credit Bill received Royal Assent |
| 12 June | Trustees Code of Practice, developed by the Trustee Code of Practice Group (Chairman: Brian Holden MBE of CIS) launched. more |
| 31 May | Aries released version 8.5 of the Aries Pensions System. more |
| 29 May | Andrew Smith (MP for Oxford East) appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in place of Alistair Darling. more |
| 17 May | IRPSS issued Pensions Update 132, (Improper Transfers: Trust Busting). more |
| 3 May | Opra issued press release warning against "Pension Liberation Schemes". more |
| 23 April | IRSPSS issued (a) Pensions Update 131, allowing backdating of part-time employees contributions to 8th April 1976 or later commencement of employment, following the Preston case. more |
| | b) Pensions Update 130 amending IR 76 to allow an individual to use the earnings cap in the current year, rather than in the basis year to support higher contributions. more |
| 19 April | High Court allowed trustees’ and employer’s appeal against the Pensions Ombudsman’s determination in the Shillcock case: LEL offsets are not discriminatory, permitting integration with the state scheme. more |
| 6 April | Accrual of benefits under SERPS ceases, and starts instead under the State Second Pension (S2P). Inheritance of benefits under S2P will be at the 50% rate. |
| | New applications for Revenue approval must be accompanied by definitive deed and rules; interim deeds no longer acceptable except in cases of corporate reorganisation. |
| | All WRAPA provisions on effect of bankruptcy on pension rights now in force. |
| | Fixed rate GMP revaluation falls from 6.25% to 4.5% for those leaving from this day on |
| | New Regulations in force: (a) The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Bankruptcy) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/427) |
| | (b) The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/681). more |
| 1 April | (a) The Occupational Pension Schemes (Winding Up Notices and Reports etc.) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/459) came into force. more |
| | (b) CSPASSA provisions empowering Opra to speed up winding-up of schemes brought into force by The Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (Commencement No. 11) Order 2002 (SI 2002/437) |
| 15 March | The Retirement Benefits Schemes (Indexation of Earnings Cap) Order 2002 (SI 2002/700) raised the earnings cap to £97,200 with effect from 6 April 2002. more |
| 4 March | IRSPSS issued Pensions Updates 123, 124, 125, 126 and 127. more |
| 27 February | The Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (Commencement No. 11) Order 2002 (SI 2002/437) declares appointed days for some sections of CSPSSA as: March 1st 2002 for s.47, 48 and 50 and part of section 49 and section 54 for the purposes of making regulations and rules, and the repeal of Part III of Schedule 9 (Anti franking Regs); April 1st 2002 for those sections for other purposes and 6th April 2002 for section (11) of Part III of Schedule 9 |
| 26 February | The Occupational Pension Schemes (Minimum Funding Requirement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/380) laid before Parliament, easing the MFR requirements. more |
| 12 February | Government shelves radical changes to the MNT regs (introduced in ss. 43-46 of the CSPASSA 2000), pending consideration of the Pickering Reviews recommendations. more |
| 7 February | Pensions Update No. 117 describes new interim deed procedure. Applicable for approval applications relating to "corporate reorganisation". more |
| 5 February | DWP and Inland Revenue launch a consultation paper on ways to help people get a better deal when they need to buy an annuity. more |
| 4 February | DWP and the Treasury set out proposals for progressing three of the key recommendations in the Myners report. These consultation papers make it clear that the government will introduce regulation only if it is practical, provides effective protection and if benefits justify it. more |
| 29 January | Aries launches Pensions Gateway - 2 clicks and you're through to anyone in UK pensions. more |
| 21 January | Pensions Update No.114 announces a new procedure for claiming tax relief on contributions to overseas pension schemes (effective 31st January 02). Update No. 115 amends the Practice Notes. more |
| | Pension Update No. 113 announces that self-administered schemes will receive only one reminder that the Actuarial Valuation Report is due. more |
| | Final consultation from the DTI on the Fixed Term Work Directive "to give interested parties a further opportunity to comment on the draft regulations before they are brought into force". |
| 18 January | FSA launches CP 122, "Stakeholder Pensions: Maintaining Decision Trees", explains how the FSA and providers should jointly update the trees. |
| 14 January | FSA launches CP 121, "Reforming Polarisation", proposing to abolish polarisation and advice remunerated by commission. |
| 1 January | Now optional for personal pension providers to offer income drawdown for protected rights. more |
| | The Occupational Pension Schemes (Revaluation) Order 2001 comes into force. more |
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