Sipp trade body warns more regulation will not stop fraud

The Association of Member Directed Pension Schemes has called on the Serious Fraud Office and FSA to concentrate on stopping the promotion of unregulated investments to the general public, rather than increasing red-tape on providers.

Responding to concerns from the Serious Fraud Office about risks of fraud in self invested personal pensions, Andrew Roberts, chairman of Amps, said the trade body was seeking views on whether trustee companies should be regulated.

However, he warned that while bona fide Sipp operators would be able to accommodate regulation, this would not necessarily stop fraud within the investment fund.

He said: “The regulatory bodies should tackle the root of the problem and not seek to tarnish all Sipp providers because of failed investments, illegal promotion of Ucis or isolated instances of fraud.”

Mr Roberts claimed that the Sipp industry is already faced with rising costs as a result of proposed changes to illustrations, regulatory levies, improved due diligence of underlying investments and expectations of higher cash reserves.

He added: “At some point we should simply leave it to the Sipp operator to decide how to run their business and the consumer to choose whether they want a Sipp operator with higher charges and better controls or lower charges and fewer controls.”