Another warning has been issued to trustees of defined contribution schemes by The Pensions Regulator to comply with pensions law or face a penalty, as two schemes receive fines for failings.
New Station Bodyworks retirement benefit scheme and M Holleran pension plan, have been ordered to pay fines for failing to provide a scheme return.
The fine for each of the trustees is £300, and the penalty notices were issued on 7 September.
The regulator wrote to schemes' trustees on 15 March 2016 after they failed to provide a scheme return by the date set out in the notice, and advised them if they did not provide a return by 1 April 2016, or tell them what steps they have taken to comply, they would be issued with a penalty notice.
The current number of warning notices issued for the failure to submit a scheme return by the due date stands at 23.
A maximum penalty of £5,000 can be issued on an individual and £50,000 in other cases.
The Pensions Regulator has issued a regulatory intervention report about the action taken today (25 October), which states that trustees or managers of registrable schemes are required by law to provide them with a scheme return.
This provides information on schemes and is a basic administrative requirement of any trustee, and also allows trustees to confirm they are complying with new DC governance standards.
Nicola Parish, executive director for frontline regulation at The Pensions Regulator, said providing information to The Pensions Regulator is an essential part of a trustee’s role and they are required by law to submit a scheme return and update their registrable information.
She said: "We are supporting trustees in numerous ways, including new web guidance and news-by-email to help them understand how to complete the new scheme return in order to demonstrate they are meeting new governance standards.
"However, schemes should be aware that this type of breach will result in a fine and we hope that our latest intervention report will act as a reminder to all trustees to ensure they complete a scheme return on time. We will act where trustees demonstrate that they are not complying even with the basic duties.”
