Only three master trusts have been granted authorisation since the deadline for applications closed last week.
As of today (April 3) Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust, Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust (RAS), and LifeSight have been authorised, according to The Pensions Regulator.
Existing master trusts had until 31 March 2019 to apply for authorisation, trigger their exit from the market or request an extension.
About 90 master trusts were in the market as of November 2018. However, this number has been cut by more than half.
According to an update published today by The Pensions Regulator (April 3), 27 applications have a decision on authorisation pending, while three schemes have been authorised.
A further 10 schemes have been given an extension of up to six weeks after failing to submit their applications in time.
A further nine schemes are confirmed to have exited the market, while 34 have notified TPR of a triggering event to exit. One further scheme intends to exit, but is yet to submit a triggering event notification, according to the regulator.
Nicola Parish, executive director of frontline regulation at TPR, said the regulator had anticipated a peak in applications in the run up to the March deadline and had planned accordingly: "A number of applications have now been submitted and we are expecting more applications over the next few weeks from those schemes which have been granted an extension.
"We will now work to assess this large volume of applications and are confident we will process these applications within the timeframes laid out in law."
On 21 March TPR told master trusts to check their applications before submitting, as it actively encouraged those applying in the final two weeks of March to apply for an extension to ensure all applications are the best they can be.
Alan Chan, director and Chartered financial planner at IFS Wealth, said: "The authorised numbers do seem low, but I can’t say I’m too surprised.
"The new master trust criteria is now more stringent than ever before, so naturally more checks and due diligence are required before they can be authorised."
