General Insurance Article - Sign of things to come? Delayed Royal Assent of Finance Bill

 Normally Finance Bills get Royal Assent in the July after their publication, so this is unusual and could be a casualty of parliament’s focus on the EU referendum and a sign of things to come. The reduction in the lifetime allowance and new protections are already in force, backdated to 6 April 2016, but the delay has a direct impact on the technical changes which only come into effect the day following Royal Assent.

 “Brexit will demand a lot of the government’s time and energy over the next couple of years but this shouldn’t come at the cost of pushing forward domestic policy. Two other significant pieces of pension legislation in the pipeline are expected to be published in the autumn, a new Pensions Bill and the Lifetime Savings Bill setting out the rules for Lifetime ISA. The Pensions Bill will provide greater protection for people in master trusts, cap exit charges in occupational pension schemes for people using the pension freedoms and include provisions on the new public guidance body.

 “The other consideration for those drafting the Pensions Bill is whether to wait for the latest EU Directive on occupational pension funds, known as IORP2, which is intended to improve governance and member communication. This is currently with the European Parliament for approval and on completion the UK will have 24 months to include the new rules within UK legislation. Any delay to this Directive could push the Pensions Bill back, as for the time being the UK will continue to implement EU rules.”