Employers to face jail for pension pot mismanagement
Beefed up response follows a series of high-profile corporate failures
Employers who mismanage workers’ pension pots could face up to seven years in jail or unlimited fines, as part of a beefed-up response by the government to a series of high profile corporate failures.
Announcing the changes in the Sunday Telegraph, the Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said “for too long, the reckless few playing fast and loose with people’s futures have got away scot-free.”
“If you run your company pension into the ground, saddling it with massive, unsustainable debts, we're coming for you,” she said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reuters says “Britain has been promising to introduce tougher laws governing the management of pensions for more than a year following the collapse of firms like outsourcer Carillion and department store chain BHS”.
The high-street retailer fell into administration in 2016, leaving a £571 million pension deficit. Sir Philip Green, who sold the company for £1 a year before it went bust, eventually agreed to pay £363 million towards the pot to end legal actions against him by the Pensions Regulator.
But while tougher sentencing has been broadly welcomed, not everyone thinks it is the best way to safeguard workers’ pensions.
Former Lib Dem pensions minister Sir Steve Webb says it could be difficult and time consuming to reach the higher burden of proof needed in criminal cases to show bosses deliberately underfunded a pension scheme and that civil, not criminal, action may be better.
He said that the criminal offence was “a good headline that risks achieving nothing or worse than nothing”.
Noting the initiative was first floated before the last general election in 2017, he told the BBC: “Two years on, we have not even had the primary legislation. We are years away from seeing this in force.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
5 simple items to help make your airplane seat more comfortable
The Week Recommends Gel cushions and inflatable travel pillows make a world of difference
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right now
Speed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?
Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?
Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday deals
Speed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from London
Speed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
By The Week Staff Published
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck again
Speed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
By The Week Staff Published
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…
Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
By The Week Staff Published
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacy
Speed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
By The Week Staff Published