Regulation 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation

These Regulations may be cited as the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000.

Parts I to III and V of these Regulations shall come into force on 1st October 2000 F1 and—

In these Regulations—

• “the Act" means the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 M1;

• “the 1993 Act" means the Pension Schemes Act 1993;

• “the 1995 Act" means the Pensions Act 1995;

• F2“address” means postal address (except in the phrases “postal address”, “electronic address” and “website address”);

• “beneficiary", in relation to a stakeholder pension scheme, means any person who has rights under the scheme which have arisen as a result of the death of a member of the scheme;

• F3...

• F4...

• F5“dilution levy” has the meaning given by the FCA Handbook;

• F6“electronic communication” has the same meaning as in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;

• F7“the FCA Handbook” means the Handbook made by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

• F8‘illustration date’ means, in relation to any information provided, or to be provided, under regulation F918A(2), the date specified by the trustees or manager as the date by reference to which amounts are calculated for the purpose of providing the information;

• F10...

• F11...

• F12“insurer” means—

  1. (a)

     a person who has permission under Part 4 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to effect or carry out contracts of insurance, F13...

  2. (b)

     ...

• F14...

• F15“lifestyling” has the meaning given by regulation 10A(5);

• F16...

• ...

• F17‘non-contributing member’ means—

  1. (a)

     F18...

  2. (b)

     F19... a member in respect of whom no further contributions to the scheme are due or expected after the illustration date;

• “pension arrangement" means—

  1. (a)

     an annuity contract;

  2. (b)

     an insurance policy; or

  3. (c)

     F20a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme as defined in section 169 of the Finance Act 2004;

  which has effect, or is capable of having effect, so as to provide benefits on termination of employment or on death or retirement, to or in respect of earners;

• “property" includes land;

• “qualifying scheme" shall, in respect of an employer, include any stakeholder pension scheme which has at any time been designated by the employer under section 3(2);

• F21“relevant guidance” means the document entitled “AS TM1: Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations” that is adopted or prepared, and from time to time revised, by the Financial Reporting Council Limited;

• “reporting accountant" has the meaning given to it by regulation 11(3);

• F22‘retirement date’ means, in relation to a member—

  1. (a)

     the date which he has specified to the trustees or manager, and which is acceptable under the rules of the scheme, for the purpose of regulation F2318A(2); or

  2. (b)

     where no acceptable date has been specified for that purpose, the date specified by the trustees or manager as being the appropriate date for the purpose of regulation 18A(2) ;

• F24“scheme instruments” means instruments establishing a stakeholder pension scheme;

• F25“securities” means investments of the following kinds—

  1. (a)

     shares,

  2. (b)

     instruments creating or acknowledging indebtedness,

  3. (c)

     government and public securities,

  4. (d)

     instruments giving entitlements to investments,

  5. (e)

     certificates representing securities,

  F26...;

• F27“statement year” has the meaning given by regulation 18;

• F28“tax relief” has the meaning given by Chapter 4 of Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004 (registered pension schemes: tax reliefs and exemptions);

• “transfer payment" means a payment in respect of a person’s accrued rights under a pension scheme or pension arrangement made with a view to acquiring rights under another pension scheme or pension arrangement for that person; and

• “with-profits fund" means a fund, maintained by an F29insurer in respect of a particular part of its long-term business for which—

  1. (a)

     separate accounting records are maintained by the insurer in respect of all income and expenditure relating to that part of its business; and

  2. (b)

     the benefits payable in respect of policies allocated to that fund are determined partly by reference to a discretion exercisable by any person.

The definitions of “insurer” and “securities” in paragraph (3) must be read with—

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sections 249 and 435 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (connected and associated persons) M2 and section 74 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 (associated persons), apply for the purposes of F33regulation 4(3) as they apply for the purposes of those Acts respectively.

For the purposes of these Regulations and section 1(8) and (9) (which provide that stakeholder pension schemes must have tax-exemption or tax-approval and must not refuse to accept transfer payments except in so far as necessary to ensure that the scheme has such exemption or approval) F34“tax-registration” and “tax-registered” mean registration or, as the case may be, registered under section 153 of the Finance Act 2004.

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, references to a section are to a section of the Act.

F36...