Proposed regulation of pensions business in Jersey - Jersey’s government seeks your views

The States of Jersey has issued a consultation paper on proposed regulation of pensions business ("Consultation Paper"). This is a much welcomed consultation: the responses to the consultation will be important to the continuing development of the Island's pensions industry.

The key questions covered by the Consultation Paper are:

1. What type of pensions activities should be within the scope of the regulation? Some of the activities which might be included are formation of pension schemes, management of pension schemes, administration of pension schemes and advising on pension schemes.

2. What type of pension scheme should be within the scope of the regulation? Examples might be defined contribution schemes, defined benefit schemes, insured and self-administered schemes and private pensions.

3. Should Jersey's public service pension scheme be within the scope of a new pensions’ regulator?

4. Would it be preferable to bring pensions provision into the regulatory sphere by amending the existing Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 to create a new category of financial service business?  If not, what is the alternative?

5. Should pensions business be supervised by the Jersey Financial Services Commission?  If not, which other authority should supervise it?  Would it be more appropriate to have an independent pensions’ regulator, such as the one in the UK, to supervise pensions business?

6. Should the current pension legislation wording in the Financial Services Ombudsman (Jersey) Law 2014 and the Income Tax (Jersey) Law 1961 be used when integrating pensions business into the regulatory framework?

7. Are there any other elements of the Financial Services Ombudsman Law or the Income Tax Law that would be particularly useful, or not useful, for this purpose?

8. Should there be an appropriate test to determine what constitutes a Jersey scheme as opposed to a non-Jersey scheme?  If so, what factors should be considered?

9. Do you agree that "carried on in or from within Jersey" is the correct test for the location of the pension services activity?

10. Should the authorisation and supervision costs of a pensions' regulator be levied through regulatory fees paid by regulated pensions businesses?

11. Do you consider that a pensions' regulator should take on a funding control role?

The consultation paper is available here.

The closing date for responses is 31 January 2019.  Bedell Cristin will be submitting a response.  If you have any comments that you would like to incorporate into our response, or if you would like our assistance with preparing your response, please contact Nancy Chien.