Martin Cadman, founder and managing director of the UK-based pensions administrator, said in a statement that the temporary cessation had been implemented “whilst we resolve a technical issue”.
“While we resolve this, we are not taking [on any] new members and have, on a purely precautionary basis, asked HMRC to temporarily take us off the published QROPS list,” Cadman added.
“We expect to be re-included shortly. We do not expect our QROPS status to be affected.”
Cadman did not say what the technical issue involved, but industry sources said it was thought to have to do with a question about how pension benefits are taxed.
Joseph Bannister, chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority, confirmed this and stressed that the matter had been “clarified” and that there was “nothing wrong, nothing untoward”.
He said it involved technical changes in the company’s QROP scheme, and that another company, Blevins Franks, had done the same thing with its Maltese QROPS.
The MC Trustees’ MCT Malta Private Retirement Scheme was approved by the MFSA in March, 2010, along with the Melita International Retirement Scheme Trust, administered out of Malta by an arm of Malta-based Custom House Global Fund Services Ltd.
In August 2010, Ascentric became the first UK wrap service to put a QROPS on its platform, with the addition of the MCT scheme.
