FCA Consultation
To help people considering selling their annuities, the government will give them access to a free and impartial government service, Pension Wise.
Pension Wise’s remit has been extended in legislation to include the secondary annuity market.
As a result, the Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation paper on Tuesday on proposed changes to the standards for designated guidance providers of Pension Wise.
The consultation paper aims to secure an appropriate degree of consumer protection for individuals seeking guidance about whether to sell, or the impact of selling, the income from an annuity.
To allow for the extension of Pension Wise’s remit, the FCA is proposing to make the following changes to its existing standards:
- where relevant, make clear the standards apply when designated guidance providers give guidance to individuals and contingent beneficiaries about selling the annuity income on the secondary market;
- set out the knowledge requirements that we expect designated guidance providers to have before giving guidance about selling an annuity;
- set out the content that, as a minimum, we expect a designated guidance provider to go through in a guidance session about selling an annuity income; and
- give examples of the type of information that we expect designated guidance provider to collect from individuals during the session to inform the guidance they give to the individual or their contingent beneficiary.
Important dates
The consultation will run until 4 October 2016, with a policy statement to be published in December 2016.
Anyone interested in responding to the FCA’s proposals can find the consultation document here.
