This year has been a big year for the pensions industry. In a four-part review of 2017, James Phillips looks at what happened between July and September this year.
July
5 July - The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) makes it easier for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) to invest in infrastructure after the introduction of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) by reducing requirements for professional investor status.
5 July - The Pensions Regulator (TPR) reveals it handed out 173 fines to schemes and trustees for failing to prepare annual governance statements or complete scheme returns in 2016, and issues a compliance warning.
7 July - TPR convicts an office manager after she failed to provide information it needed to investigate a suspected £13.8m scam.
7 July - Frank Field is re-elected unopposed as chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee.
11 July - The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) reveals it dealt with 22% more enquiries in 2016/17 compared to the previous year as transfer complaints doubled.
11 July - TPR admits to a serious data blunder after a member of staff left board papers on a train, which were then never found.
12 July - The Supreme Court rules survivor benefits should be paid out equally regardless of a person's sexuality, overturning previous rules that said only benefits accrued after 2005 were required to be paid out.
14 July - The FCA fines an individual compliance oversight officer £75,000 for failing to "exercise due skill, care and diligence" in pension transfers.
17 July - Royal Mail tells its staff members to choose between a defined benefit (DB) cash balance arrangement and an improved defined contribution (DC) fund.
19 July - The Treasury confirms the lifetime allowance will increase in-line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) from April 2018.
19 July - The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announces plans to increase the state pension age to 68 by 2039, stating its final decision will be made by 2022.
21 July - The FCA enforces a stricter reporting regime for providers of pensions, annuities and drawdown to provide information on pension freedoms.
21 July - The DWP bans early exit charges and member-borne commission when accessing the pension freedoms for members who join a pension scheme after 1 October.
24 July - Alan Rubenstein announces he will quit the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) in early 2018 after nine years.
24 July - Now Pensions withdraws from TPR's master trust assurance list after discovering historic client contribution issues.
25 July - Julian Mund is named chief executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), replacing Joanne Segars.
26 July - Pension freedom withdrawals hit a quarterly high of £1.8bn in Q2, HM Revenue and Customs reveals.
27 July - TPR fines a public sector scheme for the first time after Barnet Council fails to submit a scheme return for 2016.
27 July - The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) reveals a £17.5bn deficit in its annual reports and accounts, and posts a 20.1% growth in assets under management.
28 July - The Court of Appeal rules BBC can impose a cap on pensionable pay to stem the growth of its DB scheme deficit.
August
1 August - TPR reveals its interventions in cases of auto-enrolment (AE) non-compliance soared 468% in 2016/17, using its formal powers just over 50,000 times.
2 August - Chris Sier is named chairman of the FCA's working group on cost disclosure as part of its asset management market study resolutions.
3 August - The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) appoints Robert Branagh as president as Kevin LeGrand steps down, and announces a "root and branch" review of all of its qualifications.
3 August - IBM wins in the Court of Appeal and is allowed to impose a pensionable pay cap after a High Court judgment that it had not acted in good faith was overturned.
7 August - The government announces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be brought into UK law through a new Data Protection Bill.
9 August - Chris Hogg and Carol Young are elected chairs of the PLSA's DB and DC councils respectively, taking over from October.
10 August - TPR names and shames schemes for failing to do "basic" duties, such as preparing scheme returns or chair's annual statements, for the first time.
10 August - TPR sets out a new definition of professional trustees, and boosts fines for those meeting that definition.
11 August - The British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) is provisionally granted a regulated apportionment arrangement (RAA) by TPR and the PPF.
14 August - Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management merge to become the £11bn Standard Life Aberdeen.
18 August - PP reports Chris Hogg is to step down from chief executive of the Royal Mail Pension Plan to join National Grid.
20 August - The DWP confirms it will proceed with a cold-calling ban after revealing at least £43m had been lost to scams since 2014.
22 August - TPR announces plans to prosecute former BHS owner Dominic Chappell for not handing over information it requested as part of its probe into the collapsed outlet.
24 August - PP reveals plans for TPO to take on The Pensions Advisory Service's dispute resolution process to avoid duplication and improve customer experience.
September
1 September - Sir Philip Green warns WPC chairman Frank Field over revealing details about the settlement agreed with TPR over the BHS pension schemes.
5 September - USS launches a consultation on the assumptions used in its 2017 actuarial valuation, suggesting contributions could increase to 33% of pensionable pay.
8 September - British Airways announces plans to close the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) to future accrual after its deficit grew to £3.7bn.
8 September - The FCA confirms the full membership of its cost transparency working group, and says the first report will be due by the end of the year.
11 September - The RAA for BSPS is completed, and members are told they will be able to choose between a new DB pension scheme, entering the PPF, or joining a DC arrangement.
13 September - Parliament starts confirming the members of the WPC ahead of its first meeting after the general election.
14 September - PP reveals the Communication Workers Union is planning to close its final salary schemes while balloting members to strike over Royal Mail's DB scheme closure.
18 September - TPR launches a campaign to boost governance standards across all pension schemes as part of its 21st Century Trusteeship work.
19 September - TPR bans three trustees after the schemes they oversaw invested around £9m into potential scam investments.
20 September - BA proposes a "flexible" DC arrangement to replace the NAPS with lump sum options and higher contribution rates than the existing DC British Airways Retirement Plan.
20 September - The FCA reveals plans to make its regulated firms handling DC funds to disclose transaction costs and charges to trustees and independent governance committees.
21 September - The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sets outs the scope and membership of its investigation into the investment consultant market.
22 September - Michael Johnson, one of the key architects of Freedom and Choice, expresses his woe at the outcome of the policy, saying he had not foreseen its consequences.
26 September - At the Labour Party conference, shadow pensions minister Alex Cunningham says the party would enable collective DC schemes if elected.
27 September - The PLSA outlines further details of its superfunds consolidation model, stating 100% of member benefits could be paid out under the system.
27 September - The PPF releases details of its proposed levy for 2018/19, including a 10% cut which could see two-thirds of schemes paying less.
28 September - The Office for National Statistics reveals DC membership hit an all-time high of 39.2 million people saving into a workplace pension, while DB membership fell to 1.3 million people.
29 September - The DWP was revealed to have fired its flagship ‘Workie' monster, best known for its part in the AE campaign. Celebrities were hired to replace him.
