Schedule 5: Removal of Secretary of State’s role in approving actuarial guidance Section 19: Temporary restriction on purchase of annuities
358.Section 19 requires the Secretary of State to make regulations to temporarily prevent the purchase of annuities by trustees of relevant pension schemes except where they have entered into a binding commitment or where the FAS scheme manager considers such purchase to be appropriate.
359.Subsection (1) requires the Secretary of State to make regulations to prevent trustees of relevant pensions schemes from purchasing, or agreeing to purchase, annuities on behalf of qualifying members during the period of 9 months beginning with the date on which the regulations come into force. Paragraph (a) provides for an exception to be made if before the date on which the regulations come into force the trustees have entered into a binding commitment to purchase annuities and paragraph (b) provides for an exception to be made if the purchase of annuities is approved under the terms of subsection (2).
360.Subsection (2) requires regulations under subsection (1) to make provision for enabling trustees of relevant pension schemes to apply to the scheme manager for approval of the purchase of annuities (paragraph (a)) and for authorising the scheme manager to approve such purchases where he thinks it is appropriate to do so (paragraph (b)).
361.Subsection (3) defines a “relevant pension scheme” as any scheme that is a qualifying pension scheme and which is not fully wound up at any time during the 9 months commencing from the date on which the regulations made under subsection (1) come into force.
362.Subsection (4) states that regulations under section 19 must be made as soon as is reasonably practicable after the passing of the Act (paragraph (a)) and that such regulations may make any consequential, incidental, supplemental or transitional provisions that the Secretary of State considers appropriate (paragraph (b)).
363.Subsection (5) provides that regulations under section 19 will be subject to the negative resolution procedure.
364.Subsection (6) provides that "occupational pension scheme", "qualifying member", "qualifying pension scheme" and "scheme manager" have the same meanings as in section 286 of the Pensions Act 2004 (c.35).