Part 1: Collective Money Purchase Benefits Authorisation Section 7: Authorisation of collective money purchase schemes
This section sets out a general prohibition – that a person cannot operate a collective money purchase scheme unless that scheme is authorised. A person operates a collective money purchase scheme, if in relation to the scheme, the person accepts money from members or prospective members, or money from employers or prospective employers in respect of contributions, fees, charges or anything else (although trustees may receive money paid by an employer in advance of authorisation where this is to meet the costs of setting up the scheme or costs relating to obtaining authorisation for the scheme) (subsection (5)). To become authorised, the Pensions Regulator must be satisfied that the scheme meets certain criteria which are set out in section 9.
	Subsection (2) provides that if a person does operate a collective money purchase scheme that is not authorised, they may be subject to a civil penalty under section 10 of the Pensions Act 1995.
	Subsections (3) and (4) provide that where the Regulator becomes aware that a collective money purchase scheme is operating without authorisation, it is required to notify the trustees that the scheme is not authorised. The notification must explain that the notification is a triggering event (see section 31) and include an explanation of the trustees’ duties under sections 31 to 45.