This Checklist provides a summary of some of the key actions that need to be taken by schemes from 24 July 2014 to comply with section 29 of the Pensions Act 2011 ('section 29'), under which the definition of money purchase benefits in section 181 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 was amended and certain types of benefits will no longer be money purchase. For more information on how the new statutory definition of money purchase benefits affects schemes, see Practice Note: Money purchase benefits—the transitional regulations [Archived]. All schemes with benefits which will change from money purchase to non-money purchase as a result of section 29 • inform the Pensions Regulator on or before 31 March 2015 that the scheme includes benefits which are not money purchase but have been treated as money purchase • ensure that members are aware that if they choose an internal annuity that will come into payment after 1 April 2015, the annuity will be

A new Home Office guidance webpage has been published which sets out the actions that it recommends overseas nationals with an eVisa take before they travel outside the UK. This includes checking their immigration status is accurate on the View and Prove service, and using the ‘update your UKVI account’ details to check that their personal details are correct and that the passport they will travel with is linked to their account. Where they are returning from overseas, they should check that the passenger information provided to the carrier matches the details on their passport or immigration permission.

Pensions analysis: The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has upheld a complaint about early retirement. Martin Scott of gunnercooke LLP looks at the decision

In an email to stakeholders, HM Courts and Tribunals Service has confirmed that a new email inbox is to be used for technical queries relating to the Damages Claims Portal, for example regarding issues with pending claims or call back error messages. The email is DCPtechsupport@justice.gov.uk. The email previously used for such queries (damagesclaims@justice.gov.uk) is now being managed by the Court and Tribunal Service Centre in Salford Quays and will be used for general customer service enquiries, such as a claim being moved offline if it has been issued against the wrong defendant solicitor.

Today the minimum income requirement for partners and their dependent children has increased from £18,600 (plus any child increments) to £29,000 (with no separate child increment). Alongside this, the Home Office has updated its caseworker guidance to cover the requirement for new applications, as well as transitional cases.

The LexisNexis Financial Services practical guidance team has published a new Practice Note which outlines the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) approach to information gathering in the context of an enforcement investigation. It outlines the PRA’s Early Account Scheme (EAS) introduced in January 2024, including the circumstances in which the PRA considers the EAS to be appropriate and the different steps in the process of the EAS. It also details the EAS requirement for a senior manager attestation where the subject of the investigation is a firm. It outlines the PRA’s statutory powers to require the provision of information and the production of documents and sets out restrictions on the those powers under: FSMA 2000, s 413 relating to the disclosure of legally privileged materials; FSMA 2000, s 175 in relation to banking confidentiality; and FSMA 2000, s 348 in relation to disclosure of confidential information by the regulator.

The LexisNexis Financial Services practical guidance team has published a new Practice Note which outlines the formal process for settling Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) enforcement actions involving the imposition of financial penalties, or the imposition of suspensions or restrictions under FSMA 2000. It sets out: the PRA’s settlement discount scheme, including the Enhanced Settlement Discount (ESD) introduced in January 2024, and the process and typical timeline for settlement under the PRA’s settlement decision making procedure.

The LexisNexis Financial Services practical guidance team has published a series of new Practice Notes setting out the Financial Conduct Authority’s expectations of firms’ sanctions systems and controls as follows:

The LexisNexis Financial Services practical guidance team has created a new topic in the Financial Service module: Accountability, culture and social governance.

Law360, Expert analysis: On 19 December 2025, the International Foreign Bribery Taskforce (IFBT) released its first-ever 'Indicators of Foreign Bribery' guidance, intended to help organisations in high-risk sectors and the broader business community. It should also help the public detect and address foreign bribery risks. According to the analysis, with contributions from Mark Mendelsohn, partner, Benjamin Klein, counsel and Claire Lisker, law clerk all at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, the indicators themselves do not substantively redefine the foreign bribery offence and will be familiar to many compliance professionals. However, the guidance represents an additional step toward international standardisation of corruption risk assessment and provides a structured framework that companies can use to benchmark and strengthen their compliance programmes.

The Home Office has published new forms and information to allow child applicants for registration as a British citizen to request a fee waiver, further to the issue of new fees regulations and guidance in that regard on 26 May 2022 (see LNB News 26/05/2022 90). Separately, it has published new caseworker guidance on applications for a fee waiver by overseas applicants making Article 8 human rights applications.

MLex: Policy-holders saw a proposal for a framework on the recovery and resolution of insurance and reinsurance undertakings pass the final vote of the European Parliament on 23 April 2024. This directive aims to provide authorities with tools to intervene in failing insurance companies, enabling the continuation of insurance protection for policy-holders. It also lays the ground for introducing insurance guarantee programs in all Member States.