The Pensions Regulator is looking at a “range of options” to better tackle pension liberation fraud, and today highlighted the role the industry can play in eliminating the practice.

TPR chair Michael O’Higgins, currently in the process of appointing a new chief executive for the regulator, said there have been calls to tighten legislation to stamp out pension liberation fraud. The regulator has also been urged to name those parties suspected of the practice.

O’Higgins said the regulator has recently frozen the assets of one scheme, and is taking action over several others. However, TPR cannot make law itself, nor can it single-handedly change the regulatory system.

“We cannot tackle this issue without the help of others, and I’m very pleased to say there is now a cross-government taskforce looking at this issue called Project Bloom,” O’Higgins said at the Pensions and Benefits show in London.

The taskforce is comprised of a number of bodies including the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, the Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, the City of London Police and the Pensions Advisory Service.

“The Pensions Minister has also been very vocal on this issue, and I’m delighted by how seriously this issue is now being taken in government and by the criminal justice agencies that have the power to bring people before the courts for fraud and theft,” O’Higgins said.

Pension liberation fraud made headlines last month when City of London Police announced a “major crackdown” on the practice, starting with dismantling a suspected organised crime gang believed to be making illegal offers to UK pension holders.

O’Higgins said that cracking down on existing scams is a necessary start, but that is not a long term solution and the regulator is looking at other options.

“Fun though it may be to see TV reports of the City of London Police raiding fraudsters’ offices, we’d prefer to cut it off before it got to the need for a raid and we are working on that,” he said. “We are looking very carefully at a number of things that might allow us to take a more systemic approach to this.”

Recruitment

The regulator is currently seeking a new chief executive, to replace the outgoing Bill Galvin.

O’Higgins said TPR has received a number of applications and there are several “very appointable” candidates.

The regulator is looking for a candidate with a “spectrum of leadership skills”, and hopes to announce the new chief executive in early July.

Galvin is leaving at the end of this month, and takes up a role as chief executive of the Universities Superannuation Scheme in August.

He replaced Tony Hoban at the top of the regulator’s executive on an acting basis in May 2010, and was awarded the position on a permanent basis in January 2011.

Galvin originally joined the regulator as executive director for strategic development in October 2008. Prior to that he led on pensions policy at the Department for Work and Pensions, after working as a strategy consultant at IBM Consulting and in strategy and marketing for IBM Global Services.

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