The FRC’s Board for Actuarial Standards (BAS) has today published its draft standard on pensions and insurance transformations in which the entitlements of scheme members and policyholders are changed. Transformations may occur, for instance, in bulk transfers of members between pension schemes, transfers of books of insurance business between insurers, and reattributions of the estates of with-profits insurers.

This new standard will ensure that the pension trustees, courts, or others responsible for making decisions on whether transformations should go ahead are given the relevant information about how scheme members and policyholders might be affected.

Commenting on the draft standard, Jim Sutcliffe, Chairman of the BAS, said:

“The new standard will focus on the likely impact of transformations on scheme members and policyholders in different circumstances. It will build on our recent draft standards on pensions and on insurance, by addressing the areas of actuarial expertise on which the courts or trustees rely.”

The consultation period for the exposure draft ends on 27 August 2010. Copies can be downloaded from the BAS’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/bas/publications/pub2299.html.

1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment.
2. The Board for Actuarial Standards has a primary objective of promoting competence and transparency of actuarial practice by establishing and improving actuarial technical standards and ensuring that they are coherent, consistent and comprehensive.
3. All media enquiries should be addressed to Jonathan Labrey, Head of Communications, on 020 7492 2395; 0776 0990345 or e-mail: j.labrey@frc.org.uk; or Louise Pryor, Director of the Board for Actuarial Standards, 020 7492 2328 or email at l.pryor@frc.org.uk .