Government responds further on progress of Edinburgh reforms

The Government has published a second formal response to its December 2023 report on the progress of the Edinburgh reforms.

This response is more detailed than the Government’s initial response and includes an Annex of specific responses to the conclusions set out in the December report. The response updates on further progress including that the Government:

• is pursuing an ambitious set of reforms to further consolidate the pension fund market, including setting a deadline for the Local Government Pension Scheme, setting a direction towards fewer asset pools exceeding £50 billion and consulting on options for defined benefit schemes that are unattractive to commercial providers to consolidate into the pension protection fund;
• and the FCA will continue to monitor the impact the consolidated tape has on wholesale market forces;
• is considering the long-term future of the ring-fencing regime and is continuing to explore a range of options, including proposals for mid- to long-term reform. It will also introduce secondary legislation in Parliament in the coming months to implement its package of smarter ring-fencing reforms;
• is progressing with the changes to the Building Societies Act 1986 including currently supporting the Building Societies Act 1986 (Amendment) Bill and working on other secondary legislation to enact the changes; and
• will set out further details in due course on its plans to replace PRIIPs with a new UK retail disclosure framework for “consumer composite investments”.