The Pensions Dashboards (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023

Connection according to the connection deadline N.I.

15.—(1) Trustees or managers of a pension scheme which exists at the reference date and which has 100 or more relevant members at the reference date must—

(a) register the scheme with the Money and Pensions Service, having regard to the guidance referred to in paragraph (2)(c), and

(b) meet the requirements in paragraphs (2), (3) and (4).

(2) Unless a different deadline for connecting to the Money and Pensions Service already applies pursuant to regulation 17, 19 or 20, trustees or managers must connect the pension scheme to the Money and Pensions Service—

(a) by no later than the connection deadline;

(b) in compliance with—

(i) connection and security standards, and

(ii) technical standards,

published from time to time by the Money and Pensions Service;

(c) having regard to guidance on connection issued from time to time by the Department, the Money and Pensions Service and the Regulator either separately or by at least 2 of them jointly.

(3) Trustees or managers must keep a record of how they have carried out the steps set out in the guidance on connection referred to in paragraph (2)(c), or of alternative steps they have taken in order to comply with the requirements in this Part on connecting their pension scheme to the Money and Pensions Service, for at least 6 years from the end of the scheme year to which they relate.

(4) Trustees or managers must do the following—

(a) notify the Money and Pensions Service without delay of any of the following, in compliance with service standards and operational standards published from time to time by the Money and Pensions Service—

(i) connection state changes, such as downtime (whether scheduled or unscheduled) or maintenance;

(ii) systemic issues, such as cyber-attacks that could affect the security of the dashboards ecosystem;

(b) notify the Money and Pensions Service of any change in connection arrangements.

(5) The connection deadline that applies to a pension scheme under paragraph (2)(a) remains fixed, unless—

(a) the deadline changes pursuant to regulation 17, 19 or 20, or

(b) all the members of the scheme become pensioner members.

(6) Once a scheme has connected to the Money and Pensions Service, trustees or managers must use every endeavour to ensure that the scheme remains connected at all times.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 15 in operation at 8.12.2023, see reg. 1