Pensions Act 1995

48 “Blowing the whistle”

(1) If the auditor or actuary of any occupational pension scheme has reasonable cause to believe that—

(a) any duty relevant to the administration of the scheme imposed by any enactment or rule of law on the trustees or managers, the employer, any professional adviser or any prescribed person acting in connection with the scheme has not been or is not being complied with, and

(b) the failure to comply is likely to be of material significance in the exercise by the Authority of any of their functions,

he must immediately give a written report of the matter to the Authority.

(2) The auditor or actuary of any occupational pension scheme must, in any prescribed circumstances, immediately give a written report of any prescribed matter to the Authority.

(3) No duty to which the auditor or actuary of any occupational pension scheme is subject shall be regarded as contravened merely because of any information or opinion contained in a written report under this section.

(4) If in the case of any occupational pension scheme any professional adviser (other than the auditor or actuary), any trustee or manager or any person involved in the administration of the scheme has reasonable cause to believe as mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1), he may give a report of the matter to the Authority.

(5) In the case of any such scheme, no duty to which any such adviser, trustee or manager or other person is subject shall be regarded as contravened merely because of any information or opinion contained in a report under this section; but this subsection does not apply to any information disclosed in such a report by the legal adviser of an occupational pension scheme if he would be entitled to refuse to produce a document containing the information in any proceedings in any court on the grounds that it was the subject of legal professional privilege or, in Scotland, that it contained a confidential communication made by or to an advocate or solicitor in that capacity.

(6) Subsections (1) to (5) apply to any occupational pension scheme to which section 47 applies.

(7) Section 10 applies to any auditor or actuary who fails to comply with subsection (1) or (2).

(8) If it appears to the Authority that an auditor or actuary has failed to comply with subsection (1) or (2), the Authority may by order disqualify him for being the auditor or, as the case may be, actuary of any occupational pension scheme specified in the order.

(9) An order under subsection (8) may specify the scheme to which the failure relates, all schemes falling within any class or description of occupational pension scheme or all occupational pension schemes.

(10) The Authority may, on the application of any person disqualified under this section who satisfies the Authority that he will in future comply with those subsections, by order revoke the order disqualifying him; but a revocation made at any time cannot affect anything done before that time.

(11) An auditor or actuary of an occupational pension scheme who becomes disqualified under this section shall, while he is so disqualified, cease to be auditor or, as the case may be, actuary of any scheme specified in the order disqualifying him.

(12) A person who, while he is disqualified under this section, purports to act as auditor or actuary of an occupational pension scheme specified in the order disqualifying him is guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, and

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment, or both.

(13) An offence under subsection (12) may be charged by reference to any day or longer period of time; and a person may be convicted of a second or subsequent offence under that subsection by reference to any period of time following the preceding conviction of the offence.