Scheme funder requirements: accountsI19

1

Where a scheme funder is a charity, its accounts must meet the requirements in the Companies Act notwithstanding the provisions of any other enactment.

2

If a scheme funder has no audited accounts at the time when it becomes a scheme funder of a Master Trust scheme, the Regulator may require a proportion, set out in a Code, of the assets required to meet the costs mentioned in section 8(3) of the Act (financial sustainability requirement) to be—

a

deposited in a separate account in the name of the trustees kept with a deposit taker as defined in Article 49(8A)13 of the 1995 Order (other responsibilities of trustees, etc.) within the period of 3 months from the date on which it becomes a scheme funder of a Master Trust scheme, and

b

kept in that account until the date on which the scheme funder submits audited accounts to the Regulator.

3

Regulations 4 and 8 to 10 of the Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 200814 apply, and regulation 7 of those Regulations does not apply, to a scheme funder that is—

a

a Scottish partnership which is a limited partnership;

b

a Scottish partnership which is not a limited partnership, or

c

a comparable undertaking incorporated in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom,

irrespective of whether it is a qualifying partnership as defined in regulation 3 of those Regulations.

4

The provisions of Part 16 of the Companies Act (audit) listed in paragraph (5) apply to a scheme funder which is—

a

an undertaking formed or incorporated under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, and

b

not otherwise subject to a requirement to produce audited accounts.

5

The provisions are—

a

Chapter 1 (requirement for audited accounts);

b

section 495 (auditor’s report on company’s annual accounts);

c

section 496 (auditor’s report on strategic report and directors’ report);

d

section 498 (duties of auditor);

e

section 499 (auditor’s general right to information);

f

section 503 (signature of auditor’s report);

g

section 504 (senior statutory auditor);

h

section 505 (names to be stated in published copies of auditor’s report);

i

section 506 (circumstances in which names may be omitted).

6

The provisions listed in paragraph (5) apply for the purposes of that paragraph with any necessary modifications to take account of the corporate structure of the scheme funder.

7

An auditor may be appointed for the purposes of the provisions listed in paragraph (5) only by the members of the scheme funder.

8

In the provisions listed in paragraph (5) (as they apply for the purposes of that paragraph) and in paragraph (7), a reference to “members” is a reference to the persons within that undertaking who are comparable to members within the meaning given by section 112(1) and (2) of the Companies Act.

9

If a triggering event within item 4, 5 or 6 of the table in section 21(6) of the Act has occurred in relation to a scheme, the Regulator may give notice to the scheme funder specifying the period within which the scheme funder must submit its accounts.

10

A scheme funder that is partly or wholly funded by an undertaking must provide to the Regulator the accounts of that undertaking, produced in accordance with the Companies Act.