SSAS experts must use their knowledge and skill to help clamp down on scams.

That was the view of Martin Tilley, director of technical services, Dentons, who was speaking at the AMPS annual conference in London this morning.
An executive director at The Pensions Regulator called for pension transfers to SSAS to be banned early this year.
Mr Tilley said the sector “can’t let that happen”, saying it would be an admission of failure from the regulators and it would be a bad message to send consumers.

Addressing what could be done to prevent SSAS scams, he said The Pensions Regulator is under resourced but the sector itself needed to play a key role.

He said: “I believe we have the skills and knowledge in this room to prevent scams in SSAS. We need to give them (regulators) all the knowledge and experience we’ve got.

“We do have the expertise and must help with this going forward.”

He said that he “personally wouldn’t like to see the FCA involve in SSAS” but that the sector could copy its principles.

The “buck stops with HMRC”, which needs to give a body the “teeth to prevent misdemeanours or those not following line of code of conduct”, Mr Tilley believes.

He is against a permitted investment list, saying it would be a template for scammers to work to and could help them give a degree of credibility to what they’re offering. He said a list did go ahead it would have to be drafted with extreme care.

He insisted that the issue “doesn’t need a sticking plaster” but the wounds need to be properly treated.

Professionals in the SSAS sector need to be vigilant and must educate advisers and the end user, he stressed.

He added that “SSAS continue to be a very useful tool for advisers”.

He pointed to a survey conducted by his firm recently. Advisers were asked what controls they would like to see introduced to the SSAS market:

• 84% said they would like to see an HMRC approved list of SSAS operators

- 98% said SSAS should not be banned but tighter controls introduced

• 54% said they would like SSAS professional trustees made responsible for asset acceptance, and
• 47% said they would like to see a SSAS permitted investment list introduced