Guernsey decided to take a gamble on the new QROPS II rules and changed local pension laws to align with the new code.
The trouble was HMRC and The Treasury felt Guernsey was pushing the envelope too much to try and attract potential QROPS investors and overstepped the new rules.
In March, HMRC published the new rules for a few hours and then retracted them. The reason was some red-faced clerk had pushed the publish button by mistake, but by the time HMRC realised the cat was out of the bag.
Then, in April, HMRC triggered a night of the long knives.
Guernsey saw 300 QROPS delisted, while the Isle of Man and New Zealand also saw wholesale delistings.
Bans and cancelled plans
The April QROPS List was missing 360 pensions. The market was in turmoil. Jersey withdrew plans to emulate Guernsey QROPS, then The Treasury hurriedly bans more Guernsey pensions trying to work around the QROPS II rules and only allows the island’s providers to offer QROPS to residents.
Qatar then cancelled plans to roll out QROPS, Cyprus loses status as a QROPS centre…and Gibraltar finally reached agreement with HMRC and opened for transfers again.
A tumultuous year ended with HMRC revealing QROPS transfers now totalled more than £2 billion since April 2006.
During the year, the net number of QROPS increased by just 10 from 2,816 to 2,826.
QROPS Year by Year Summary
We review and summarise the QROPS news for each year from the launch of QROPS to now. Click on the below links to read:
QROPS OFFSHORE PENSIONS AFTER 10 YEARS
QROPS 2006 – A-Day Launches New Offshore Pension
QROPS 2007 – A Year Of Explosive Growth
QROPS 2008 – HMRC Cracks Down On Rogue Pensions
QROPS 2009 – Gibraltar Tax Problem Rocks Expats
QROPS 2010 – Singapore Legal Challenge Launched
QROPS 2011 – Rooting Out The Rogues
QROPS 2013 – HMRC Humiliated In High Court
QROPS 2014 – Flexible Access On the Way
QROPS 2015 – No One Foresaw The Pension Age Test
QROPS 2016 – The Story So Far… But Not The End
Further QROPS Information and Guidance
For more information about QROPS and the benefits it provides, download the iExpats QROPS Guide or complete the Get Advice form.