The year started with a new financial centre opening in Latvia and another closing in Slovakia.
But the first big news was the consumer regulator the Financial Conduct Authority warning IFAs that they must include QROPS advice when helping clients with retirement planning when they may consider becoming expats.
The FCA explained QROPS were a vital part of expat finances, but the direction from the regulator was poorly received because few UK IFAs had the experience or qualification to give the advice.
However, the market took the FCA comments as legitimisation that QROPS were now mainstream financial products and were here to stay.
Then the Singapore QROPS row went ballistic. HMRC was humbled in court and withdrew demands for unauthorised pension withdrawals against more than 100 QROPS investors.
The judge demanded HMRC make a statement to the court clearly laying out their policy towards charging tax penalties to investors in delisted QROPS.
Four financial centres lose QROPS status
The statement was filed with the court, but the details have never been released.
The year ended with a flourish by HMRC – 23 Hong Kong QROPS were delisted, while Bangladesh, Malaysia, St Vincent & Grenadine and St Lucia all lost QROPS centre status.
HMRC then offered a tax amnesty to any QROPS investors who transferred cash into delisted funds before September 24, 2008 and rewrote the financial warning on the QROPS List to ensure anyone shifting cash into an overseas pension undertook due diligence to ensure the receiving scheme qualified as a QROPS.
The changes were widely viewed as arising from the Singapore QROPS humiliation.
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 2012 – Hundreds of Pensions Delisted
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.
