A flurry of Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) have left the official HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) listings to leave the first decrease in numbers of offshore pensions in a year.
Six financial centres posted removed pensions, while four added them.
HMRC refuses to discuss why individual schemes may have left the list.
Canada saw nine removals – down from 61 QROPS on October 17 to 52. Germany lost four pensions (Down to 26), Netherlands two (Down to 60) and one were removed each in Guernsey (Down to 144), Jersey (Down to 84) and New Zealand (Down to 35).
Australia had seven QROPS added (Up to 342), while India added three (Up to 14), Hong Kong two (Up to 17) and Austria one (Up to eight).
Australia is home to the most QROPS
The total number of QROPS worldwide stands at 1,281 – up 398 from 881 at the start of November 2015. That list showed nine offshore pensions removed from the list.
Australia is the world’s largest QROPS centre by number of pensions, with 342 schemes.
The Isle of Man is next with 231, then Guernsey with 144.
HMRC does not discuss the reasons for removing a pension from the QROPS List
QROPS are designed to ease pension access for British expats.
HMRC publishes an updated list of QROPS every fortnight. UK pension firms and QROPS providers can only transfer pension funds to listed schemes.
The next QROPS List is due on November 15, 2016.
For more information about QROPS and the benefits it provides, download the iExpats QROPS Guide or complete the Get Advice form.
QROPS List By Financial Jurisdiction
| Financial jurisdiction | No of QROPS |
|---|---|
| Australia | 342 |
| Austria | 8 |
| Barbados | 1 |
| Belgium | 10 |
| Bulgaria | 2 |
| Canada | 52 |
| Czech Republic | 2 |
| Denmark | 3 |
| European Union | 1 |
| Finland | 1 |
| France | 11 |
| Germany | 26 |
| Gibraltar | 51 |
| Greece | 1 |
| Guernsey | 144 |
| Hong Kong | 17 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Iceland | 1 |
| India | 14 |
| Ireland | 86 |
| Isle of Man | 231 |
| Italy | 19 |
| Jamaica | 1 |
| Jersey | 84 |
| Kenya | 1 |
| Kosovo | 1 |
| Latvia | 3 |
| Liechtenstein | 3 |
| Luxembourg | 3 |
| Malta | 28 |
| Mauritius | 3 |
| Netherlands | 60 |
| New Zealand | 35 |
| Norway | 5 |
| Portugal | 4 |
| South Africa | 12 |
| Spain | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 |
| Sweden | 6 |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| Turkey | 2 |
| United States of America | 1 |
| Total: | 1281 |
Source: HMRC
The table shows the net number of schemes, accounting for new listings and removals since the publication of the last list.
