Twelve more Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) have opened – and for the first time for many months, no QROPS closed.
The Republic of Ireland leads the way with five new QROPS – followed by Australia and Guernsey with two each, then the Isle of Man, Malta and the USA with one scheme each.
All the new pensions have opened since April 2, 2013, when HMRC published the last QROPS list.
The total QROPS market overview shows 2,975 schemes offered in 46 tax jurisdictions worldwide.
Australia is still the largest market – with 1,121 QROPS or 37% of all the schemes worldwide.
Ireland is the second largest jurisdiction, with 23.5% of the market.
Financial centres with the most QROPS
The top six jurisdictions account for 85% of those worldwide – although this does not consider the amount of pension cash transferred in to each scheme.
After Australia and Ireland, third is the Isle of Man (213 QROPS); then Switzerland (133), Jersey (132) and The Netherlands (102).
No tax jurisdictions joined or left the QROPS list.
Year-on-year, the QROPS list has increased by 342 pensions, while the number of tax jurisdictions has dropped by one to 46 – with Slovakia still closed for QROPS business.
The change in number of schemes breaks downs as 356 opening and 34 closing.
The figures come from the HMRC QROPS list for April 15, 2013.
The full list country-by-country is:
| Country | Scheme Count |
|---|---|
| Australia | 1121 |
| Austria | 9 |
| Bangladesh | 1 |
| Barbados | 4 |
| Belgium | 22 |
| Bulgaria | 3 |
| Canada | 94 |
| Czech Republic | 4 |
| Denmark | 8 |
| European Union | 1 |
| Finland | 4 |
| France | 39 |
| Germany | 53 |
| Gibraltar | 16 |
| Greece | 1 |
| Guernsey | 40 |
| Hong Kong | 25 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Iceland | 3 |
| India | 18 |
| Ireland | 700 |
| Isle of Man | 213 |
| Italy | 45 |
| Jamaica | 2 |
| Jersey | 132 |
| Latvia | 1 |
| Liechtenstein | 2 |
| Luxembourg | 8 |
| Malaysia | 1 |
| Malta | 13 |
| Mauritius | 2 |
| New Zealand | 43 |
| Norway | 7 |
| Portugal | 23 |
| Russian Federation | 1 |
| South Africa | 31 |
| Spain | 16 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 |
| St Lucia | 3 |
| St Vincent & The Grenadines | 1 |
| Sweden | 7 |
| Switzerland | 133 |
| The Netherlands | 102 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 3 |
| Turkey | 3 |
| USA | 15 |
| Grand Total | 2975 |
Source: HMRC
The list is all the overseas pension schemes self-certifying they meet QROPS rules. British pension schemes cannot transfer funds to a QROPS unless they appear on the list, except in exceptional circumstances.
Entry on the list does not signify HMRC approval of a QROPS.
The next list is due for publication on May 1, 2013.
