HM Revenue & Customs has published an unexpected list of Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS).
The lists are generally published on the HMRC web site fortnightly – with the next scheduled for December 1, 2013.
However, an intermediate list was published on November 22, 2013, just a week after the previous list.
The total number of QROPS reached a new record high of 3,230 – and net increase of 13 from the list published on November 15, 2013 and a net increase of 448 QROPS since November 1, 2012.
The list shows no major changes – 16 new schemes joined the list while three were suspended.
No financial jurisdictions were added or removed.
New QROPS
The new schemes were in –
- Australia – 10
- Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar – 1 each
The suspensions were:
- Ireland – 2
- New Zealand – 1
HMRC refuses to comment about suspensions – but QROPS leave the list periodically for a number of reasons. They include single member schemes closing, administration issues with HMRC and the QROPS deciding to close to new business
QROPS LIST – November 22, 2013
| QROPS Jurisdictions | Number of QROPS pensions | Change since Nov 1, 2013 | Year-on Year change | Market share by no of QROPS | ||
| Values | ||||||
| Nov 1, 2012 | Nov 15, 2013 | Nov 22, 2013 | ||||
| Australia | 1026 | 1278 | 1288 | 10 | 262 | 39.88% |
| Austria | 9 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0.31% |
| Barbados | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -2 | 0.06% |
| Belgium | 22 | 23 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0.74% |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.09% |
| Canada | 90 | 94 | 95 | 1 | 5 | 2.94% |
| Czech Republic | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.12% |
| Denmark | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.25% |
| European Union | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.03% |
| Finland | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -4 | 0.12% |
| France | 36 | 40 | 41 | 1 | 5 | 1.27% |
| Germany | 53 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 3 | 1.73% |
| Gibraltar | 10 | 24 | 25 | 1 | 15 | 0.77% |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.03% |
| Guernsey | 23 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 33 | 1.73% |
| Hong Kong | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -23 | 0.06% |
| Hungary | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.03% |
| Iceland | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.09% |
| India | 18 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0.65% |
| Ireland | 668 | 740 | 738 | -2 | 70 | 22.85% |
| Isle of Man | 203 | 230 | 231 | 1 | 28 | 7.15% |
| Italy | 41 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 5 | 1.42% |
| Jamaica | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.06% |
| Jersey | 132 | 136 | 136 | 0 | 4 | 4.21% |
| Latvia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Liechtenstein | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.06% |
| Luxembourg | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.25% |
| Malta | 8 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 0.53% |
| Mauritius | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.06% |
| New Zealand | 37 | 55 | 54 | -1 | 17 | 1.67% |
| Norway | 5 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0.22% |
| Portugal | 23 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0.71% |
| Russian Federation | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.03% |
| South Africa | 30 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0.96% |
| Spain | 14 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0.50% |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.03% |
| Sweden | 7 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0.25% |
| Switzerland | 133 | 134 | 134 | 0 | 1 | 4.15% |
| The Netherlands | 99 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 8 | 3.31% |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 0.06% |
| Turkey | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.09% |
| USA | 15 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0.46% |
| Grand Total | 2782 | 3217 | 3230 | 13 | 448 | |
Source: HMRC
