A pair who masqueraded as advisers to defraud pension savers of £20m have been jailed.

The Financial Conduct Authority has warned two IFAs and a stockbroker that they face fines and regulatory action over their alleged role in a £5.9m SIPP pension transfer scam.

STAR, the cross-industry transfer initiative, is to roll out an accreditation scheme which will award bronze, silver or gold grades to providers based on their ability to transfer clients to other providers smoothly and quickly.

The number of defined benefit pension transfers with at least one warning sign of a potential scam or poor member outcomes has hit its highest level in five months.

Defined benefit pension (DB transfer) activity feel to the lowest level since September 2020 in April but red flag cases rose to a three-month high.

Nearly half of financial advisers who currently offer pension transfers may quit the market in the next 12 months, new research has warned.

A slight shift to less expensive SIPPs has resulted in a modest improvement in outcomes for pension scheme members choosing to transfer when compared to last year, according to a new survey.

The Financial Conduct Authority says it will ban most contingent charging on DB pension transfers as part of a raft of measures designed to tackle ‘weaknesses’ in the DB transfer market.