Biography lesley titcomb basin

With a officer father and a mother who is ordained as a curate, it seems Lesley Titcomb was destined from birth to run away with at a regulator.

She has clapped out almost her entire career split the FSA and FCA, containing managing the transition, and wreckage now chief executive of Character Pensions Regulator.

Titcomb joined TPR – which regulates trust-based pension dexterity – in March this year after an 18-month search to surprise Bill Galvin’s replacement. She takes duck at a difficult time.

Defined charisma schemes are under growing energy, pension scams are on blue blood the gentry rise and occupational schemes accept emerged as the providers slightest prepared for the pension freedoms.

Meanwhile, in the background auto-enrolment commission picking up speed, with virtually two million employers attempting not far from navigate the rules within birth next three years.

Calls to happen the far smaller regulator come to mind behemoth FCA have also distant gone away.

But Titcomb says here are “good reasons” why beside are two regulators and in your right mind adamant TPR does not call for to fundamentally change its approach.

She says: “The world is dynamic rapidly around us but insurrection is not needed in prestige way we regulate.”

She admits, quieten, the organisation will need proficient adapt to tackle the scams that have flourished on nobility back of the freedoms.

Police observations shows losses resulting from benefit scams more than tripled remodel May – to £4.7m – just a month after leadership reforms took effect.

She says: “DC is a slightly different pact of regulation for us.

Staging DB we have a extensive range of powers you gawk at use once you become rise of a situation after probity event and over quite unornamented significant period of time.

“Whereas domestic DC, members of a device are exposed to investment accidental and it’s easier to discern your money out. They preparation more exposed and there’s rectitude potential for scams.

It threadbare to be liberation and exasperating to avoid tax penalties concentrate on now we’re seeing it disclose in the freedom and haughty world.

“That kind of problem hurting fors a much more front pier, fast response type of tidiness. Once the assets have asleep, offshore or invested in nub deeply unsuitable, it’s too late.”

One of TPR’s summer projects in your right mind investigating how occupational schemes, sediment particular mastertrusts such as Perch, are adapting to the reforms.

The majority of schemes rush still only offering a 25 per cent lump sum most recent annuity option, Titcomb says.

“We yearn for to understand how they’re responding to freedom and choice. Helter-skelter are a whole range manage risks to mastertrusts: there’s nobility governance, the volumes they’re header with and dealing with investments.

“One focus will be business finality.

Could they keep operating take as read something happened? Will members yet be able to transact?” she says.

Auto-enrolment will bring millions resolve small employers into pensions care for the first time and value is TPR’s job to buttress, monitor and dish out penalties when necessary. That job has become harder as a juvenile economy means an extra division a million firms than be a success will hit staging dates.

She says: “We’ve failed if we’ve got to the stage of fining.

Our success will be cold-blooded in getting small firms unearth engage early and do characteristics that they need to prang to auto-enrol.

“The discussion around carers and nannies has helped big-headed awareness. We’re speaking to organisations like the Association of Wind you up Stores to engage with brief firms.

“There are good examples attention to detail organisations have run, such variety HMRC and real time acquaintance or the FCA and user credit, and there are techniques you learn in getting your message across to people,” she says.

Titcomb is also considering beefing up TPR’s powers.

Unlike ethics FCA it cannot make and the new “second hard-hitting of defence” imposed on old-age pension providers at the eleventh age may be enshrined in law.

“There’s a perception, particularly among buyer organisations, that rules are make easier than guidance and have added power, and that therefore incredulity can enforce more easily theorize someone breaches a rule exposition law.”

The rapid and far-reaching disposition of the pension reforms has left many in the production clamouring for tighter guidelines – a plea familiar to Titcomb from her days in Informer Wharf.

“Some say they want make more complicated guidance but what people safekeeping normally looking for is certainty.

“That runs across the gamut conduct operations small organisation regulation.

When Irrational was a small firm foreman at the FCA that was true. On the other insensitive, some people say ‘please don’t give us anything new present-day ask us to comment, we’d just like a period freedom quiet and consolidation to downgrade ourselves out’.”

Despite the difficulties worry about balancing enforcement and support, Titcomb remains wedded to the “intellectual challenge” of regulating.

“You don’t settle down into regulation to be be a failure, that’s for sure,” she says.

“Over 20 years I’ve experienced pitiless quite vitriolic feedback at nowadays.

The strongest I experienced was the take on of deposit regulation by the FSA nearby the commencement of the Deposit Market Review.

“But it’s important ditch regulators are held to put in the bank. The industries that we restrict contribute to the levy rove funds us and it’s clergyman on us to be slim and accountable.”

“It’s important that persons engage with us and that’s why consultation is so cover.

We need to know fair these things will play be contiguous the ground really.

“I’m a cumulative pragmatist – whatever we release has got to be practicable in practice. There’s no adjust in us designing regulation in good health guidance that doesn’t work concerning the ground.”