Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Pensions Regulator definition

What does Pensions Regulator mean? The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is the UK regulator for work-based pension schemes in legal practice: it oversees occupational (trust-based) schemes and employer duties for work-based personal pensions, including automatic enrolment. Created by the Pensions Act 2004 (replacing OPRA in April 2005), its statutory objectives are to protect members’ benefits, reduce the risk of claims on the pension protection fund, promote and improve understanding of good administration, maximise compliance with employer automatic enrolment duties, and, for defined benefit funding, to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer. TPR issues codes of practice and guidance and can require...

UK Pensions Regulator moral hazard powers explained: contribution notices, financial support directions, corporate activity triggers, clearance, mitigation, directors’ duties, statutory defences and key cases

Published by a LexisNexis Pensions expert

Practice notes

What are the moral hazard (Anti-avoidance) powers?

Broadly, the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) moral hazard powers, also known as anti-avoidance powers, under the Pensions Act 2004 (PeA 2004) empower it to impose Liabilities not only on employers of defined benefit pension schemes, but also on third parties that are connected with and associated with such a relevant employer entity (the target), provided that certain statutory conditions are satisfied.

TPR’s moral hazard powers are:

They are as follows:

Financial support direction (FSD) — TPR may issue an FSD in relation to an underfunded scheme where it concludes the employer is insufficiently resourced or is a service company. An FSD compels the target to arrange appropriate financial support for the scheme, though it is not generally imposed on an individual, and
Contribution notice (CN) — this can be placed by TPR on a target if one of four tests is met. A CN obliges payment of a stated sum into a pension scheme and can be imposed on an individual as well as a company.

In broad outline, the four tests are:

the material detriment test — where there is an act, or a deliberate failure to act, which detrimentally affects in a...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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