FCA urged to ban 'unjustified' pension exit charges for all savers

Rules due to come into force next year

clock • 2 min read

The regulator should completely ban all pension early exit charges to prevent any saver being penalised for taking advantage of the freedom and choice reforms, Hargreaves Lansdown has said.

The firm said even the 1% cap due to be put in place for leaving existing schemes should be brought down to nothing. It said exit charges were not unjustified following the pension freedom reforms. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) consultation on the issue is due to close on 18 August.  The regulator is expected to: • Propose a complete ban on early exit penalties for new pension contracts • Allow penalties of up to 1% on existing pension arrangements Hargreaves Lansdown said about 200,000 investors are expected to be affected over the next four years and reducing the ex...

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