The new chair of The Pensions Regulator is to announce the organisation will provide new guidance to the scheme trustees as the governments wide-ranging reforms are implemented across the sector.
In his first major speech to the industry today, Mark Boyle will announce the regulator would publish a series of guides to help support trustees of defined contribution schemes once the reforms, which remove the need to buy an annuity, are confirmed.
This would cover areas such as minimum governance standards, charge controls and changes to decumulation.
Boyle will tell the National Association of Pension Funds annual conference in Liverpool this afternoon that he was 'acutely aware' of the amount of change that the industry is dealing with.
'We are working with the government, Financial Conduct Authority and the wider industry to facilitate this ambitious programme of reform,' he will say.
'We will be providing guidance in the New Year to help trustees through the changes once the detail of the new provisions is certain. In the meantime we will continue to regulate against our DC code and will be updating it to reflect changes in legislation.'
Boyle will also tell the conference that the regulator would help small and micro employers through the automatic enrolment staging process, by engaging with key groups including book-keepers and accountants.
He warns that as the number of employers staging rises significantly, the regulator expects to see a 'corresponding increase' in how often it needs to use its statutory powers such as compliance notices, fixed and escalating penalties.
'As we deal with smaller employers, we will see more who, despite our message to prepare early, leave it too late or do not comply at all,' he will say. 'This type of non-compliance is not acceptable. That's why we have been given these powers and we will use them, where appropriate.'