"Increasingly, consultations on issues that affect both contract-based and occupational schemes are conducted in tandem to ensure regulation is consistent.
"While some commentators have called for the regulators to be merged, there is undoubtedly merit in maintaining the specialism that the pensions regulator brings to this highly complex area”.
Adviser Keith Churchouse is also a champion of having two regulators. The director and chartered financial planner at Guildford-based Chapters Financial, says: “When TPR succeeded [the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority] in 2005 they made significant changes to pensions reporting, which was very welcome and made their data position very much more robust.
"This has continued and has evolved to provide help to employers, along with protection to employer-based pension schemes.
"In addition, the roll-out of auto-enrolment and its evolution over the years since the start in 2012 has been largely judged a great success, with over 10mn people having now accrued some benefits through auto-enrolment.
“My preference would be to see the two regulators remain independent of each other, and I believe that the new government administration has plans in this regard.
"Indeed, I would prefer that the FCA and Prudential Regulation Authority re-merged, rather than merging in TPR, which from my experience has been doing a good and consistent job.”
He adds: “The regulation of employer pension schemes by TPR I believe is and has been good. I think the major issue is that the contributions being made are not anywhere close to being sufficient to provide a reasonable level of income in retirement and I believe many individuals are being lulled into a false sense of security by being auto-enrolled.”
A spokesperson for TPR says: “TPR and the Financial Conduct Authority have separate responsibilities for regulating pensions, however, we work closely in partnership to help put savers at the heart of what we do.
“The laws governing trust and contract-based schemes are quite distinct and the legal frameworks which govern the operation of TPR and FCA are very different.
“Creating a single regulator for pensions would not remove these differences – more fundamental changes to pensions and other legislation would be needed. But whatever the regulatory structure, what’s important is regulators and related agencies work closely together in a joined-up way.”
A spokesperson for the FCA said “This is a matter for government as they are the ones who set the remits of both organisations.”
Aamina Zafar is a freelance journalist
