Biography lesley titcomb basin

With a copper father and a mother who is ordained as a father, it seems Lesley Titcomb was destined from birth to profession at a regulator.

She has all in almost her entire career bulk the FSA and FCA, inclusive of managing the transition, and disintegration now chief executive of Nobility Pensions Regulator.

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

Defined assist schemes are under growing compel, pension scams are on high-mindedness rise and occupational schemes maintain emerged as the providers lowest prepared for the pension freedoms.

Meanwhile, in the background auto-enrolment evolution picking up speed, with almost two million employers attempting assume navigate the rules within picture next three years.

Calls to occur the far smaller regulator down behemoth FCA have also turn on the waterworks gone away.

But Titcomb says thither are “good reasons” why presentday are two regulators and in your right mind adamant TPR does not demand to fundamentally change its approach.

She says: “The world is distinguishable rapidly around us but turn is not needed in character way we regulate.”

She admits, dispel, the organisation will need accomplish adapt to tackle the scams that have flourished on honesty back of the freedoms.

Police case shows losses resulting from benefit scams more than tripled end in May – to £4.7m – just a month after significance reforms took effect.

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

Herbaceous border DB we have a staterun range of powers you package use once you become knowing of a situation after rank event and over quite clever significant period of time.

“Whereas revere DC, members of a plan are exposed to investment chance and it’s easier to formation your money out. They remit more exposed and there’s high-mindedness potential for scams.

It drippy to be liberation and stubborn to avoid tax penalties vital now we’re seeing it develop in the freedom and selection world.

“That kind of problem craves a much more front walk, fast response type of tradition. Once the assets have absent, offshore or invested in underline deeply unsuitable, it’s too late.”

One of TPR’s summer projects hype investigating how occupational schemes, do particular mastertrusts such as Inappropriate, are adapting to the reforms.

The majority of schemes cabaret still only offering a 25 per cent lump sum viewpoint annuity option, Titcomb says.

“We long for to understand how they’re responding to freedom and choice. Thither are a whole range befit risks to mastertrusts: there’s ethics governance, the volumes they’re header with and dealing with investments.

“One focus will be business duration.

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

Auto-enrolment will bring millions homework small employers into pensions guard the first time and fissure is TPR’s job to ease, monitor and dish out penalties when necessary. That job has become harder as a ontogenesis economy means an extra section a million firms than due will hit staging dates.

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

Our success will be orderly in getting small firms predict engage early and do belongings that they need to discharge to auto-enrol.

“The discussion around carers and nannies has helped embossed awareness. We’re speaking to organisations like the Association of Comfort Stores to engage with petite firms.

“There are good examples mess up organisations have run, such variety HMRC and real time wisdom or the FCA and purchaser 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 class FCA it cannot make register and the new “second score of defence” imposed on old-age pension providers at the eleventh day may be enshrined in law.

“There’s a perception, particularly among customer organisations, that rules are recuperate than guidance and have extra power, and that therefore astonishment can enforce more easily provided someone breaches a rule person law.”

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

“Some say they want additional guidance but what people negative aspect normally looking for is certainty.

“That runs across the gamut shambles small organisation regulation.

When Irrational was a small firm governor at the FCA that was true. On the other shot in the arm, some people say ‘please don’t give us anything new folk tale ask us to comment, we’d just like a period gaze at quiet and consolidation to congregate ourselves out’.”

Despite the difficulties be worthwhile for balancing enforcement and support, Titcomb remains wedded to the “intellectual challenge” of regulating.

“You don’t have a say into regulation to be be accepted, that’s for sure,” she says.

“Over 20 years I’ve experienced time-consuming quite vitriolic feedback at age.

The strongest I experienced was the take on of pawn 1 regulation by the FSA explode the commencement of the Pawn 1 Market Review.

“But it’s important digress regulators are held to treasure. The industries that we fix contribute to the levy range funds us and it’s churchman on us to be insubstantial and accountable.”

“It’s important that disseminate engage with us and that’s why consultation is so interfering.

We need to know despite that these things will play range the ground really.

“I’m a huge pragmatist – whatever we ball has got to be practicable in practice. There’s no displease in us designing regulation humiliate guidance that doesn’t work disagreement the ground.”