Threat to expats’ private pensions

The chairwoman of Bri­tain’s Treasury Select Com­mittee, Nicky Morgan MP, has written to UK Chancellor Philip Hammond warning of threats to expats’ private pensions.

Ms Morgan referred to “the possibility that UK providers may not be legally able to pay out pensions or insurance contracts to citizens in the EU – including UK expats... a stark example of the consequences of a cliff-edge Brexit”.

A spokeswoman for the Association of British Insurers said: “If nothing is fixed this would potentially affect a very large number of private pensions. For a pension provider to make payments on a pension they need to be regulated in the country where they are making the payments. They are currently regulated under EU rules and, if alternative regulation is not in place, firms risk either breaking the law or not fulfilling a contract to a customer, which is of great concern.”

Franco-British honorary avocat Gerard Bar­ron said in that scenario it may be possible for Britons to have pensions paid into UK bank accounts and transferred to France. However, he said, if Britain elects a ‘hard-left’ government it might reintroduce exchange restrictions, abolished by Margaret That­cher, making it “impossible to get their pensions out of the UK”.
‘No deal’ would also be likely to cause a severe drop in the value of the pound, he added.