New Head of Risk joins the regulator

The Pensions Regulator has today announced the appointment of Peter Ullmann as Head of Risk.

Peter joins the regulator from ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam, where he held the post of Managing Director.

Announcing the appointment, Chief Executive, Bill Galvin said

“In February this year we announced some changes to our senior management team. Peter’s appointment as Head of Risk completes the new team.

“Peter brings to the role a wealth of experience of managing risks within the finance sector and he will provide a valuable perspective on the challenges we are facing. His input will ensure that our risk assessment and prioritisation is robust and that every decision continues to be founded on the strongest possible intelligence and analysis.”

Commenting on his appointment as Head of Risk, Peter Ullmann said

“The Pensions Regulator plays an important role in the UK's economic and social landscape. Managing risks appropriately is central to its success in this role.

“There are many challenges facing the pensions industry and I am excited to be joining the organisation at this important time”

Peter has previously held a number of senior financial and management positions in banking and international trade, including Managing Director of Risk & Portfolio Management at Fortis Bank in the Netherlands and Managing Director at AIOC Corporation in Moscow.

Peter will take responsibility for the regulator’s strategic analysis, research, data analytics and intelligence teams. He will be responsible for ensuring that across all lines of regulatory business, the regulator clearly articulates the case for regulatory intervention, and understands the impact and effectiveness of its actions.

1. The Pensions Regulator is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. We have objectives to: protect members’ benefits; reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF); and promote good administration and improve understanding of work-based pension schemes. From 2012 we will have the additional objective of maximising employers’ compliance with their duty to automatically enrol staff into a qualifying pension scheme.
2. Our approach is risk-based, focusing on education and enablement, with enforcement where appropriate. Whilst our priority is to ensure that trustees, employers and intermediaries are well-placed to manage schemes effectively, the regulator can exercise powers where it feels it is reasonable and proportionate to do so.

These powers include the ability to:

• collect information about pension schemes: through scheme returns, under the scheme funding regime and as well as statutory (including whistleblowing) reports;
• issue notices requiring actions to tackle non-compliance, prohibit trustees who are judged not fit and proper to carry out their duties or appoint independent trustees;
• direct pension schemes as to how to calculate their liabilities and the contributions required;
• issue a contribution notice (CN) where there is an attempt to avoid liabilities, or a financial support direction (FSD) where the employer is a service company or insufficiently resourced; and
• (from 2012), issue warnings and penalties to employers for failure to enrol staff into a qualifying pension scheme.

• Ben Lloyd 01273 627208
• Katherine Long 01273 811859
• David Hannant 01273 811824
• Out of hours 01273 648496
• www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk