Expat financial advisors in Grand Cayman

UK pensions consultancy, XPS Pensions Group (XPS), has reported a concerning rise in “red flag” pension transfer scam activity. It says that the number of red flag incidents rose from 13% in June 2018 to 34% in June 2019 and calculated the total value of the pensions savings placed at risk during the 12-month period at £73,000,000*.

It is possible that the rise in red flags could be a by-product of the enhanced reporting processes that came into effect with the June 2018 revisions to the Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) Code of Good Practice (originally published in 2015). These served to highlight pension scam warning signs, to encourage greater awareness of fee and charging structures, and to improve communication between pension schemes and their members.

Great news for the clients of expat financial services: the government has announced proposals to abolish the 15-year time limit on the right of expats to participate in UK general elections.

The policy statement, which was published as part of document entitled “A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas”, details the government’s idea of ensuring rigorous checks on the identities of expats so that they can register to vote without suspicion of fraud.

Furthermore, cost analysis performed by the government predicts that ending the 15-year rule and implementing an expat voting registration scheme will actually cost only a six-figure sum; far less than the millions of pounds some experts have previously claimed it would require.