BRITISH pension providers are looking increasingly at moving to Ireland to escape the burden of heavy handed regulation and a new £15-a-head (€22) pension protection fund levy for active members and pensioners. The move will be facilitated by a new European directive that will allow funds to be regulated by the laws of the country in which they are registered.

Anne Maher, chief executive of the Pensions Board, said she has had a number of inquiries from British occupational pension groups in recent months. “They’ve been asking what we would do if we were asked to register a pension scheme in Ireland. We have a good level of regulation but it is not excessive,” said Maher, noting, however, that pension funds registering in the country would have to be fully funded and not be in deficit.

“Large UK and European companies with international operations and US multinationals based in Europe are currently exploring their options of centralising pension schemes as the directive is adopted,” said Robin Ellison, the chairman of the UK National Association of Pension Funds. “Ireland is on top of the list as it has a balanced regulatory framework. The UK is not, because it is over-regulated.”

While the Social Welfare and Pensions Act was enacted in March to give effect to the directive, Maher said that a number of countries would not meet the September deadline. “We don’t really expect pension schemes to take any action before these countries adopt the directive,” said Maher.

Pat Wall, the chairman of IFSC’s pan-European Pensions Task Force, said there was a lot of interest among pension providers in registering in Ireland but warned that there were a number of issues to be resolved, such as tax deductibility on pension contributions from pension holders in different countries.

“I think we’re a bit away from seeing pension providers relocating to Ireland,” said Wall. “In the meantime, the opportunity is for the administration of pension assets to be centralised here, which would erase some inefficiencies.”