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This Money Marketing article specifically mentions Premier Pensions Solutions and quotes Steven Ward...

http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/pensions/regu ... 1033220.article

Alicante-based Premier Pensions Solutions has been promoting reciprocation plans. Managing director Stephen Ward says: “Those associated with PRPs behind the scenes are vigorously defending themselves against any possible determination by the regulator.

“The PRP legal team are in the course of making detailed representations to TPR as to why its intervention was unnecessary and inappropriate and are, separately, considering all other
legal remedies.”

Yes, the sleepy regulators will probably ban them soon now they've woken up because the press are taking an interest and the first victims are crying foul.
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An independent trustee firm appointed by The Pensions Regulator has seized control of the bank accounts of six pension schemes used for pension reciprocation due to concerns that the loans could be legally void.

This week’s Money Marketing reveals Dalriada Trustees has written to around 500 scheme members warning they could be forced to return loans obtained using “maximising pension value arrangements”. MPVAs are used to allow investors to access up to 50 per cent of the value of their pension pot.


It is also trying to gain control of the remaining scheme investments, which are not linked to MPVA payments.

The schemes are Cranborne Star, Grosvenor Parade,Lancaster, Portman and Woodcroft House.

A Dalriada spokesman says the firm plans to seek clarification in the High Court as to whether MPVAs are void under trust law. If the court rules they are void, members could have to repay any loans received using the arrangements.

The spokesman says: “We have been advised by a leading barrister that there is a strong possibility the MPVA arrangements are void. We warned members immediately because there may have been some who had taken a loan and were planning to use the money.

“There is a very real possibility here that these transactions are void and will have to be returned but that is a matter for the court to clarify.”

Dalriada’s letter to members, seen by Money Marketing, also warns the value of individuals’ pensions is likely to be “significantly less” than the value of funds transferred in, due to the “chargesdeducted by the administrators, payments made to int­roducers and the high cost of resolving uncertainties involved”.

Money Marketing first raised concerns over pension reciprocation plans in May.

Alicante-based Premier Pensions Solutions has been promoting reciprocation plans. Managing director Stephen Ward says: “Those associated with PRPs behind the scenes are vigorously defending themselves against any possible determination by the regulator.

“The PRP legal team are in the course of making detailed representations to TPR as to why its intervention was unnecessary and inappropriate and are, separately, considering all other
legal remedies.”

The Pensions Regulator’s executive director for DC, governance and administration June Mulroy says: “We are unable to comment on any particular schemes. However, we are working with HMRC and the FSA to monitor such activity and stand ready to use our powers to disrupt it if necessary.”

There's also this older article from May:

http://www.icl-ifa.co.uk/2011/05/dangerous-pension-scheme/

A dangerous pension scheme

Posted by Martin Bamford on 20/5/11 • Categorized as News,Retirement

A couple of weeks ago we started receiving emails from firms claiming to be able to release 50% of the value of pension funds, even if you are younger than the minimum pension benefit age of 55.

These emails immediately raised our suspicions, coming so soon after the Treasury decided not to allow early access to pension cash.

As a firm of Chartered Financial Planners who regularly provide pensions and retirement planning advice to our clients, we always ensure that we remain up to date on the latest pensions technical development.

The ability to get early access to half of the pension fund was news to us. We started considering the possibilities.

All of the options we considered (using SIPP investment rules or SSAS loan rules) ended in the same conclusion; the pension scheme member would end up being taxed heavily for the privilege of having early access to half of their pension fund. No UK registered pension scheme would allow this to happen.

Then we looked more closely at the websites promoting these schemes. They all come from non-regulated firms, in many cases from outside of the UK.

Tracing back the ownership details of the sites, we found links to unregulated property investment companies in Spain. Could it be that these salespeople are so desperate for funds to finance their risky property developments that they have found a legitimate way to crack open the lucrative pension market?

A number of the websites we have seen being promoted are disappearing from the Internet a few days after promotional emails are circulated, no doubt to keep those promoting the schemes off the radar of HMRC and the Financial Services Authority. This is funny behaviour for a scheme which they claim breaks no rules.

The descriptions of how the scheme might work – often using things they call a Master Pension Scheme (MPS) and Pension Reciprocation Plans (PRP) – all sounds very convincing in theory. In practice, it would result in a complete nightmare.

Discussing the set-up with other IFAs, we reached the conclusion that an individual would transfer their pension fund (of at least £20,000) into a Master Pension Scheme (which is actually an occupational pension scheme). This would receive a loan from another Master Pension Scheme and at the same time make a loan to another Master Pension Scheme.

By using this loan structure, the pension scheme avoids paying money directly out of the pension fund to the scheme member. If it did make a direct payment like this, it would be treated as an unauthorised payment and subject to large tax penalties.

One of the many problems with this pension scheme structure is what happens to the other half of your pension fund; the half which is not loaned to the other pension scheme and effectively paid to you as cash. It appears that half of your pension fund is invested to provide a guarantee for the loan.

You can imagine where half of your pension fund might end up being invested.

The levels of charges I have been told are levied on pension funds using these schemes is also very high. Of course these charges are not fully disclosed on the websites promoting the schemes, as this would scare off prospective customers, even those desperate to get their hands on cash from within their pension funds.

What is being proposed with these Pension Reciprocation Plans sounds incredibly dangerous. It might not break UK pension rules (yet), but it is certainly against the spirit of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) when it comes to the purpose of pension plans for retirement income.

Dealing with the sort of unregulated firms who are promoting these schemes also puts your wealth at considerable risk. Because they are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) you receive no protection as an investor when things go wrong. And we do expect them to go wrong.

UK investors should stay well clear of these dangerous pension schemes and seek professional independent financial advice before doing anything which could put the value of their pension savings at risk.

Isn't this the guy that promotes unlocking frozen pensions through qrops? I take it that these qrops schemes that allow you to get cash out are nothing to do with this and are totally legitimate.

He is suggesting that these loans are fine and that they are within the rules. Is this just a case of the authorities over-reacting? I read a couple of articles "suggesting" that the money in the non lent part of the plan could end up supporting Spanish property developers. I can't see how that could be allowed. Where does the other half of the money really go?

Simon Stanborough seems to also own www.bankruptcy.co.uk - Plenty of debt advice on there, it's amazing what someone can do with no consumer credit license!!

Domain name:
bankruptcy.co.uk

Registrant:
Simon Stanborough

Registrant type:
UK Individual

Registrant's address:
1 Partridge Walk
Lilliput
Poole
Dorset
BH148HL
United Kingdom

Registrar:
Webfusion Ltd [Tag = S2CONSULTING]
URL: http://www.donhost.co.uk

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 21-Mar-1998
Renewal date: 21-Mar-2012
Last updated: 07-May-2010

It would  also explain how 'Moneymeans' has been in business since 1998... Surely he would need a consumer credit license for debt adjustment do give the sort of advice he's giving on his site??

My back pocket :-)

Did you catch their company name and check on the FSA's register to see if they are authorized?
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do

Not on the register? Report them here:
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Doing/Regulated/Law/Alerts/form.shtml

Consult with the Pensions Regulator:
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/individuals.aspx

Especially if it involves a Pension Backed Loan aka Pension Liberation
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/individuals.aspx

How is this company (PENSIONBACKEDLOADS) still going if it's so bad? I've read the thread but alot of it has gone over my head for sure! Also the company also runs moneybackmortgages.com which is recommended by martin lewis, so can't be that bad right? :s

Have you all seen the letter sent out, mentions a member website - www.arkpensions.com

Their website has been offline for over a month... so where are you getting your info from that PBL is still going?

Although looks like they might have setup http://www.thepensionexchange.co.uk now to continue the scam, website looks remarkably similar to PBL, and the address given on the bottom of the website is for a ramshackle farm in rural Dorset, just outside Bournemouth...

Streetview link below, either its a fake address or they must be running The Pension Exchange from a cowshed!!

Link:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=%23+Paradise+ ... ,283.18,,0,4.58

from http://www.thepensionexchange.co.uk/

"The Pension Exchange is a trading name of Zippy Marketing LTD Company No. 0762385"

http://whois.domaintools.com/thepensionexchange.co.uk - website registered by Zippy Marketing 23 Mar

http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/zippy-marketing - same address, incorporation date 05 May 11 (3 months old)

I wonder what made them choose "Zippy Marketing" as a name. Perhaps its because they might Bungle your pension just like Pensionbackedloans :-D

If you look back to page 3,Births, Marriages & Deaths post on 27 Apr THEPENSIONEXCHANGE.COM registered to Simon Stanborough, THEPENSIONEXCHANGE.CO.UK registered to Zippy Marketing, both registered on exactly the same day. Case closed, guilty as charged.

Births, Marriages & Deaths from 27 Apr post below
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://whois.domaintools.com/thepensionexchange.com

A new baby! Just over a month old. How sweet! He's called WWW.THEPENSIONEXCHANGE.COM

Domain Name:                 THEPENSIONEXCHANGE.COM
Created Date:                23-Mar-2011
Expiry Date:                23-Mar-2012
Nameserver:                ns.123-reg.co.uk
Nameserver:                ns2.123-reg.co.uk
Registrant Name:        Simon Stanborough
Registrant Company:        Petitions Direct
Registrant Address:        1 Partridge Walk
Registrant Address:        
Registrant Address:        
Registrant Address:        Poole
Registrant Address:        Dorset
Registrant Address:        BH14 8HL
-------------------------------------------

The website is still working for me; http://www.pensionbackedloans.co.uk/

Every time I check the site it has been down, and it still looks down now, what are you doing differently to everyone else?

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/www.pensionbackedloans.co.uk

It's not just you! http://www.pensionbackedloans.co.uk looks down from here.

Haha, no idea. It's working fine for me though.
Phone number on the website is 01202 585513, if you fancy getting a loan ;-)

I can't get on the site either

This will make you all laugh. I tried calling the number on www.thepensionexchange.co.uk and actual got through to 'ZIPPY MARKETING' on 01258 577100 and guess who answered? No go on, guess!

Daniel Barclay. Only the consumer credit license holder of Moneymeans and Simon Stanborough's best mate (Oh, and moneymeans has also conveniently moved to 15 factory road in poole - amazing what one little Times Money investigation can do!)

Fancy that, working from a barn manning the phones for zippy marketing! Why on earth was he there?

Oh well, it looks like it's goodbye to pensionlending.co.uk and hello to thepensionexchange.co.uk... and still they get shut down and reopen again under a different name of course.

This will make you all laugh. I tried calling the number on www.thepensionexchange.co.uk and actually got through to 'ZIPPY MARKETING' on 01258 577100 and guess who answered? No go on, guess!

Daniel Barclay. Only the consumer credit license holder of Moneymeans and Simon Stanborough's best mate (Oh, and moneymeans has also conveniently moved to 15 factory road in poole - amazing what one little Times Money investigation can do!)

Fancy that, working from a barn manning the phones for zippy marketing! Why on earth was he there?

Oh well, it looks like it's goodbye to pensionlending.co.uk and hello to thepensionexchange.co.uk... until they get shut down and reopen again under a different name of course.
Reply !

You knob, so what?