Pension schemes will have to boost transparency and detail under reporting requirements in the revised statement of recommended practice by the Pensions Research Accountants Group, which comes into force next year.
Scheme trustees, asset managers and those responsible for preparing accounts will be tasked with putting systems in place to enhance the relevance and transparency of their disclosures.
The revisions will affect accounting periods for pension schemes commencing on or after January 1 2015 and so will impact on documents for the year ending December 31 2015.
Schemes must provide enhanced disclosures on their investment risk, break down transaction costs in much more detail and provide a fair-value hierarchy of their assets.
Under FRS 102, schemes must now also provide a valuation of their annuities unless they are deemed to be immaterial to the value of the scheme
The new SORP stems from a broader review and planned overhaul of the legislation underpinning pension scheme financial reporting, which was first drawn up in 1986. The Department for Work and Pensions has delayed the revision of this legislation to Autumn 2015, after the general election.
