The FCA Defined Benefit Advice Assessment Tool (DBAAT) helps the market understand how we assess the suitability of Defined Benefit (DB) pension transfer advice.
The DBAAT is used to assess advice given before October 2020. An updated tool that incorporates rule changes that came into force on 1 October 2020 will be published in the coming months.
We used the DBAAT in the latest phase[2] of our review assessing the suitability of DB transfer advice. The tool sets out the key factors to consider when checking the suitability of advice and disclosure, thereby allowing firms to understand what is expected. We are publishing it now to give all firms access to this tool and recommend that firms, compliance consultants, auditors, insurers and trade bodies use it to understand how suitability should be assessed.
Making the tool widely available is part of our work to improve the suitability of DB transfer advice. We have been conducting intensive supervisory work on DB transfers since 2015 and we have taken action against pension transfer advisers where advice has been unsuitable. We have published rules and draft guidance to improve the quality of DB transfer advice. We will publish Finalised Guidance alongside the updated DBAAT.
Our work on DB transfers forms a key part of the FCA’s work to reduce harm in the consumer investments market, which we identified as a priority in our 2020/21 Business Plan.