Section 77A — Pensions Act 2004: Fixed penalty notices

Fixed penalty notices 77A 1 The Regulator may issue a fixed penalty notice to a person if it considers that the person—

a has failed to comply with a notice under section 72 or 72A, b has failed to comply with a requirement under section 75, or c has prevented or hindered an inspector exercising any power under section 73, 74 or 75.

2 A fixed penalty notice is a notice requiring the person to whom it is issued to pay a penalty within the period specified in the notice.

3 The penalty—

a is to be determined in accordance with regulations, and b must not exceed £50,000.

4 A fixed penalty notice must—

a state the amount of the penalty;

b state the date by which the penalty must be paid, which must be at least 28 days after the date on which the notice is issued;

c state the period to which the penalty relates;

d specify the failure or conduct to which the penalty relates;

e state that the Regulator may issue an escalating penalty notice under section 77B if the person fails to comply with a notice under section 72 or 72A;

f notify the person to whom the notice is issued of the review process under section 43 of the Pensions Act 2008 and the right of referral to a tribunal under section 44 of that Act (as applied by subsection (5)).

5 The following sections of the Pensions Act 2008 apply to a penalty notice under this section as they apply to a penalty notice under section 40 of that Act—

a section 42 (penalty notices: recovery);

b section 43 (review of penalty notices);

c section 44 (references to First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal).

6 This section does not apply in a case where section 40 of the Pensions Act 2008 or section 17 of the Pension Schemes Act 2017 applies.