Reckless bosses who plunder savings meant to pay for their staff's retirement will face up prison time under new legislation.
That's after the Pension Schemes Bill introduced a new sentence of up to seven years in jail for bosses who run their pension schemes into the ground or plunder them to line their own pockets, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey said: "This Pension Schemes Bill is the next crucial step in making the UK the best place in the world to retire.
"We are pushing ahead with our latest revolutionary reforms. With this legislation, we'll ensure reckless bosses are brought to book, transform the way people get information about their retirement savings and introduce a whole new pension to the market boosting returns for millions."
And if that's not enough, there's also a civil penalty of £1 million on the table too.
Nigel Peaple, from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said: “While most pension schemes are well-run and managed, high-profile cases like Carillion and BHS damage confidence in the pensions system.
"We support new powers for the Pensions Regulation to take action sooner, impose significant fines, and have more oversight of risky corporate transactions in order to prevent reckless behaviour and protect savers’ hard-earned money.”
But that's not the only new rule designed to punish people playing with your money.
The regulator is also getting powers to demand information from pension providers, and force them to make data easily available to people trying to find out about the state of their savings.
Charles Counsell, chief executive of the Pensions Regulator (TPR), said: "We welcome the measures announced in the Pensions Schemes Bill which will allow us to continue in our commitment to be a clearer, quicker and tougher regulator.
"The Bill would give us the power to set and enforce clearer scheme funding standards in defined benefit pension schemes while also providing early warning of potential problems.
"Where problems do arise, new criminal sanctions and civil fines will act as a strong deterrent against risky and reckless behaviour, giving us flexibility to issue fines at the appropriate level, depending on severity."
