The FSA is not referring to this work as a review but as a requirement to make an assessment of past business practices and their effects. However, make no mistake; this is a review in all but name. The "R" word is not used due to its association with the huge reviews of the past, on topics like pension transfers and opt-outs, FSAVCs, and endowment sales linked to mortgages.

For firms that have been active in pension switching since 2006, this is a major piece of work that, if not done properly, has the potential to inflict significant financial and reputational damage on them. It would be wise to plan carefully the work that needs to be done, and to make provision in those plans for the possibility that outcomes may not be as benign as senior management would wish.

All firms need to:

define the review process that they now need to go through to meet the regulatory demands placed upon them;
estimate the work involved and set aside enough people with the relevant skills to do it; and
decide the records that they will need to keep to provide evidence to the FSA in its follow-up work that they have completed the assessment to a satisfactory standard.

OAC can help you in many differing ways to carry out this review to the standards demanded by the FSA. It played a leading role in consultancy during the Pension Transfers and Opt-outs Review and has retained and enhanced the skills needed which are very relevant to the pension switching issue. At OAC we have always recognised that firms come in many shapes and sizes, from individual one man firms through to large national outfits with many branches - these varying structures present different challenges when carrying out a review such as this. Following our ethos of developing flexible solutions to solve specific client problems, we have eschewed the "one size fits all" approach and can offer solutions to meet your exact needs.

Whether you just want a planning consultation meeting or telephone conference to identify what needs to be done and where the main pitfalls are, or whether you need an experienced project manager to plan in detail a large scale project likely to involve many people from all over the country, we have the skills to help. Getting the planning right is key to getting the work done right and documented adequately the first time, and could save a lot of additional work later.