NOW: Pensions fined over not collecting, investing some contributions

The Pensions Regulator fined NOW: Pensions for failing to collect and invest some of its participants' savings, the U.K. regulator said in a news release Tuesday.

The £493 million ($696 million) workplace defined contribution plan provider will pay £50,000 for not resolving administrative issues, which led to plan participants' savings not being collected, and a further £20,000 for failing to inform them about the issues.

The penalties will be settled by NOW: Pensions, but will not be charged to participants' accounts, the provider confirmed in a separate news release Tuesday. The delays arose due to employers supplying inaccurate, incomplete or missing payroll data, according to NOW: Pensions.

NOW: Pensions trustee agreed with TPR to compensate any affected participants, the regulator said.

A spokesman at the regulator said if these issues are not resolved by July 31, the regulator will have to power to impose additional fines on NOW: Pensions.

Troy Clutterbuck, interim CEO of NOW: Pensions, said in the release: "I am truly sorry for the delays that some clients have experienced processing pension contributions. We've been working closely with The Pensions Regulator on the steps detailed in the improvement notice and third-party notice and have made significant progress. I'm pleased to say that the vast majority of schemes are now up to date. Work continues on a small percentage of larger and more complex schemes and these will be updated by April — the deadline set by the regulator."