This comes after repeated calls from the industry for HMRC to improve registration in order to cut off liberation schemes at their inception.

From 21 October, HMRC will move away from a “process now, check later” approach.

Scheme registration will no longer be confirmed on successful submission of the online form, and instead the revenue will carry out “detailed risk assessment activity” before deciding to register a scheme.

HMRC will also make it more difficult to transfer funds between registered schemes.

When trustees request information from HMRC about the legitimacy of a receiving scheme, the revenue will no longer seek consent from that receiving scheme.

It said in its guidance: “HMRC will only provide confirmation where the receiving scheme is registered and the information held by HMRC does not indicate a significant risk that the scheme was set up, or is being used, to facilitate pension liberation.

“Otherwise, a response will be issued setting out the conditions in which HMRC will confirm registration status and explain that one or both of the conditions are not satisfied.”

The change comes after trustees and administrators complained they feared allowing members to transfer to suspicious schemes, but also afraid they could breach their duties by blocking transfers, despite reassurance and guidance on transfers from The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Association of British Insurers director of life, savings and protection Steve Gay said: “We welcome this important development in the crackdown on pension liberation. The ABI has long called for HMRC to tighten up the process with which a registered pension scheme can be set up.

“ABI members are doing everything they can to prevent people falling victim to these schemes, reporting suspicious transfers to the enforcement agencies and Government departments.

“We look forward to working with HMRC so that this process can be made effective in stopping fraudulent misuse of the pension system.”

Hargreaves Lansdown head of pensions research Tom McPhail said: “These measures will help but there is no magic-bullet solution to this fraud problem. It isn’t always possible to even prove that fraud has been committed and while some of the fraudsters have been pretty inept, they are becoming more sophisticated.

“We are very concerned that the government’s plans to introduce an automatic transfer system, while well-intentioned could make the problem a great deal worse.”

McPhail added further measures are still needed.

The process of vetting the credentials of pension administrators and trustees needs to be strengthened and industry trade bodies can also look at better informal information sharing processes, he said.