The Government has axed plans for a secondary annuities market over fears about consumer protection in a surprise announcement late this afternoon.

The FCA has told Standard Life to review all non-advised annuity sales from July 2008 following a probe of the sector.

Aegon has announced a new annuity partnership with Legal & General, which means it will cease to write new annuities from the last quarter this year.

An ‘annuity comparator’ may become a compulsory tool for firms to offer consumers after trials found it boosted consumers’ likelihood to shop around.