The U.K. government has promised tougher jail sentences of up to seven years for executives who mismanage company pension schemes.

The move is designed to ensure company bosses who allow deficits to escalate to unsustainable levels or who endanger their workers’ savings through chronic mismanagement face the full force of the law.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...