UK Pensions

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It’s A Fair Challenge! Penalty Decisions Examined

In recent years, The Pensions Regulator (“TPR”) has been steadfast in enforcing compliance among pension scheme trustees and employers, often issuing penalties for non-compliance. However, recent cases indicate that with a valid reason, it is possible to contest and even overturn penalties. Here, we examine three noteworthy tribunal decisions that shed light on the courts’ … Continue Reading

Is £1 Million Enough?

It’s Yorkshire Day on 1 August and, when I was thinking about this blog, the stereotype of a stingy Yorkshireman came to mind. Not because I think Yorkshire folk are actually stingy. I don’t! I was wondering whether TPR’s powers granted under the Pension Schemes Act 2021 (PSA 21) have made a difference, or whether … Continue Reading

Pensions Dashboards – Thyme Is of the Essence: How to Meet the 8 August 2024 Deadline

A key deadline is looming under the 2022 Dashboards Regulations, and it is not your pension scheme’s “connect by” date, nor is it the ultimate statutory connection deadline of 31 October 2026. Pension schemes have until 8 August 2024 to apply to extend their deadline for connecting to the pensions dashboards infrastructure beyond the statutory … Continue Reading

Trustee Protection on Winding Up – Pensions Life Hack

Trustees of many defined benefit pension schemes are accelerating moves towards buyout, aided by recent market improvements. While the immediate focus may be on completing the buyout, trustees should plan ahead for the scheme wind up and consider how they will be protected if existing exoneration and indemnity provisions fall away. Trustees will want to … Continue Reading

The General Code in Bite-Sized Chunks – Proportionality for Schemes in the “End Game”

Many pension scheme trustees and employers aspire to undertake a risk transfer transaction, typically an insurance company buy-out for defined benefit (DB) schemes or a transfer to a master trust for defined contribution (DC) schemes. In each case, this will ultimately herald the termination of the pension scheme and an end to all governance systems. … Continue Reading

The General Code in Bite-Sized Chunks – Counting Members for General Code Compliance Is Definitely Not a Piece of Cake!

Have you ever asked a seemingly straightforward question, only to be met with an answer that starts with “Well, it depends…..”? This can be a touch irritating. However, it may be the first part of the answer given to trustees who ask for advice on what aspects of the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) general code of … Continue Reading

Pensions Dashboards – Avoid the Legal Ruck

The rugby Six Nations Championship has been a recent topic of conversation. But do you know how long pensions dashboards have been a topic of conversation? Almost 10 years – ever since the issue was raised in a report by the Financial Conduct Authority in December 2014! We are now about to witness kick-off as … Continue Reading

Changes to the UK Water Special Administration Regime – Do Pension Trustees of Water Industry Schemes Need to Care?

Changes are afoot to the statutory regime governing special administrations for regulated water companies (the SAR) following the publication of a suite of new legislation. Impact of the changes on pension trustees Further details of the changes are set out in a blog post by restructuring colleagues Helena Clarke and Charlotte Moller. Helena and Charlotte note … Continue Reading

Don’t Fall Into The Surplus Trap! How Sponsors And Trustees Can Manage Issues Around Pension Scheme Surpluses

Significant market and interest rate movements over recent years have seen funding positions improve for many defined benefit pension plans across the UK, and in a lot of cases this has resulted in pension plans finding themselves with an unexpected surplus. If sponsors and trustees are not anticipating a surplus, this can lead to uncertainty … Continue Reading

Reputational Risks: Lessons From the Odey Crisis

The investigations into Odey Asset Management and its founder, Crispin Odey, which are currently capturing the headlines in the financial press, tell a familiar story of how fast a financial institution can fall from grace when disaster strikes. Institutional investors (and by extension some retail funds that had been invested in Odey’s strategies) have already … Continue Reading

Is the Clock Ticking for UK Pensions Law?

“The Brexit Freedoms Bill will enable the UK government to remove years of burdensome EU regulation in favour of a more agile, home-grown regulatory approach that benefits people and businesses across the UK”. (Government press release, 22 September 2022) “This has nothing to do with the merits of Brexit. It’s about how we make law … Continue Reading

LDI-Gate Anyone?

It can’t be long before someone starts discussing LDI-Gate (the turmoil in the gilts market following the Government’s September mini budget), looking for parties to blame. There have been rumours about potential claims against liability driven investment (“LDI”) managers and investment consultants, and pensions celebrities have been summoned to appear before parliamentary select committees to … Continue Reading

TPR’s Pledge to Combat Pension Scams Gains Increasing Popularity with Trustees

According to complaints filed with Action Fraud, more than £30 million has been lost to pension scammers since 2017. All types of pension pots are targeted, with some individual savers losing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Given the current cost of living crisis, more people might feel tempted to access their pension savings, making them … Continue Reading

ASAP x 10 – TPR Puts The Dash Into Pensions Dashboards

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is not pulling any punches in its latest messaging around pensions dashboards. The Deadline campaign, launched on 22 June 2022, follows research conducted by TPR revealing that insufficient progress has been made by schemes in preparing for pensions dashboards and moving towards the level of digitalisation of member records that will … Continue Reading

Down to the Wire!

On 28 April 2022, at 4:35 pm we issued legal advice to our client regarding the GMP conversion exercise for two schemes, along with final versions of the deed of amendment to bring into effect GMP conversion; the Conversion Date was set for 1 May 2022.  At 4:43 pm, we get an e-mail from our … Continue Reading
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