From 6 April 2012, employers sponsoring occupational pension schemes must consult scheme members for at least 60 days if they propose to change the rate at which pensions are increased or deferred benefits are revalued, but only where that change would be, or would be likely to be, less generous to...
LexisNexis UK, the publisher of Pensions World and Occupational Pensions, has launched Lexis®PSL Pensions, the latest addition to its legal intelligence product Lexis®PSL. Designed as a single online resource with both practical guidance and key primary sources, LexisPSL Pensions enables...
The Pensions Bill 2010-11 finally received Royal Assent today. The Pensions Act 2011 (the “Act”) brings into force several important changes, including the controversial increase in State Pensions Age (SPA), changes following the switch from RPI to CPI for increases to pensions and,...
Employers look likely to be submerged beneath the flood of guidance on auto-enrolment says
Robin Ellison, Pinsent Masons
Adair Turner was a humble mister in 2005 when he drafted the solution to Britain’s pension problem; a few days after it was published he was emphatically ennobled, perhaps as a modest thank you from a grateful government.
There is now just about a year before what he recommended begins to...
Aspects of the Finance Bill 2011 pertaining to pension provision
The Finance Bill 2011, which will be published after the March 2011 Budget, includes a number of items relating to pensions. Draft clauses have been released, providing details on how the reduced annual and lifetime allowances will operate, as well as provisions intended to remove the requirement...
Is the abolition of contracting out from April 2012 a move forward or backward for pensions? asks Andy Wells, Punter Southall
A large part of the contracting out legislation will be removed in 2012 and will represent the most significant reform of the defined contribution (DC) pension landscape for 24 years.
Background
Contracting out first became possible for DC occupational schemes (COMPS) and personal pension...
Pension sharing for pensions in payment
The divorce legislation is unclear on how to implement pension sharing orders where the member’s pension is in payment and there is some confusion among divorce practitioners. Recent Pensions Ombudsman cases support the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP’s) views on the...
Consultation on the removal of the default retirement age
The government has launched the long awaited consultation on the removal of the default retirement age (DRA) of 65. The DRA means that it is lawful to discriminate on the grounds of age when it comes to retirement, provided that the employer follows a set retirement procedure.
The consultation...
The eagerly awaited decision in PNPF Trust Company Ltd v Geoff Taylor and Others has made a big impact on the world of pensions. Claire Southern and Joanna Smith, Hogan Lovells, explain
Even though the problems faced by the Pilots’ National Pension Fund were unique to that scheme, Mr Justice Warren’s decision answers some often debated questions on the interpretation of pensions legislation and the interaction between the scheme specific funding regime and a scheme...
Consultation on amendments to the employer debt rules
The pensions industry has frequently voiced concerns about the employer debt rules under s75 Pensions Act 1995 and the impact which they can have on corporate restructuring in a scheme with more than one participating employer. Some changes were made to the provisions in April 2008, but the...
“What’s new in the world of pensions law?” asks James Thomas. The answer, as ever, is “everything”
In the ten years that I have been conducting the annual Pensions World survey of pensions lawyers, the one constant has been that of constant change. And this year is no different; indeed, the advent of the global downturn has perhaps compounded the rate of change, resulting – according to...
Andrew Hoddinott, PricewaterhouseCoopers, finds more implications for UK pension schemes than expected in a Green Book on the Obama Administration’s fiscal plans
Father Christmas has probably not stocked up with quite as many copies of the appealingly titled US publication General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 Revenue Proposals, as he has Dan Brown’s latest offering. However, if you are starting the New Year with a...
Jay Doraisamy, Eversheds, is keeping a weather eye on two particular European directives and their possible impact on UK pensions
Since the credit crunch has bitten, the value of investments has taken a battering. The Pensions Regulator has issued a series of statements (including those in October 2008 and February 2009) to both trustees and employers of pension schemes to help them chart a course through the testing...
The Pensions Regulator is pushing full steam ahead on scheme governance says Navneet Bassan of PricewaterhouseCoopers
Governance is a buzz word that has been doing the rounds for quite a while. However, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) now means serious business with the launch of a campaign (and a dedicated section on its website) to encourage good governance and administration and better management of pension...
Amending the provisions of a pension scheme can be fraught with difficulty. David Griffiths, Eversheds, shows you how to avoid making a mess
Over the last decade or so there have been a number of cases where scheme amendments have been challenged, often successfully and at significant cost to the sponsoring employers. This article examines some of those cases in more detail and looks at the good, the bad and the ugly of scheme change...
Robin Ellison, Pinsent Masons, on the collateral damage caused by the battle over public versus private sector pension provision
Most sensible people, unless there is a serious moral issue, avoid wars like they avoid plagues or pit bulls exercising on the heath. Very often, collateral casualties (ie unintended injuries) are inflicted while the main contenders fight it out, regardless of the innocents around them.
Which...
As 70% of pension schemes close, delegates at the NAPF Investment Conference were doing some serious talking. Stephanie Hawthorne, editor, reports from Edinburgh
Last March the UK economy was at the edge of a precipice as delegates attended the 2009 NAPF Investment Conference. Twelve months on, the stock market has risen over 50%, but despite this pensions remain in a parlous state. So it was in sombre mood that Ray Martin, chairman, NAPF investment...
What’s in store for pensions from a new Government
May was a golden month for the Westminster Press Pack. Front pages were regularly ‘held’ as the negotiations between the major parties took yet another new twist, and political correspondents rushed to write up their copy.
Never mind the front pages, political news has dominated...
David Gallagher, Field Fisher Waterhouse, assesses the proposals for reorganising the Local Government Pension Scheme
Press reports suggest that pensions for the public sector may form a political backdrop to the forthcoming election. Do schemes for the civil service, local government workers, the NHS and teachers provide “gold plated” pensions that taxpayers can no longer afford? Or are they a fair...
With the right message and the right action, decent pensions are affordable urges Keith Barton, ACA
Last month, my organisation, the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) launched a six-point Retirement Income Manifesto, with a view to persuading the political parties ahead of the general election to “buy into” measures that will reinvigorate private sector retirement savings...
