Wyn Derbyshire

This Practice Note looks at the statutory definition of money purchase benefits in the Pension Schemes Act 1993, s 181, the impact of the KPMG case and the Bridge case on that definition, and the government’s amendment of the definition through the Pensions Act 2011, s 29.

This Practice Note considers the cases in which the Pensions Regulator (TPR) exercised, or considered exercising, its moral hazard (anti-avoidance) powers (ie contribution notices and financial support directions) and explores the themes which may be drawn from these cases.

This Practice Note focuses on the issue of the overpayment of pension and lump sum benefits by trustees of occupational pension schemes, looks at the methods of recovering benefit overpayments, and examines the practical and legal difficulties that can arise when trustees seek to recover overpayments. It also covers the defences that members can use against recovery claims.

This Practice Note relates to the payment of employer and employee pension contributions to work-based defined contribution (money purchase) schemes and covers the legislative requirements on employers to make contributions on behalf of their employees, time limits for making payments, reporting obligations and penalties for late payments of contributions.

This Practice Note provides an introduction for persons who are new to pensions law to the requirements, considerations and issues that arise on a bulk pension transfer, which involves the transfer of a group of members from one pension scheme (the transferring scheme) to another (the receiving scheme).

This Practice Note focuses on the various ways in which pensions disputes may arise in respect of occupational and personal pension schemes (eg by way of a complaint to an employer, scheme trustees and/or the pensions provider or by bringing a court claim) and, depending on the type of scheme the dispute relates to, the avenues available to deal with such disputes.

This Practice Note provides an introduction for persons who are new to Pensions law to the recourses available when a pension issue is in dispute (whether under an occupational pension scheme, a personal pension scheme or the state pension). This includes internal dispute resolution procedures, the Pensions Ombudsman, the courts, the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

This Practice Note relates to private sector joint ventures and the pensions issues that the operators of such vehicles need to consider.

This Practice Note looks at pensions-related issues that can arise under settlement agreements (compromise agreements) including the form for contracting out of employment law rights, the treatment of (and the problems that may arise with) an employee’s pension rights under a settlement agreement, and the financial advice that should be given to the employee before agreeing the settlement.

This Practice Note examines the issues that can arise when the sponsoring employer of a pension scheme is the subject of a ‘pre-pack administration’, also known as a ‘pre-pack’.

This Practice Note provides an introduction for persons who are new to pensions law to pension overpayments from occupational pension schemes, in particular why they occur, the role of the trustees and sponsoring employer, the methods of recovering overpayments (including restitution and equitable recoupment), defences that members can use to prevent recovery of overpayments (including limitation, change of position and estoppel), how to minimise the risk of overpayments occurring, and the tax consequences of overpayments.

This Practice Note looks at which persons are covered by the definition of dependant, nominee or successor for the purpose of paying pension death benefits under the Finance Act 2004 and the changes made by the Taxation of Pensions Act 2014. It also covers, in brief, the establishment of dependency by the trustees.

This Practice Note provides an introduction for persons who are new to Pensions law to the legal issues that can arise in relation to the funding of registered defined benefit occupational pension schemes (DB schemes), including the statutory scheme-specific funding regime and how it works, actuarial valuations, scheme funding negotiations, the Pensions Regulator’s approach to scheme funding, and methods of managing scheme funding deficits.

This Practice Note looks at incentive exercises, such as enhanced transfer value exercises (ETVs) and pension increase exchanges exercises (PIEs), undertaken to manage scheme liabilities under defined benefit (DB) occupational pension schemes. In particular, it looks at the regulatory regime created by the Pensions Regulator (among others) to monitor such exercises, as well as applicable legal considerations (eg employer duties, requirements applicable to scheme amendments, data protection, anti-discrimination laws). This Practice Note also looks at the regulatory rules that apply to financial advisers and actuaries in relation to incentive exercises.

This Practice Note covers the issues relevant to a merger of defined benefit occupational pension schemes, both for the employers, the trustees of the transferring scheme and the trustees of the recipient scheme. In particular, this note looks at issues relating to the compatibility of the benefit structures, member consent, consultation obligations and section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995.

This Practice Note looks at the statutory requirements for trustees of registered occupational pension schemes to maintain adequate scheme records, including in relation to trustee meetings, scheme transactions, investments and assets, winding-up decisions, contributions and funding, and auto-enrolment and in accordance with good pension scheme governance.

This Practice Note covers the reporting requirements which apply to the trustees of occupational pension schemes. This includes the duty to report notifiable events, the whistleblowing duty, the duty to provide annual scheme returns and funding reports, the duty to provide and maintain registrable information on the Pensions Regulator’s scheme register, winding-up reporting requirements, and various HMRC notification obligations.

This Practice Note provides an introduction for persons who are new to pensions law to the role of trustees and their advisers in a pension scheme. In particular, this Practice Note looks at the different types of trustees that may be encountered, trustee decision-making considerations, Trustee Knowledge and Understanding (TKU) requirements, funding and investment considerations, trustee liability and trustee protection issues like exoneration and indemnity clauses, trustee insurance and the operation of section 61 of the Trustee Act 1925, as well as the type of advisers trustees are likely to rely on to fulfil their duties.

This Practice Note provides an introduction for persons who are new to pensions law to the pension issues that arise, or may arise, on a business or asset sale. This includes determining what pension rights transfer under TUPE, so-called Beckmann and Martin issues, pension protection requirements applicable under TUPE post-transfer and section 75 debt issues.