Dawn Heath

Partner, Freshfields

Dawn has been practising as a pensions lawyer at Freshfields since qualifying in 2000 and became a partner in 2013.

Her practice focuses on UK defined benefit pension schemes and their associated challenges, with recent experience including advice on:

a range of significant pension projects, including complex funding and security arrangements, scheme consolidations and benefit issues;
advising on regulatory investigations and settlement of those investigations, including investigations by the Pensions Regulator in respect of its contribution notice and financial support direction “moral hazard” powers;
the pensions implications of corporate activity, including M&A, reorganisations, takeovers, return of value to shareholders, re-financing / granting of security and joint ventures; and
pensions issues in distress situations.

Dawn is a member of the Legislative and Parliamentary Committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers. Through this, she has been proactively engaging with DWP and the Pensions Regulator on recent and proposed changes to pensions legislation and Pension Regulator powers, including the new criminal offences in the Pension Schemes Act 2021.

Contributed to

1

Criminal offences under the Pension Schemes Act 2021—impact for employers and trustees

Practice notes

This Practice Note looks specifically at the two key criminal offences introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2021 which came into force on 1 October 2021, namely ‘avoidance of employer debt’ and ‘risking accrued scheme benefits’, including who they apply to, what types of activity will be caught, when they can be prosecuted, and what constitutes a reasonable excuse, as well as their impact on the sponsoring employers and trustees of defined benefit pension schemes.

Pensions