The Pensions Regulator and its power to issue a contribution notice and financial support direction

Produced in partnership with Thomas Robinson of Wilberforce Chambers
Practice notes

The Pensions Regulator and its power to issue a contribution notice and financial support direction

Produced in partnership with Thomas Robinson of Wilberforce Chambers

Practice notes
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The Pensions Regulator (the Regulator) is a non-departmental government body created by the Pensions Act 2004 (PeA 2004).

The power of the Regulator to issue Contribution notices and Financial support directions is located in PeA 2004, ss 38–50.

These provisions are commonly referred to as the ‘moral hazard’ powers of the Regulator although this name is not found anywhere in PeA 2004. They are intended to address the risk of ‘moral hazard’ caused by the existence of the Pension Protect Fund (PPF), namely the risk that corporate groups would structure their affairs in a way that increased the risks to their pension schemes, safe in the knowledge that the PPF would have to step in if insolvency of the employer company occurred.

The two main moral hazard powers, and the only ones used to date, are the power to issue a contribution notice (CN) and the power to issue a financial support direction (FSD).

A CN requires the person to whom it is issued to

Thomas Robinson
Thomas Robinson

Thomas Robinson has a strong commercial / chancery practice with particular emphasis on pensions, insolvency and commercial litigation (including IT matters). He has been recommended as a leading junior by The Legal 500 and Chambers UK for several years. Recent pensions & insolvency cases include the Re Nortel/Lehman litigation, up to and including the Supreme Court, Re Storm Funding, and other cases brought by the Pensions Regulator such as MG Rover, Bonas and Carrington Wire.

He has been nominated as 'Insolvency / Restructuring Junior of the Year' at the Chambers UK Bar Awards and was 'highly commended' in Legal Week's 'Stars at the Bar'.

Thomas has been recommended in the legal directories for a number of years. Recent entries include: 'He is brilliant and he grows in strength all the time.' (Pensions, Chambers & Partners 2016); 'He's shown himself to be very bright ' he can pick up any issue you throw at him, is very pragmatic and is great on his feet and at providing opinions.' (Restructuring / Insolvency, Chambers & Partners 2016).

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Pensions Regulator definition
What does Pensions Regulator mean?

The Pensions Regulator was established under the Pensions Act 2004 to replace the dysfunctional OPRA in April 2005. Its main purposes are to: protect the benefits of members of company pension arrangements (whether trust or contract based); keep claims on the pension protection fund to a minimum; and facilitate good pension administration.

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