Sacker & Partners solicitors specialising in pensions law

Sackers Extra News is an information newsletter service presenting significant legal developments relating to pensions. The newsletter addresses topics with universal appeal on a regular basis, to help keep you abreast of the key issues.

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Past editions of Sackers Extra News are summarised below.

December 2006	Keeping EU cross-border conscious
	Since 30 December 2005, a UK pension scheme has needed to have prior authorisation and approval from the Pensions Regulator to operate as a crossborder scheme. Designation as cross-border brings with it a fairly onerous requirement to be “fully funded at all times” (namely, meet the statutory funding objective), together with additional compliance requirements. It is therefore vital that employers and trustees of occupational pension schemes keep crossborder conscious (to avoid being caught inadvertently cross-border).
October 2006	Making use of contingent assets
	An increasing number of corporate sponsors and trustees are looking at using contingent assets as an alternative to hard cash when considering scheme funding, or to ease the PPF levy. With this in mind we look at the different types of contingent assets available, why they are becoming increasingly attractive and the issues trustees and corporate sponsors need to take into account.
September 2006	Age-Day (now 1 December 2006!) - focus on DC schemes
	While the effect the anti-age discrimination legislation will have on defined benefit (DB) schemes has covered more column inches to date, defined contribution (DC) schemes have some knotty issues too. In this News, we focus on the impact the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 ("the Age Regulations") look set to have on these schemes.
August 2006	Age-Day - focus on DB schemes
	It is now only a matter of weeks until the new Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (“the Age Regulations”) come into force on “Age-Day” (1 October 2006). Although the Regulations automatically exempt a number of pension practices from being discriminatory, there are areas where employers and scheme trustees may be exposed to the risk of a discrimination claim. In this News, we highlight some of the more significant issues which defined benefit (DB) schemes commonly need to consider.
July 2006	Focus on funding - summary funding statements
	As part of the revamped scheme funding provisions under the Pensions Act 2004 (PA 2004), the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Funding) Regulations 2005 introduced a requirement for defined benefit (DB) schemes to issue “summary funding statements”. These statements must be issued to all scheme members and beneficiaries on the basis of the scheme’s latest actuarial valuation. The aim is to make DB members more aware of the funding position of their pension schemes.
June 2006	They think it's all over - it is now!
	The recent House of Lords’ decision in Preston has brought the last of the remaining part timer claims to an end. Most of the issues arising out of the original House of Lords’ Preston case were resolved by a series of decisions from the Employment Tribunal Chairman, Mr Macmillan, in 2002 but one issue has remained – the effect of TUPE on part timer claims. The House of Lords has now decided that the time limit for bringing a claim to the employment tribunal is 6 months from the date of the TUPE transfer.
May 2006	Trigger happy TPR?
	The Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice on scheme funding is at pains to stress that the new statutory funding objective (SFO) is not just “son of MFR”, but is scheme specific with the trustees taking the leading role. However, the Regulator’s role and attitude in policing compliance will be crucial to the viability of this approach. With this in mind we look at the Regulator’s recently published Guidance on “How the Pensions Regulator will regulate the funding of defined benefits”.
April 2006	Winding up the European way!
	Designed to implement the European Pensions Directive, draft regulations have been published to set out the procedure to be followed by trustees winding up a defined benefit (DB) scheme which has a “recovery plan” in place. We expect that many schemes in this position will be eligible for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and will therefore be in close contact with the PPF Board. However, these provisions will also apply to schemes which are not eligible for the PPF.
March 2006	Age discrimination - take 2
	Revised Regulations were published recently giving schemes just over six months to prepare for age discrimination laws taking effect on 1 October 2006. The Regulations have a significantly different take on pensions to the first draft last year, and while there are still some exemptions, schemes need to analyse what practices they can continue and which will need to change.
February 2006	Tax simplification - the sprint finish
	With A-Day now just over a month away, is your scheme ready for the big push down the home straight? Have you made scheme changes or are you relying on the transitional tax provisions to take you through A-Day (6 April 2006) and beyond? Here we take a look at some of the key points to bear in mind as you approach the A-Day finishing line.
January 2006	Pensions Act 2004 – what’s on the 2006 menu?
	With another year of changes ahead, we set out a taster of some of the crucial ingredients of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA 2004) which will come into force in 2006.

News archive

Visit our archive to find past newsletters.

2005 / 2004