A new Pensions Act is born!


Following intense scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament (and a number of twists and turns along the parliamentary way), the Pensions Bill 2004 finally received Royal Assent on 18 November 2004. The Bill, which was first published in February this year, can be seen as the culmination of a series of reviews, primarily the Pickering Report but also to a certain degree the Sandler review and the Myners Report. The last major Pensions Act in Britain was that of 1995, which focused on member protection in a way not seen before. The Pensions Act 2004 builds on that platform by introducing further member protections such as the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF). For employers and trustees the Act presents new challenges across a spectrum of issues, ranging from scheme funding to the composition and standard of knowledge of trustee boards.

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