At a glance...

Issues affecting all schemes

TRUSTEE INVESTMENT AND DISCLOSURE DUTIES

Government consultation on proposed new trustee investment and disclosure duties

PENSION SCAMS

Revised industry code of good practice on combating pension scams

GENDER REASSIGNMENT

Court of Justice of the European Union decision on the lawfulness of the criteria that previously had to be met in the UK to obtain a full gender recognition certificate

PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN DETERMINATION

Compensation for distress and inconvenience

Issues affecting DB schemes

PENSIONS REGULATOR POWERS

Government consultation on proposed new Regulator powers and sanctions regime

MULTI-EMPLOYER DB PENSION SCHEMES

Private members' bill seeking to change the way in which liabilities in multi-employer DB schemes are calculated and attributed

CLOSED SCHEMES – FINAL SALARY LINKAGE

High Court decision that a closed DB scheme which retains a final salary link is a "frozen" scheme for employer debt purposes

COMPANY VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENTS

Updated PPF guidance on the approach to be take when presenting a CVA proposal to the PPF

Issues affecting DC schemes

CHAIR'S ANNUAL DC GOVERNANCE STATEMENT

Updated Pensions Regulator guide on the chair's annual DC governance statement

Action required

Follow development and keep under review

Issues affecting all schemes

Proposed new trustee investment and disclosure duties

The government is consulting on draft regulations that would:

  • Make changes to the information that must be set out in a scheme's statement of investment principles (SIP) (and, in the case of a "relevant scheme"1, to the information that must be included in the SIP for the scheme's DC default arrangement).
  • Introduce a requirement for trustees to prepare a "statement on members' views" setting out how they will take account of members' views on the matters covered in the SIP.
  • Introduce a requirement for trustees of relevant schemes to include an implementation statementin the scheme's annual report detailing various matters, including how the SIP has been followed in the scheme year.
  • Make related changes to the information that trustees must include in the investment report section of the scheme's annual report.
  • Introduce a requirement for trustees of relevant schemes to (a) publish their SIP, statement on members' views, and implementation statement on a website, and (b) inform members of this via the annual benefit statement.

These requirements are expected to come into force on 1 October 2019, except for the requirements in relation to the implementation statement which are expected to come into force on 1 October 2020. The government is also consulting on related changes to its statutory guidance on reporting DC costs and charges.

The consultation closes on 16 July 2018. For more information, please see our legal update.

Action

Trustees should keep the progress of the government's proposals under review.

Pension scams – revised industry code of practice

The Pension Scams Industry Group has published a revised version of its code of good practice on combating pension scams. The code sets out practical steps that trustees can take to protect their members from scams, particularly when processing transfer requests. The code has been revised, among other things, to reflect legal and industry developments since the code was first published in 2015, and to include expanded template letters and case studies.

Action

No action required, but schemes may find the revised code useful when considering what actions they can take to help protect members from pension scams.

Gender reassignment – discrimination

The Court of Justice of the European Union has held that that the requirement that existed prior to the introduction of same sex marriages in the UK for a transgender woman to annul their marriage in order to obtain a full gender recognition certificate and thereby obtain a state pension payable from age 60 was unlawful discrimination on the grounds of sex contrary to the Social Security Directive as a woman who retained her birth gender could obtain payment of her state pension from age 60 regardless of whether or not she was married.

MB v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2018] EUECJ C-451/16

Action

No action required.

To view the full article, please click here

Footnotes

1 Broadly, a scheme providing DC benefits other than additional voluntary contributions

June 2018

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This Mayer Brown article provides information and comments on legal issues and developments of interest. The foregoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to the matters discussed herein.