Welcome to our new blog series exploring the various ingredients that go into a successful general code of practice compliance programme. We have been cooking up a range of strategies over the last couple of years and are now happy
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Top Tips For Identifying And Addressing Poor Service in Pensions
As a contentious lawyer, I tend not to be involved in pensions issues when everything is going smoothly – my phone normally rings when trustees or employers are facing a problem of reasonable magnitude. I often wish that I had
The DOL Updates the QPAM Exemption from Prohibited Transaction Restrictions under ERISA (US)
ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code broadly prohibit transactions between employee benefit plans or Individual Retirement Accounts and certain “parties in interest” or “disqualified persons”. However, certain transactions are exempted from such prohibition. One such exemption applies to transactions involving
Pensions Dashboards – Avoid the Legal Ruck
The rugby Six Nations Championship has been a recent topic of conversation. But do you know how long pensions dashboards have been a topic of conversation? Almost 10 years – ever since the issue was raised in a report by
Changes to the UK Water Special Administration Regime – Do Pension Trustees of Water Industry Schemes Need to Care?
Changes are afoot to the statutory regime governing special administrations for regulated water companies (the SAR) following the publication of a suite of new legislation.
Impact of the changes on pension trustees
Further details of the changes are set out in
Coverage Testing – The Forgotten Nondiscrimination Rule
This blog post addresses retirement plans that are intended to be tax-qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code).
Specifically, this post will provide information related to:
- “Coverage Testing” rules under Code Section 410(b)
- Related “Controlled Group” rules
Beyond The Frenzy – Reflections On The General Code
When The News Broke…
Last Wednesday I was on a Teams call with a client discussing some forthcoming cyber security training when a news alert flashed up. I had to interrupt – “Oh gosh, the general code is finally out!”
Don’t Fall Into The Surplus Trap! How Sponsors And Trustees Can Manage Issues Around Pension Scheme Surpluses
Significant market and interest rate movements over recent years have seen funding positions improve for many defined benefit pension plans across the UK, and in a lot of cases this has resulted in pension plans finding themselves with an unexpected
Reputational Risks: Lessons From the Odey Crisis
The investigations into Odey Asset Management and its founder, Crispin Odey, which are currently capturing the headlines in the financial press, tell a familiar story of how fast a financial institution can fall from grace when disaster strikes. Institutional investors
Is the Clock Ticking for UK Pensions Law?
“The Brexit Freedoms Bill will enable the UK government to remove years of burdensome EU regulation in favour of a more agile, home-grown regulatory approach that benefits people and businesses across the UK”.
(Government press release, 22 September 2022)
“This