All Taylor Wessing articles
-
OpinionGetting ready for the pensions dashboards
Although work on the design of the pensions dashboards has been ongoing for some time, trustees should now start preparing for their implementation.
-
News
High Court deems rectification law ‘settled’
The High Court has upheld the precedent that pension scheme documents can be overwritten by the courts if trustees can show that changes to them have been made in error.
-
PodcastsPodcast: Arguments for DC consolidation stronger than for DB
Podcast: The pace of defined contribution consolidation could accelerate on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic, but mergers are a less obvious boon for define benefit, say Squire Patton Boggs partner Kirsty Bartlett and Hadassah Shulman, senior associate at Taylor Wessing.
-
NewsSupreme Court: Barnardo's wording does not allow RPI/CPI switch
The Supreme Court’s rejection of an attempt by Barnardo’s to downgrade its pension increases is a reminder that courts are unlikely to bend rules to accommodate the commercial needs of defined benefit sponsors, according to legal experts.
-
News
PPF must not cut pensions by more than half, EU court rules
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the cap imposed on benefits paid by the Pension Protection Fund is unlawful when it reduces the payments made to a saver by more than half.
-
NewsWhitbread expected to plug deficit following Costa sale
Leisure group Whitbread is likely to fill the deficit in its defined benefit scheme after having agreed the sale of coffee chain Costa to drinks group Coca-Cola, according to Numis broker Tim Barrett.
-
News
Dromey: Government can use HPE contracts for pensioner justice
The shadow pensions minister has called on ministers to leverage lucrative contracts it awards to Hewlett Packard Enterprise to persuade the company to protect pensioners who are seeing their benefits eroded by inflation.
-
NewsOmbudsman’s police ruling highlights trustee duty of care
The Pensions Ombudsman has upheld a police officer’s complaint that Northumbria Police transferred his pension to a new scheme without having conducted adequate checks or provided him with sufficient warning about scams.
-
News
BA wins appeal over discretionary increase
The trustees of the Airways Pension Scheme went beyond their remit in granting a 0.2 per cent discretionary increase to members’ pensions in 2013, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
-
News
Industry backs alternative to mandatory clearance
Requiring companies to prepare a formal statement on how corporate activity might affect their pension schemes could help protect members from being put at risk, a survey of restructuring professionals has suggested.
-
NewsBox Clever judgment sees scheme inch closer to ITV funding
The Pensions Regulator was right to seek to impose a financial support direction on ITV in relation to the Box Clever defined benefit pension scheme, according to a court judgment published on Friday.
-
Features
De La Rue cuts pension increases to ease funding pressures
Trustees of the De La Rue defined benefit pension scheme have agreed to cut inflation-proofing on member benefits, wiping an estimated £70m off the security specialist’s accounting deficit.
-
Opinion
Are the days of the lay trustee numbered?
Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: For all that is made of the asymmetry of knowledge in the trust-based pension system, anecdotes abound of times when lay trustees have proved their worth.
-
NewsRestructuring professionals call for TPR-PPF merger
The Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund should be combined into one streamlined entity and be open to restructuring deals involving pensions where insolvency is not imminent within 12 months, according to restructuring professionals.
-
News
Scams continue to be a threat to members' savings
One in 12 transfers may have been subject to fraudulent activity, a new report has found. The figure has fallen from last year’s corresponding study, which found potential scams in as many as one in nine cases.
-
NewsCourt backs IBM in DB closure dispute
Technology giant IBM’s decision to close its UK defined benefit schemes has been ruled lawful by the Court of Appeal, in the culmination of an eight-year battle over the sponsor’s discretionary powers.
-
NewsBBC pensions cap ruling offers reassurance to DB employers
A Court of Appeal judgment safeguarding the BBC's right to cap increases to pensionable salary has reassured employers that they can take reasonable steps to address their defined benefit deficits, according to pensions lawyers.
-
NewsPension law slowly catches up with society on equal rights
The Supreme Court has overruled the Equalities Act 2010 in Walker v Innospec, meaning pension schemes can no longer refuse pensions to same-sex spouses for pre-2005 service, but has stopped short of giving equal pension rights to a part-time worker.
-
News
Pensions Institute: Relax DB promises to tackle PPF drift
Stressed schemes and employers should be allowed to reduce pension increases and gain easier access to Pension Protection Fund-plus benefit-restructuring methods in order to minimise “PPF drift”, a new academic paper has said.
-
NewsBA judgment shows value of diligent minute-taking
British Airways has lost a legal battle against the Airways Pension Scheme involving the trustees' decision to introduce a 0.2 per cent discretionary increase, as experts have stressed the importance of carefully documenting all decision-making processes.