Clifford Chance
UK Pensions Update: September 2015
16 September 2015
Welcome to the September 2015 edition of the UK Pensions Update.
In this edition we focus on the changes to short service refunds for money purchase benefits which will come into force on 1 October 2015 and provide an update on the recovery of VAT in relation to defined benefit pension fund management costs.
In this edition we also cover:
- the Pension Protection Fund's recently published guide to the 2015/16 Pension Protection levy;
- the Pensions Regulator's report into its funding investigation into the DLR pension scheme and what action the Regulator might take where a scheme has missed the statutory deadline for agreeing its actuarial valuation;
- the Pensions Regulator's updated guidance on assessing and monitoring employer covenant, which was published in August;
- the Pensions Ombudsman's decision in the recent case of Kenworthy v Campden R.A. Pension Trust Limited and Trigon Pensions Limited (PO-4579), and the comfort this gives to schemes which have not yet equalised their Guaranteed Minimum Pensions;
- an update on IORP II in light of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee's report which was published over the summer and contains suggested amendments to the draft IORP II Directive;
- the Government's consultation on pension transfers and early exit charges;
- an update on British Airways plc v Spencer & others [2015] EWHC 2577; and
- the Government's consultation on reforms to pensions tax relief, which closes at the end of this month.
