Wilberforce Chambers

In this Practice Note, Thomas Robinson of Wilberforce Chambers and Raquel Agnello QC of Erskine Chambers discuss the Lehmans/Nortel cases, more particularly the Supreme Court decision which clarified the status of Financial Support Directions (FSDs) issued under the Pensions Act 2004 (PA 2004) to companies in UK administration, provided important guidance on, among other things, the ranking of FSD liabilities in insolvency and dealt with the status of Contributions Notices issued under PA 2004, s 47.

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Raquel Agnello KC of Erskine Chambers and Thomas Robinson of Wilberforce Chambers, discusses the Pension Protection Fund and provides detail on the circumstances where the Pensions Regulator may issue a contribution notice (CN) or a financial support direction (FSD). These are often called the ‘moral hazard provisions’ of the Pensions Act 2004. This Practice Note considers the power of the Pensions Regulator to issue either a CN or an FSD, what is the ‘material detriment’ test, and what effect a CN or an FSD may have on a company, and its creditors.

This Practice Note focuses on the role of the Determinations Panel of the Pensions Regulator, circumstances in which the Panel will exercise special functions of the Pensions Regulator and relevant procedures and practices. It also looks at the role of the Upper Tribunal, to whom determinations of the Panel may be referred.

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Thomas Robinson of Wilberforce Chambers, considers the effect of a company’s insolvency on an occupational pension scheme in respect of which the company is the employer. It also notes consequences if the company is the trustee of the scheme. It does not consider multi-employer schemes.