Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Approach taken by the pensions regulatory bodies

The Pensions Regulator, the Pension Protection Fund, HMRC, the FCA and the Pensions Ombudsman all issued statements and/or guidance on the implications of coronavirus.

These are described in the Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—the pensions implications for trustees [Archived].

Issues for pension schemes

Several issues arose for trustees of pension schemes as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. This included issues relating to:

1. •

   trustee meetings—eg it could have been be necessary to hold trustee meetings by phone or video conference

2. •

   running the scheme—eg contingency planning and ensuring continuity was of vital importance to trustees

3. •

   transfers—the coronavirus pandemic led to an increase in transfer activity for some schemes, something which trustees will have had to manage at a time when they may have faced staff shortage

4. •

   force majeure