Last week Stephen looked at whether he could still take his pension trustee clients to Wimbledon as a result of the Bribery Act 2010 ( The Bribery Act 2010: can I still take my pension trustee clients to Wimbledon?!). However, there’s another aspect of the new Act that interests me and that’s the “section 7 offence” that catches commercial organisations who fail to prevent bribery by those associated with them. If a corporate pension scheme trustee is deemed to be a commercial organisation then it would also need to be concerned about the activities of those performing services for or on its behalf (such as investment managers, custodians, administrators etc). (more…)
Archive for the ‘Current hot topics’ Category
Is a corporate pension scheme trustee a commercial organisation for the purpose of the Bribery Act 2010?
Wednesday, 22 June 2011The Bribery Act 2010: can I still take my pension trustee clients to Wimbledon?!
Friday, 17 June 2011The Bribery Act 2010 bites from 1 July 2011. Wimbledon’s 20 June to 3 July – so as long as it’s not the semis or finals I’ll definitely be fine – phew. But would I actually be in trouble for the semis/finals? – “You cannot be serious?!” (à la Mr McEnroe) I hear you say. Well you’re right, because fortunately Ken Clarke explicitly stated “Rest assured – no one wants to stop firms getting to know their clients by taking them to events like Wimbledon” in the Ministry of Justice’s Bribery Act guidance – Ken’s clearly a tennis fan as well – good lad. So what’s the deal with the Bribery Act then for pension scheme trustees? In short – it’s all about internal controls and keeping registers…
RPI to CPI: a good time to look at old pension increase changes too?
Tuesday, 24 May 2011In those halcyon days before section 67, and the regulatory impositions of the disclosure regulations, did changes to pension schemes seem to go more smoothly? Perhaps in those days of higher inflation a change to guarantee inflation-linked increases to pensions capped at, say, 5% seemed an improvement on fixed increases of, say, 3% per annum. And such changes may have applied to all service, future and past, as it was better, so impacting on pensions in payment and deferred pensions. But was everyone told about it? With pension increase rules in the spotlight at the moment following the Government’s switch from RPI to CPI, it’s a good time to check.
When is a decision not a decision?
Friday, 25 March 2011When it’s ajar… errr. Anyway, moving on to pensions law – when can trustees’ decisions be set aside? I’m talking about the so-called rule in Hastings Bass, which we now know isn’t the rule in Hastings Bass at all ….
RPI/CPI for pension schemes – the story continues
Friday, 4 February 2011The move from the retail prices index (RPI) to the consumer prices index (CPI) for revaluing pensions in deferment and increasing pensions in payment has dominated my work in January. So no apologies for returning to the subject again for the third time after Däna Burstow’s thoughts on the initial announcement and Helen Powell’s comments on the underlying actuarial issues. (more…)
