Wyn Derbyshire
Wyn is a partner at gunnercooke LLP and specialises in pensions, trust and employment law in all industry sectors, dealing with the transactional, advisory and documentation aspects.
He also has wide experience of the pensions implications of heavyweight corporate transactions and flotations, the issues arising from the establishment and merger of pension schemes, and sex equalisation and other discrimination issues in respect of benefits provided by pension schemes. In addition, he provides advice to pension scheme trustees generally.
Recent transactions include advising Amcor on pension matters relating to the acquisition of Alcan business and the acquisition of Northern Foods PLC by Boparan Holdings.
He is a co-author (with Stephen Hardy and Stephen Maffey) of TUPE: Law and Practice, published by Spiramus Press (now in its 4th edition), and co-author (with Stephen Hardy and David Wicks) of Money & Work, published by Spiramus Press in August 2007. He has also written several other books and numerous articles on a variety of legal and non-legal topics.
Practice Areas
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 1991
Membership
- Association of Pension Lawyers
Education
- University of Cambridge: PhD
- University of Leeds: BSc
89 Contributions by Wyn Derbyshire
PRACTICE NOTES
UK pensions tax: lifetime allowance regime pre-6 April 2024 - BCEs, charges, protections, excess lump sums, pension credits on divorce, international enhancements and reporting (Archived)
ARCHIVED
This archived Practice Note outlines how the lifetime allowance regime worked before its abolition on 6 April 2024. It is not maintained. For further details, see Practice Note: Abolition of the lifetime allowance.
The core principle of the pensions tax regime is that members of registered pension schemes receive:
various tax advantages while building up retirement and life assurance benefits; and
certain tax advantages when specific benefits are paid from a registered pension scheme (eg the tax-free pension commencement lump sum)
In return, and to avoid tax charges, a registered pension scheme must comply with a range of restrictions relating to the:
accrual of benefits
payment of contributions; and
payment of benefits
Until 5 April 2024, a key constraint on the build-up of members’ benefits within the pensions tax regime was the lifetime allowance, which limited the amount of benefits that could be saved and taken by, and in respect of, an individual from their registered pension schemes without triggering tax charges. As noted above, with effect from 6 April 2024, the lifetime allowance was abolished. This change was delivered mainly through the Finance Act 2024...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
UK registered pension contributions: income tax, NICs and corporation tax relief and charges for members and employers, including in specie issues, termination payments, annual allowance and lifetime allowance reforms
This Practice Note concentrates on the range of tax reliefs (income tax relief, national insurance contribution relief and corporate tax relief) available for member and employer payments into registered pension schemes. It further outlines how a member may obtain income tax relief for their own contributions, and explains the tax position of employer contributions paid on termination of the member’s employment. For broader guidance on pension taxation, see Practice Note: Tax treatment of pensions—an introduction.
Member contributions to registered pension schemes
Section 188 income tax relief
A key benefit of registered pension schemes is the availability of income tax relief for members on contributions they, or a third party on their behalf, pay into the scheme. That relief, set out in section 188 of the Finance Act 2004 (FA 2004), has the following features:
conditions...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
UK share purchase agreements: using pension schedules for defined benefit schemes—interim participation, transfers to buyer schemes, actuarial assumptions and section 75 employer debt
This Practice Note should be read alongside the following materials:
Pensions schedule: acting for sellers in a share sale — EFP vol 31(1) PENSION SCHEMES [2485]–[2490]
Pension schedule: acting for buyers in a share purchase — EFP vol 31(1) PENSION SCHEMES [2479]–[2484]
When can a pension schedule be used on a share sale?
In a share sale, a pension schedule can be deployed where:
the buyer is purchasing shares in the employing company (the target), which, immediately pre-completion, participates in a defined benefit (DB) occupational pension scheme
that DB scheme remains open to future accrual, and
the scheme itself is to stay within the seller’s group after completion (this Practice Note calls it the seller’s scheme)
A pension schedule can also be adopted in other situations.
Given today’s underfunded DB schemes and the Pension Regulator’s wide moral hazard powers, such schedules are uncommon. Indeed, some very experienced pensions solicitors may never have seen one in practice. This reflects buyers’ growing unwillingness to assume any DB exposure and will heavily...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
UK trust-based occupational pension schemes: the Pensions Regulator’s powers on trustee suspension, prohibition and statutory disqualification—grounds, procedures and consequences
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO TRUST-BASED OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES
This Practice Note considers the Pensions Regulator’s (the Regulator’s) powers to suspend or prohibit trustees of occupational pension schemes, and the statutory bases on which an individual or other legal person can be disqualified from acting as a trustee of an occupational pension scheme.
Suspension and prohibition orders—reserved regulatory functions of the Regulator
The Regulator’s powers to suspend or prohibit trustees of occupational pension schemes are:
reserved regulatory functions exercised by the Regulator’s Determinations Panel
and therefore subject to the standard procedure or, in special circumstances, the special procedure
As part of the standard procedure, the Regulator must notify those persons who appear to be directly affected by a suspension or prohibition order that such an order is to be made. This will ordinarily include the continuing trustees of the relevant scheme. For further information on the Determinations Panel’s reserved regulatory functions, and on the standard and special procedures, see Practice Note: The Pensions Regulator’s Determinations Panel.
When can the Regulator suspend a trustee?
As noted above, the Regulator may temporarily suspend trustees of trust-based pension schemes from office by issuing suspension orders...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
UK workplace pensions auto-enrolment (archived): employer compliance toolkit—duties, staging dates, eligibility, qualifying schemes, contributions, communications, records, opt-outs and penalties
This archived toolkit sets out the key matters around pensions auto-enrolment and draws attention to the practical measures employers needed to take to meet their auto-enrolment responsibilities for employees in the UK. The Pensions Regulator also issued useful guidance to help employers get ready for auto-enrolment.
Overview
The auto-enrolment legislation took effect on 1 October 2012 and creates a legal duty on employers to enrol their workers automatically into a pension scheme that meets at least the minimum standards, unless workers opt out. Employers that fail to follow the auto-enrolment rules risk fines of up to £50,000 and, for wilful and persistent breaches, imprisonment for up to two years.
Checklist—preparing for auto-enrolment
Employers would have needed to complete the following preparatory actions for auto-enrolment:
Speak to their benefits adviser (if they have one) or consider appointing a new adviser to support them in meeting their auto-enrolment duties.
Confirm how many people were on their payroll—the date from which their auto-enrolment duties commenced (their ‘staging date’) was set by the size of their payroll...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
Using pension schedules in business sales: TUPE transfers, DB scheme interim participation, section 75 employer debt, and transfers of accrued rights to the buyer’s scheme
This PN ought to be considered together with the following related precedents listed below:
Pension schedule: acting for sellers in an asset sale EFP vol 31(1) PENSION SCHEMES [2517]–[2522]
Pension schedule: acting for buyers in an asset purchase EFP vol 31(1) PENSION SCHEMES [2512]–[2516]
For the purposes of this Practice Note, it is assumed that, at completion, the buyer acquires a business and the employees transfer into the buyer’s employment under the operation of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/246 (TUPE).
When can a pension schedule be used on a business sale?
In a business sale, a pension schedule can be used where all of the following apply:
immediately before any TUPE transfer, at least some employees are active members of a defined benefit (DB) occupational pension scheme run by the seller
the DB scheme remains open to future accrual; and
the DB scheme is intended to stay within the seller’s group following completion (referred to in this Practice Note as the seller’s scheme)
A pension schedule might also be used in other circumstances...
Pensions
PRECEDENTS
Automatic enrolment for employers: guidance and specimen documents—statutory notices, template letters and sample pension clauses (Great Britain)
These notes and specimen documents make up an automatic enrolment (AE) pack created to assist employers—including small and micro-employers—in meeting the duty to enrol employees into an AE scheme...
(A) Notes about AE
(i) the statutory obligation
(ii) financial thresholds and limits
(iii) the statutory and other key terms
(B) Documents
(i) letters
(ii) notices
(iii) the employment contract—sample pension clauses
AE scheme providers generally issue the core letters and notices, though not always everything required in every relevant situation, and typically none where an employer fulfils the AE duty by using a qualifying pension scheme that is not an automatic enrolment pension scheme...
(A) Notes about AE 1 The statutory obligation
The primary legal provisions are found in Part 1 of the Pensions Act 2008 (PenA 2008) and the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/772, as later amended. AE was rolled out in phases, starting with the largest employers on 1 October 2012 and reaching all employers by 1 February 2018...
Pensions
CHECKLISTS
Bulk transfers between occupational pension schemes: legal checklist on planning, funding, data, member consent/consultation, actuarial certification, transfer documentation, regulatory notifications, implementation and scheme wind-up
This Checklist outlines the principal actions to take when undertaking a bulk transfer of a group of members from one occupational pension scheme to another. Full details of the laws and regulations governing such transfers appear in Practice Note: Bulk transfers between occupational pension schemes—an introduction.
Planning of bulk transfer
Trustees of both the transferring and receiving schemes should be satisfied that the proposed form of bulk transfer is, in their own judgement, in the interests of their respective beneficiaries.
Consider whether the bulk transfer could create adverse tax outcomes for transferring members (eg potential loss of tax protections).
Obtain an in principle agreement between trustees and employers of both transferring and receiving schemes to proceed with the bulk transfer exercise.
Review the governing provisions of both schemes to confirm that assets, liabilities and members can be transferred, amending them where necessary and feasible...
Pensions
CHECKLISTS
Occupational pension scheme mergers: legal and procedural checklist for planning, implementation and winding-up
Planning of merger
Secure an 'in principle' commitment from the trustees and employers of both the transferring and receiving schemes to proceed with the merger.
Examine the governing provisions for each scheme to verify that the transfer of assets, liabilities and members can take place; amend those provisions where necessary and practical.
Confirm whether the schemes' benefit structures align and are compatible.
Assess if the contracted-out status of either scheme creates any issues.
Review the funding positions of both schemes and obtain actuarial advice; determine whether an employer top-up contribution is required.
...
Pensions
If you expected to see yourself on this page, click here.
