Chris Ransom
Chris is an associate in the CMS Pensions team. With over two years' experience, he advises a mix of employer, public sector and trustee clients on a broad range of advisory pensions issues. These include trustee and employer duties, automatic enrolment, amending scheme documentation and moral hazard/scheme funding issues.
Chris' recent work has a particular focus on benefit redesign and liability management exercises. Following a six month secondment with the Pension Protection Fund, Chris also has a detailed working knowledge of the PPF levy, entry and compensation framework.
Chris is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and is also a contributor to CMS's Pensions Law Handbook.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Membership
- Member of the Association of Pension Lawyers
4 Contributions by Chris Ransom
PRACTICE NOTES
Flexible apportionment arrangements in multi‑employer defined benefit schemes: avoiding or reducing section 75 debts—features, conditions, funding test, timing, trustee costs, notifiable events and clearance
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION SCHEMES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO EMPLOYER DEBT REQUIREMENTS
Since 27 January 2012, it has been open to parties to implement a flexible apportionment arrangement in order to:
avoid triggering an employer debt under the Pensions Act 1995, s 75 altogether (for further information on s 75 debts (also known as employer debts), see Practice Note: When is a section 75 debt triggered?), or
reduce the amount that may become payable if an employer leaves a multi-employer scheme (or otherwise ceases to employ active members)
Flexible apportionment arrangements do not replace other mechanisms for dealing with an employer debt, eg scheme apportionment arrangements or the corporate restructuring easements, and cannot be used where the scheme has entered insolvency or winding up.
Introduced chiefly to assist where several employers cease to employ active members in the same scheme at broadly the same time in corporate restructuring scenarios, their use is generally preferred to the corporate restructuring easements, which are more prescriptive. For further information on scheme apportionment arrangements, see Practice Note: Apportionment arrangements — Scheme apportionment arrangements...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
Occupational Pension Schemes: Amending Amendment Powers and Retrospective Amendments - Member Protections, Statutory Limits and Key Case Law
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES
This Practice Note cites decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union and refers to its case law. For direction on whether EU judgments bind UK courts, see Practice Note: Assimilated law — Assimilated case law.
Amending the amendment power
Efforts to expand (or limit) a scheme’s amendment power are often legally precarious and may later be attacked as an improper use of the scheme’s own amendment power. They can also risk eroding the very objective of having an amendment power in the first place.
Ability to amend the power of amendment
At its core, the amendment power may only be modified—whether by imposing or removing restrictions—where the power itself authorises that outcome. The amendment power must be exercised only for the purpose for which it was bestowed...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
Section 75 employer debt in group restructurings: using the general and de minimis easements—eligibility, required steps, trustee decisions, costs and six-year look-back
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION SCHEMES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THE EMPLOYER DEBT REQUIREMENTS
Corporate reorganisations frequently lead to an employment cessation event, for instance when employees move between group companies or when redundancies occur as part of the exercise. An employer debt under section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995 can accordingly be triggered, potentially frustrating the objective of the group reorganisation (usually to reduce expenditure for the group and/or strengthen its financial sustainability). For further information on ‘employment cessation events’, see Practice Note: When is a section 75 debt triggered? — An employment cessation event occurs in a multi-employer scheme.
Two easements to the employer debt regime were introduced in April 2010 under the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/725:
the general easement
the de minimis easement
Both easements are available where employers are carrying out group restructuring exercises. If a corporate restructuring meets the criteria for either easement, it will not amount to an employment cessation event and, as a result, no employer debt will be triggered...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
Section 75 employer debt regimes before 6 April 2008: triggers, MFR versus buy‑out calculations, multi‑employer cessation, withdrawal arrangements and unpaid debts — England and Wales
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION SCHEMES IN ENGLAND AND WALES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THE EMPLOYER DEBT REQUIREMENTS
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note reviews the employer debt/section 75 debt regimes that applied before 6 April 2008, including the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005, the Occupational Pension Schemes (Deficiency on Winding Up etc) Regulations 1996, the Occupational Pension Schemes (Deficiency on Winding Up etc) Regulations 1994 and the Occupational Pension Schemes (Deficiency on Winding Up etc) Regulations 1992. It is not maintained. For up-to-date information on the current employer debt regime, see Practice Note: When is a section 75 debt triggered?
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005, SI 2005/678 (the 2005 Employer Debt Regulations) set out how an ‘employer debt’ under section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995 (PA 1995) (or section 75A for multi-employer schemes) is addressed, covering:
the circumstances in which it is currently triggered
the method by which it is calculated
the various approaches available for dealing with the debt
The 2005 Employer Debt Regulations were first introduced with effect on and from 6 April 2005. They have not always governed the employer debt regime, having replaced:
for schemes entering winding up on...
Pensions
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