Frozen scheme meaning

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Customer information orders When an appropriate officer serves a customer information order on a financial institution under section 363 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), that institution is obliged to disclose any ‘customer information’ it holds about the named individual. The material must be supplied to an appropriate officer in whatever form, and by whatever deadline, that officer specifies; for further details, see below: Effect of an order. For these purposes, a financial institution is any person carrying on business in the regulated sector, or someone who has ceased to conduct such a business. An order may direct all such institutions, or only a chosen group of them, to comply. The scheme applies to: confiscation investigations civil recovery investigations exploitation proceeds investigations money laundering investigations It does not apply to: detained cash investigations detained property investigations frozen funds investigations cryptoasset investigations...

This guide is chiefly for trainees, newly qualified lawyers and anyone unfamiliar with pensions law. A key area is the legislation on section 75 debts (also referred to as employer debts or statutory debts), which is found mainly in: sections 75–75A of the Pensions Act 1995; and supporting regulations, in particular the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005, SI 2005/678 (the Employer Debt Regulations) The employer debt regime primarily concerns employers participating in defined benefit (DB) occupational pension schemes. In very limited cases it can extend to defined contribution (DC) schemes, although those scenarios are not covered in this note. Broadly, the rules allow a non‑priority liability to arise, owed by an employer (or multiple employers) to an underfunded DB scheme, when a ‘section 75 triggering event’ occurs. Triggering events There are three triggering events: when an employer participating in a DB scheme experiences an ‘insolvency event’, or when the trustees of the pension scheme make an...

Employers running final salary pension schemes, a form of defined benefit arrangement, have sought to curb financial exposure, with many reshaping benefits, shutting to new joiners or halting future accrual. Even where future accrual stops (a ‘frozen’ scheme), members may still keep a link to their final salary. If that link remains, and pay rises are subdued, a member’s deferred, revalued preserved pension can end up higher than anticipated compared with having no final salary link, which may lessen or even eliminate the expected impact of the employer’s liability reduction plans. This Practice Note looks at the meaning, preservation and consequences of a final salary link. For issues triggered by closing a defined benefit scheme to future accrual, see Practice Notes: Closing a pension scheme to future accrual—employer considerations and Closing a pension scheme to future accrual—trustee considerations. What is a final salary link? Ordinarily, when a member of a final salary scheme ceases active membership because they leave their employer’s service, or they exercise their statutory...