Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Governance definition

What does Governance mean? Governance, in pensions practice, describes how a trustee board organises itself and exercises oversight, decision-making and control over an occupational pension scheme to meet legal and fiduciary duties. It encompasses the scheme’s structures, policies and internal controls, and how trustees delegate to and supervise advisers, administrators and asset managers, monitor performance, manage risk and record decisions. The term is descriptive rather than a defined legal term, but key governance requirements are prescribed in legislation and regulatory codes. In the UK, the Pensions Act 2004 and scheme administration/governance regulations, together with The Pensions Regulator’s General Code, require an effective system...

Occupational pension scheme governance for new lawyers: ESOG and ORA, risk management, contributions, conflicts, advisers, TKU, EDI, record-keeping and DC obligations

Published by a LexisNexis Pensions expert

Practice notes

This guide is aimed at trainees, newly qualified lawyers and others who are new to pensions law, and also offers a high-level overview for in-house lawyers who are not pensions experts.

Good scheme governance is crucial as it helps ensure a pension scheme is administered effectively and in members’ best interests. Specifically:

it gives trustees clear oversight of day-to-day operations, responsibilities and delegations, promoting consistent compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
it supports better decision-making and improved value for members

Good governance spans several areas, including:

the duty to have an effective system of governance (including internal controls)
risk management
conflicts of interest
working with advisers
equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
record-keeping

Effective system of governance (including internal controls)

Since 13 January 2019, trustees of occupational pension schemes must put in place and operate an effective system of governance (ESOG) that includes internal controls.

That framework should be proportionate to the size, nature, scale and complexity of the scheme’s activities.

Among other matters, this duty requires schemes to undertake an own-risk assessment (ORA) to evaluate how well their policies...

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Wyn Derbyshire

gunnercooke LLP

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...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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