Pensions - Articles - Comment on DWPs consultation on Defined Benefits Pensions

 “We welcome today’s consultation which looks to strengthen the Pension Regulator’s powers and enable it to intervene much earlier to protect members’ pensions. In recent years we’ve seen a number of high profile cases, including the now notorious BHS pension scheme failure, where the tPR was either powerless to act, or acted too late, causing a lot of heartache for members. 

 “The DWP is proposing that in future tPR will have to be notified of certain planned transactions or events such as the sale of a business where there is a Defined Benefit Scheme involved, which could weaken the sponsoring employer covenant.

 “Introducing an ‘early warning system’ alerting tPR to corporate transactions which could weaken the ability of a sponsoring employer to support the pension scheme has to be a good thing and should give members and trustees some comfort. But realistically tPR cannot and should not regulate or prevent corporate transactions.”