One of the hallmarks of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE Act 2.0) legislation was to increase participation in retirement plans. On January 10, 2025, the Treasury Department and the IRS came one step closer when they announced the issuance of proposed regulations requiring automatic enrollment for new Code Section 401(k) and 403(b) retirement
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The Department of Labor (DOL) Adopts Self-Correction for Common Retirement Plan Fiduciary Breaches
For the first time since the DOL adopted its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFC Program) in 2002, retirement plan sponsors will be able to utilize self-correction as an efficient means to correct their most frequent compliance failures – late transmittals of participant retirement plan contributions and retirement plan loan repayments.
The DOL finalized an…
Twenty Five Years of Pensions − Don’t Look Back In Anger
I have been pondering the fact that we are coming up to a quarter of the way through the century. When Big Ben chimes in the new year, it will be 2025. How did that happen? And what has changed in the pensions industry so far this millennium?
- In the first week of the year
…
It’s A Fair Challenge! Penalty Decisions Examined
By Zoya Alam
In recent years, The Pensions Regulator (“TPR”) has been steadfast in enforcing compliance among pension scheme trustees and employers, often issuing penalties for non-compliance. However, recent cases indicate that with a valid reason, it is possible to contest and even overturn penalties. Here, we examine three noteworthy tribunal decisions that shed light on the courts’…
Employer Indemnities – Will They Work If Push Comes to Shove?
To what extent does your trustee board understand the various ways in which they might be protected if things go wrong and claims are made against them? It is a difficult topic to think about, as no trustee ever wants to be on the receiving end of a claim. If your trustee board has not…
Is £1 Million Enough?
It’s Yorkshire Day on 1 August and, when I was thinking about this blog, the stereotype of a stingy Yorkshireman came to mind. Not because I think Yorkshire folk are actually stingy. I don’t! I was wondering whether TPR’s powers granted under the Pension Schemes Act 2021 (PSA 21) have made a difference, or whether…
Pensions Dashboards – Thyme Is of the Essence: How to Meet the 8 August 2024 Deadline
A key deadline is looming under the 2022 Dashboards Regulations, and it is not your pension scheme’s “connect by” date, nor is it the ultimate statutory connection deadline of 31 October 2026.
Pension schemes have until 8 August 2024 to apply to extend their deadline for connecting to the pensions dashboards infrastructure beyond the…
Give Me an ‘E’, Give Me an ‘S’, Give Me a ‘G’!
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is never out of the news for long. With manifestos from the Lib Dems and Labour containing pledges around pension funds being required to align with the Paris Agreement goals, and the Green Party’s manifesto containing a pledge to require the removal of fossil fuel assets from investment portfolios, now…
Trustee Protection on Winding Up – Pensions Life Hack
Trustees of many defined benefit pension schemes are accelerating moves towards buyout, aided by recent market improvements. While the immediate focus may be on completing the buyout, trustees should plan ahead for the scheme wind up and consider how they will be protected if existing exoneration and indemnity provisions fall away. Trustees will want to…
The General Code in Bite-Sized Chunks – Proportionality for Schemes in the “End Game”
Many pension scheme trustees and employers aspire to undertake a risk transfer transaction, typically an insurance company buy-out for defined benefit (DB) schemes or a transfer to a master trust for defined contribution (DC) schemes. In each case, this will ultimately herald the termination of the pension scheme and an end to all governance systems.…