Tag Archives: pension scheme

Creditors v Private Pension Holders – has UK bankruptcy law gone too soft?

The recent Court of Appeal decision in Horton v Henry has highlighted the protection afforded to a bankrupt holding a private pension to the detriment of his bankruptcy creditors. Facts The bankrupt, Mr Henry, was the holder of  a number of pension policies all of which contained provisions entitling him to make elections which would trigger rights to … Continue Reading

PPF updates guidance for restructuring and insolvency practitioners

Since its inception in 2005, the PPF has been a welcome safety net for employees whose company pension scheme is in deficit and the sponsoring employer is on the verge of insolvency. The PPF’s major challenge has been preventing employers from deliberately engineering or recklessly creating such deficits in the pension scheme (to the benefit … Continue Reading

Financial services and not-for-profit firms should consider new PPF proposals on insolvency risk scorecards

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is reviewing its insolvency risk model with Experian. The proposals being considered are particularly relevant to the financial services and charity sectors. It is proposed they be introduced from 2018/2019 (and will not be part of the draft levy rules and levy estimate for 2017/18, which we expect will contain few … Continue Reading

Pension Issues On Corporate and Personal Insolvency

Unless you have been hiding in an igloo in Antarctica for the last year you could not possibly have missed the media furore over the huge pension liabilities of eminent companies that have become insolvent. BHS, a venerable British retailer, is the most high profile after recently entering administration with an estimated pensions deficit of … Continue Reading

Sunny side up or sunny side down (what is it with pension liabilities . . .)?

The latest iteration of the Sun Capital litigation has confirmed once again what many restructuring professionals have known for a long time – that pension liabilities have a nasty habit of kicking investors where it hurts, often when least expected. Our recent blog explains the decision and provides some insights on the case. One of … Continue Reading

Regulators’ bite now as bad as bark

The director at the heart of the Carrington Wire pension fund deficit saga has been disqualified for a period of 12 years. Background We have previously reported on the background to the Carrington Wire Limited (“CWL”) collapse and the Pensions Regulator’s actions in issuing warning notices to CWL’s former Russian parent company (OAO Severstal), and … Continue Reading

Pension Protection Fund Issue New Pre-Pack Administration Guidance

New guidance from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) regarding pre-packaged administrations (pre-packs) outlines their approach to pre-packs when the same insolvency practitioner (IP) proposes to continue as office holder in any subsequent liquidation or company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The PPF has long highlighted the risk that a pre-pack can often be used to avoid a … Continue Reading

Taking it to the Wire – PPF deny Rogue’s Charter?

In February this year, Squire colleagues Paul Muscutt and Helen Kavanagh wrote about the Carrington Wire Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, where  the UK Pensions Regulator accepted a payment of £8.5m to settle warning notices of £17.7m issued to Russian companies that had guaranteed sums due from Carrington Wire to the Scheme (“the Guarantee”). For the previous blog and background to the Carrington Wire … Continue Reading
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