The Pension Protection Fund (Entry Rules) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Applications and notifications to the Board – further provision

8A

• (1) This regulation applies to—

• (a) a multi-employer section to which Part III of the Multi-employer Regulations (segregated schemes: multi-employer sections without requirement for partial wind up on withdrawal of a participating employer) applies which is, for the purposes of Part III of the Order, an eligible scheme, and

• (b) a non-segregated scheme to which Part VI of the Multi-employer Regulations (non-segregated schemes: schemes without provision for partial wind up on withdrawal of a participating employer) applies which is, for the purposes of Part III of the Order, an eligible scheme.

• (2) The prescribed period for making an application to the Board under Article 113(1)(a) or (b) (applications and notifications for the purposes of Article 112) shall be—

• (a) where the application is under Article 113(1)(a), the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the trustees or managers of a scheme, or a section of a scheme, become aware that the conditions for making an application to the Board under that Article are met in relation to that scheme or section, or

• (b) where the application is under Article 113(1)(b), the period of 28 days beginning with—

• (i) 24th August 2005 if the trustees or managers of a scheme, or a section of a scheme, are aware on that date that the conditions for making an application to the Board under that Article were met in relation to that scheme, or section, between 6th April 2005 and that date, or

• (ii) the date on which the trustees or managers of a scheme, or a section of a scheme, become aware after 24th August 2005 that the conditions for making an application to the Board under that Article are met in relation to that scheme or section.

• (3) Applications to the Board for the purposes of Article 112 (duty to assume responsibility for schemes following application or notification) shall, where the application is made under Article 113(1)(a), be in writing and shall contain the following information—

• (a) a description of the type or purpose of the application;

• (b) the name, address and pension scheme registration number of the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the application is made;

• (c) the name of the employer in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the application is made;

• (d) a statement by the trustees or managers of the scheme, or section of the scheme, that the conditions for making an application to the Board under Article 113(1)(a) have been met;

• (e) the date on which the trustees or managers of the scheme, or section of the scheme, became aware that the conditions for making an application to the Board under Article 113(1)(a) were met, and

• (f) the date on which the application was sent to the Board by the trustees or managers of the scheme or section of the scheme.

• (4) Applications to the Board for the purposes of Article 112 shall, where the application is made under Article 113(1)(b), be in writing and shall contain the following information—

• (a) a description of the type or purpose of the application;

• (b) the name, address and pension scheme registration number of the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the application is made;

• (c) the name of each employer in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the application is made;

• (d) the name of the person who is no longer an employer or the persons who are no longer employers in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, at the time referred to in Article 113(4)(b);

• (e) a statement by the trustees or managers of the scheme, or section of the scheme, that the conditions for making an application to the Board under Article 113(1)(b) have been met;

• (f) the date on which the trustees or managers of the scheme, or section of the scheme, became aware that the conditions for making an application to the Board under Article 113(1)(b) were met, and

• (g) the date on which the application was sent to the Board by the trustees or managers of the scheme or section of the scheme.

• (5) Where the Regulator becomes aware that the conditions for making a notification to the Board under Article 113(4)(a) are met in relation to a scheme, or a section of a scheme, which is, for the purposes of Part III of the Order, an eligible scheme, the notice which the Regulator must give to the Board under that Article shall be in writing and shall contain the following information—

• (a) the name or type of the notice given;

• (b) the date on which the notice is given;

• (c) the name, address and pension scheme registration number of the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the notice is given;

• (d) the name of the employer in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the notice is given;

• (e) a statement by the Regulator that the employer referred to in sub-paragraph (d) is unlikely to continue as a going concern and meets the requirements specified in regulation 7A(2), and

• (f) the date on which the Regulator became aware of the matter in respect of which the statement is provided by it under sub-paragraph (e).

• (6) Where the Regulator is aware that the conditions for making an application to the Board under Article 113(4)(b) are met in relation to a scheme, or a section of a scheme, which is, for the purposes of Part III of the Order, an eligible scheme, the notice which the Regulator must give to the Board under that Article shall be in writing and shall contain the following information—

• (a) the name or type of the notice given;

• (b) the date on which the notice is given;

• (c) the name, address and pension scheme registration number of the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the notice is given;

• (d) the name of each employer in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the notice is given;

• (e) the name of the person who is no longer an employer or the persons who are no longer employers in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, at the time referred to in Article 113(4)(b);

• (f) a statement by the Regulator that the person or persons referred to in sub-paragraph (e) is no longer an employer or are no longer employers in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, at the time referred to in Article 113(4)(b), and

• (g) the date on which the Regulator became aware of the matter in respect of which the statement is provided by it under sub-paragraph (f).

• (7) Where the Board receives a notice from the Regulator to which paragraph (5) or (6) applies, the notice referred to in Article 113(5) which the Board must give to the trustees or managers of the scheme, or section of the scheme, concerned and copy to any employer in relation to that scheme, or section, shall be in writing and shall contain the following information—

• (a) the name or type of the notice given;

• (b) the date on which the notice is given;

• (c) the name, address and pension scheme registration number of the scheme, or section of the scheme, in respect of which the notice is given;

• (d) a statement that the Board received the notice from the Regulator under Article 113(4)(a) or (b) and the date on which the notice was received by the Board;

• (e) where the notice referred to in sub-paragraph (d) is a notice under Article 113(4)(a), the date on which the Regulator became aware that the employer in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, is unlikely to continue as a going concern;

• (f) where the notice referred to in sub-paragraph (d) is a notice under Article 113(4)(b), the date on which the Regulator became aware that the person or persons referred to in paragraph (6)(e) is no longer an employer or are no longer employers in relation to the scheme, or section of the scheme, at the time referred to in Article 113(4)(b);

• (g) the address for communications at which the Board may be contacted in respect of the giving of the notice, and

• (h) whether the notice given by the Board contains any restricted information and, if so, the nature of the restrictions.

Confirmation of scheme status by Board

Confirmation of scheme status by insolvency practitioner – multi-employer schemes

Confirmation of scheme status by Board – multi-employer schemes

Confirmation of scheme status – binding notices

Contributions to schemes

Directions

Restrictions on winding up, discharge of liabilities etc.

Payment of scheme benefits

Loans to pay scheme benefits

Withdrawal following issue of Article 106(4) notice

Consequences of the Board ceasing to be involved with a scheme

Refusal to assume responsibility – schemes which become eligible schemes

Refusal to assume responsibility – new schemes created to replace existing schemes

Form and content of withdrawal notices issued under Article 130 or 131

Applications for reconsideration

Form and content of audited scheme accounts

European insolvency event

5A

• (1) An insolvency event occurs in relation to an employer on the fifth anniversary of the date that the insolvency proceedings mentioned in paragraph (2)(were commenced.

• (2) The insolvency proceedings are proceedings which—

• (a) on 20th July 2014—

• (i) relate to an employer which has the centre of its main interests in the territory of an EEA state other than the United Kingdom;

• (ii) have been commenced in that EEA state, and

• (iii) have not come to an end;

• (b) relate to an employer in relation to which a winding up order as mentioned in Article 105(3)(g) of the Order (insolvency events) was granted and which was later set aside by the court on the basis that the court did not have jurisdiction to grant the order because the employer did not have an establishment in the United Kingdom, and

• (c) relate to an employer in relation to an occupational pension scheme in respect of which an assessment period would have begun as a result of the grant of the winding up order mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) had that order not been set aside.

• (3) The insolvency practitioner is the liquidator in relation to the insolvency proceedings mentioned in paragraph (2)(a)(i).

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) In this regulation “insolvency proceedings”, “establishment” and “liquidator” each has the meaning given by Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.

Circumstances in which insolvency proceedings in relation to the employer are stayed or come to an end

Applications and notifications to the Board – further provision for multi-employer schemes

Confirmation of scheme status by insolvency practitioner

Confirmation of scheme status by Board

Confirmation of scheme status by insolvency practitioner – multi-employer schemes

Confirmation of scheme status by Board – multi-employer schemes

Confirmation of scheme status – binding notices

Contributions to schemes

Directions

Restrictions on winding up, discharge of liabilities etc.

Payment of scheme benefits

Loans to pay scheme benefits

Withdrawal following issue of Article 106(4) notice

Consequences of the Board ceasing to be involved with a scheme

Refusal to assume responsibility – schemes which become eligible schemes

Refusal to assume responsibility – new schemes created to replace existing schemes

Form and content of withdrawal notices issued under Article 130 or 131

Applications for reconsideration

Form and content of audited scheme accounts

Exception to Article 122(2A)

17A

• (1) Subject to paragraph (3), during an assessment period in relation to an eligible scheme benefits in the form of a lump sum may be paid to a member under the scheme rules in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2).

• (2) The circumstances specified for the purpose of paragraph (1) are that, before the beginning of the assessment period in relation to the scheme, the member has—

• (a) a right or entitlement under the scheme rules in respect of flexible benefits (as defined by section 74 of the Pension Schemes Act 2015) that are not money purchase benefits;

• (b) notified the trustees or managers of the scheme that the member wishes to exercise an option under the scheme rules to be paid an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (as defined by paragraph 4A of Schedule 29 to the Finance Act 2004) in respect of those benefits (or a portion of them), and

• (c) complied with any requirements, and satisfied any conditions, to which the exercise of that option is subject.

• (3) A lump sum shall not be paid by virtue of this regulation unless the trustees or managers of the scheme—

• (a) are satisfied that to do so is consistent with the objective of ensuring that the scheme’s protected liabilities do not exceed its assets or, if they do exceed its assets, that the excess is kept to a minimum, and

• (b) reduce the amount of the lump sum to the extent necessary to ensure that it does not exceed the actuarial equivalent of the compensation that would be payable to the member in respect of the benefits (or the portion of them) in respect of which the lump sum is paid in accordance with the pension compensation provisions, if the Board were to assume responsibility for the scheme in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 3 of the Order.

• (4) For the purpose of paragraph (3)(b) the actuarial equivalent of the compensation that would be payable is to be calculated from tables designated by the Board for the purpose of paragraph 24(4) (commutation of periodic compensation) of Schedule 6 to the Order.

Loans to pay scheme benefits

Withdrawal following issue of Article 106(4) notice

Consequences of the Board ceasing to be involved with a scheme

Refusal to assume responsibility – schemes which become eligible schemes

Refusal to assume responsibility – new schemes created to replace existing schemes

Form and content of withdrawal notices issued under Article 130 or 131

Applications for reconsideration

Form and content of audited scheme accounts