Pensions

PRODUCTIVITY has improved, the order book looks good and labour costs are under control. This would be a buoyant company - if only the pension scheme could be sorted.

The perilous implications of final salary schemes have become a familiar feature of the economic landscape to pensions solicitors at Bond Pearce.

And the menacing presence of a pension scheme burden has hit some companies harder than others.

"Many privately-owned, old style manufacturing companies are encountering problems," partner Charmian Leatt says.

"So are many companies that have inherited business - and pensions provision - from the public sector.

"But anyone who's got a pension scheme knows they've got a problem."

Charmian's team has become something of a pensions aid agency in the new, demanding era of tight regulation.

"The law is very complex, and hidden dangers lurk for companies who don't seek expert pensions law advice," Charmian says.

"Attempts to re-structure a company can have calamitous and unforeseen consequences if the repercussions of re-structuring on the pension scheme aren't anticipated - and dealt with.

"The ill-advised decision could trigger such a big bill that the company goes under."

The Pensions Regulator, the regulator of work-based pension schemes established by the 2004 Pensions Act, has unprecedented powers that the regulator says is "a new proactive and risk-focused approach to regulation".

But the regulator identifies a top priority to tackle risks to members' benefits by focusing resources on "identifying and reducing risks, working with schemes to get them on the right track".

That is where Charmian's team provide invaluable and constructive advice - negotiating with the Pension Regulator's office to avert problems.

"The regulator has draconian powers," Charmian says. "We can tell a company what it can do and what it can't."

Bond Pearce's pensions experts also provide high quality transactional support to corporate, banking and commercial teams - another area where the regulatory regime has made the need for specialist advice more important.