Bond Pearce

The market continues to see the closure of defined benefits schemes and additionally de-risking strategies are becoming common place. These approaches are challenging advisors of both employers and trustees and bring about very different and difficult issues for both requiring innovative thinking around the mounting complexity of both legal and investment issues. These challenges impact on the schemes directly and also the financial and commercial position of the scheme employer, and our aim is to achieve the delicate balance between the interests of both.

We work with our clients to help them to provide an excellent service to their members, maintain a good relationship with the sponsoring employer and manage the risks associated with the operation of defined benefit schemes.  We build relationships by combining top flight legal skills with a commercial approach and a sound understanding of the schemes that we are advising. We provide first class technical advice to trustees and employers.

Our clients benefit from a team of specialists who understand that each scheme and each sponsoring employer is unique and are trained to cut through the technicalities to identify and resolve the important risk issues with the minimum of fuss, providing clear and comprehensive advice on a wide range of pension-related issues including:

  • scheme wind ups, and in particular those resulting from the insolvency of the scheme employer and the resulting assessment by the Pensions Protection Fund
  • scheme funding including negotiating recovery plans and schedules of contributions as well as liability reduction exercises - acting for both employers and trustees
  • the establishment of new pension schemes and subsequent amendments as well as drafting and the interpretation of scheme documentation and relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010 and the Finance Act 2004
  • changing and harmonisation of pensions terms and conditions of employment including issues arising out of contractual pension promises made to senior employees
  • advising trustees on a wide variety of contingent assets including the initial parent company guarantee and subsequent renegotiation of its terms with an overseas parent, and the granting of a bank guarantee to the scheme
  • advising on the pensions aspects of scheme mergers or reorganisations, supporting our corporate teams in acquisitions, joint ventures, disposals or other transactions that affect pension schemes
  • scheme governance, including training for trustees
  • investment duties and administration agreements, including the implications of ethical investment policies
  • pensions litigation, complaints to the pensions ombudsman and alternative dispute resolution
  • helping clients identify risks in trust documentation, explanatory literature or implementation

 

  • proposals to close schemes or discontinue arrangements
  • negotiating terms of withdrawal arrangements for clients in the higher education and manufacturing sectors 
  • advising on public sector (NHS) pension arrangements on PFI contracts
  • amendments required to stakeholder scheme documentation
  • advising captive friendly societies on issues arising from the provision of personal pensions and retirement annuity contracts
  • establishing a number of SIPPs and preparing the ancillary documentation for them
  • acting for trustees in connection with proposed sale of target and winding up of scheme where significant defects in equalisation identified
  • advising on detailed equalisation issues including the Foster Wheeler case
  • advising the Pension Protection Fund in relation to the recovery of the levy payable by all defined benefit pension schemes nationwide
  • supporting and advising our corporate colleagues on all corporate transactions involving pension schemes and addressing the issues arising from those transactions to minimise the risk for buyers and limit liability of sellers.

Our Work

  • working with a charity which participates in the LGPS on its power to resist demands from a local authority for a deficit demand and to challenge the legality of the demands
  • advising a company on the acquisition of a company sold out of a large Group. All pensions issues and a scheme apportionment arrangement to apportion the pensions debt triggered by the sale
  • advising a company as a participator in the MNOPF and advising on the consequences of the Cemex and Pilots cases on any future funding liabilities and resisting a claim wrongly made by the Trustees
  • working with the trustees of three DB schemes in PPF assessment on complications relating to admissible rules, equalisation, in particular GMP equalisation and issues arising through data cleansing
  • giving advice to the trustees on the impact to the strength of the employer covenant resulting from a series of complicated and significant corporate transactions which ultimately led to a reverse takeover, and assisting the trustees in their negotiations with the principal employer and the ultimate shareholder
  • advising in connection with a Section 75 debt issues on exit from multi employer schemes including where appropriate withdrawal arrangements
  • advising in-house counsel on several outsourcing projects including drafting relevant provisions for the service contracts to deal with the requirements to provide broadly comparable benefits to the PCSPS.

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Bond Pearce LLP is a leading commercial law firm providing regulatory, corporate, commercial, real estate and dispute resolution services to some of the UK’s pre-eminent organisations. We are recognised nationally particularly for our work in the energy, commercial insurance, real estate and retail sectors, and for our approach to client service. © Copyright 2011 Bond Pearce LLP. All rights reserved. 3, Temple Quay, Temple Back East Bristol, BS1 6DZ