Briefing Notes
BN87 - The role of trustees in DC schemes
Briefing Note posted on Nov 24, 2011
The Pensions Regulator has issued a statement clarifying the behaviours and practices it expects trustees of defined contribution (DC) schemes to demonstrate. This BBS Briefing Note summarises the statement and the actions that trustees are expected to take in relation to their scheme.
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BN85 - Identifying your Statutory Employer
Briefing Note posted on Nov 01, 2011
The Pensions Regulator has issued a statement to help trustees of defined benefit schemes understand the importance of identifying their scheme’s statutory employer(s). This BBS Briefing Note summarises the statement and the actions that trustees should be taking to identify which employers fall within the statutory definition in relation to their scheme.
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BN86 - Abolition of the Default Retirement Age
Briefing Note posted on Nov 01, 2011
In January 2011, the Government confirmed its intention to abolish the national Default Retirement Age (“DRA”) of 65, the age from which employers have been able to compulsorily retire their employees. This BBS briefing note summarises the changes introduced and the potential impact on occupational pension schemes.
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BN84 - The 2012/13 Pension Protection Levy
Briefing Note posted on Oct 05, 2011
The Board of the Pension Protection Fund has recently issued the draft Determination for the Pension Protection Levy for the 2012/13 levy year. The Determination sets out the proposed parameters for the levy and sets out the detail as to how the new levy structure will apply going forwards. This BBS Briefing Note provides a summary of the revised levy structure and the key deadlines for submitting information.
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BN83 - Enabling Good Member Outcomes
Briefing Note posted on Sep 23, 2011
In July 2011, The Pensions Regulator issued an initial response to the feedback it received to its January 2011 discussion paper, ‘Enabling good member outcomes in work-based pension provision’. This BBS briefing note summarises the key issues identified in the January 2011 discussion paper and the action the Regulator proposes taking following the feedback received.
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BN82 - European Court Ruling on Unisex Insurance Rates
Briefing Note posted on Jul 28, 2011
On 30 June 2011, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury issued a statement confirming the UK Government’s position on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) Judgement on the Test Achats case. The Judgement, issued on 1 March 2011, concluded that the continued use of gender in pricing insurance products would be unlawful from 21 December 2012. This BBS briefing note summarises the main points of the ECJ ruling, and explains how they might affect pension schemes.
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BN80 - The New Calculation of the Risk-Based Levy to Apply From 2012/13
Briefing Note posted on Jul 12, 2011
BBS Briefing Note 79 summarised the new framework applying for the calculation of Pension Protection Levies from 2012/13, as announced by the PPF in May 2011. There are several important changes to be made to the levy calculation under the new framework. Two of the more interesting changes relate to the calculation of underfunding risk used in the risk-based element of the levy, namely smoothing the impact of market volatility on the funding position used and stressing the funding position to model the underlying investment risk posed by a scheme. This BBS Briefing Note provides greater detail on these two aspects of the new framework.
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BN81 - International Accounting Standard IAS19 - Revised Standard
Briefing Note posted on Jul 12, 2011
On 16 June 2011 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published the long-awaited revised version of the company accounting standard IAS19. This BBS briefing note summarises the main revisions and explains how they might affect organisations, including listed European companies, that are required to comply with IAS19.
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BN79 - The New Pension Protection Levy Framework to Apply From 2012/13
Briefing Note posted on May 31, 2011
Following detailed consultation, the Board of the Pension Protection Fund (“the PPF”) has confirmed the framework that will apply for the calculation of PPF levies from 2012/13. As initially proposed by the PPF, the new framework will take a “bottom-up” approach, designed to reduce the degree of cross-subsidy between schemes and to result in a more stable and predictable levy. This BBS briefing note provides a summary of the main components of the levy calculation.
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BN78 - Meeting high Annual Allowance Charges from pension benefits
Briefing Note posted on May 03, 2011
Last year, the Government announced that the Annual Allowance (AA) for tax-privileged pension savings would reduce from £255,000 to £50,000 from April 2011. Where the AA is exceeded in any year (allowing for any carry forward), an Annual Allowance Charge (AAC) is incurred, and in October 2010 the Government published proposals on permitting individuals to meet high AACs from their pension benefits, rather than their current income. BBS briefing note 76 set out the proposals. In March, the Government published a report summarising the responses it had received to its consultation paper and setting out how it planned to proceed. This briefing note summarises the report.
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