The Occupational Pension Schemes (Fraud Compensation Payments and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Non-segregated schemes: schemes with requirement for partial wind up on withdrawal of participating employer

17.—(1) This paragraph applies to a non-segregated scheme in circumstances where—

(a) an insolvency event occurs in relation to an employer in relation to the scheme;

(b) the trustees or managers of the scheme become aware that an employer in relation to the scheme is unlikely to continue as a going concern, and meets the requirements prescribed in regulation 7 of the Entry Rules Regulations (applications and notifications to the Board), or

(c) an employer in relation to the scheme is unlikely to continue as a going concern and meets the requirements prescribed in regulation 4 (employers who are unlikely to continue as a going concern).

(2) Where paragraph (3) applies to the non-segregated scheme—

(a) the segregation requirement shall be deemed to have been triggered in relation to an employer immediately after the occurrence of an event described in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c), and

(b) a segregated part of the scheme shall be deemed to have been created for and in respect of any period after the occurrence of the event described in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) where—

(i) a withdrawal event within the meaning of Article 133(2), or

(ii) a cessation event in relation to a notice referred to in Article 165(9)(b)(iv),

has not occurred in relation to the segregated part.

(3) This paragraph applies where the segregation requirement in the scheme rules would be triggered when an employer in relation to the non-segregated scheme ceases to participate in the scheme.

(4) In this regulation—

“non-segregated scheme” means a multi-employer scheme which is not divided into two or more sections where the rules contain a segregation requirement;

“the segregation requirement” means the requirement on the trustees or managers under the scheme rules of a non-segregated scheme to segregate such part of the assets of the scheme as is attributable to the scheme’s liabilities to provide pensions or other benefits to or in respect of the pensionable service of some or all of the members by reference to an employer, in relation to the scheme, where that employer ceases to participate in the scheme;

“segregated part” means a part of a non-segregated scheme which is created when a segregation requirement in the scheme rules has been triggered.

(5) The fraud compensation provisions shall be modified in their application to a non-segregated scheme to which paragraphs (1) and (2) apply so that they shall be read as if—

(a) references to “an occupational pension scheme” were to a segregated part of a non-segregated scheme where that part, if it were a scheme, would be a scheme in respect of which the Board shall make a fraud compensation payment in accordance with Article 165(1);

(b) references to “an eligible scheme” were to a segregated part of a non-segregated scheme in circumstances where that part, if it were a scheme, would be an eligible scheme;

(c) except as otherwise provided in this regulation, references to—

(i) “the scheme” were to “the segregated part”;

(ii) “the employer” were to “the employer in relation to the segregated part”;

(iii) “the trustees or managers of the scheme” or “the trustees or managers” were to “the trustees or managers with ultimate responsibility for the administration of the segregated part”;

(d) in Article 165—

(i) in paragraph (2) for sub-paragraph (a) there were substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(a) a qualifying insolvency event has occurred in relation to an employer in relation to a non-segregated scheme and a segregated part of the scheme is created,”;

(ii) in paragraph (2)—

(aa) in sub-paragraph (b) for “in relation to the scheme” there were substituted “in relation to the segregated part of the non-segregated scheme”, and

(bb) in sub-paragraph (c)(ii) after “the scheme failure notice” there were inserted “in relation to the segregated part”;

(iii) in paragraph (3)(b) after “scheme failure notice” there were inserted “in relation to the segregated part of the non-segregated scheme”;

(iv) in paragraph (4)—

(aa) for sub-paragraph (b) there were substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(b) an employer in relation to a non-segregated scheme is unlikely to continue as a going concern and a segregated part of the scheme is created,”, and

(bb) in sub-paragraph (c) for “the employer” there were substituted “that employer”;

(v) in paragraph (7) for “a scheme” there were substituted “a segregated part”, and

(vi) in paragraph (9)(a) and (c) for “a scheme” there were substituted “a segregated part”;

(e) in Article 166—

(i) in paragraph (1) after “Article 165 apply” there were inserted “to a segregated part”;

(ii) in paragraph (2) after “scheme rescue”, in both places where it occurs, there were inserted “in relation to a segregated part”, and

(iii) after paragraph (3) there were inserted the following paragraph—

“(3A) Where the trustees or managers with ultimate responsibility for the administration of the segregated part receive a notice from the Board under paragraph (3) they must send a copy of the notice as soon as practicable to all other trustees or managers of the scheme (if different) and all of the employers in relation to the scheme.”, and

(f) in Article 168 after paragraph (5) there were added the following paragraph—

“(6) Where the trustees or managers with ultimate responsibility for the administration of the segregated part receive a notice from the Board under paragraph (5) they must send a copy of the notice as soon as practicable to all other trustees or managers of the scheme (if different) and all of the employers in relation to the scheme.”.