The Occupational Pension Schemes (Winding Up) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations make provision for the application of the statutory priority order set out in Article 73 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (“the Order”); the ways in which the trustees can be treated as having discharged their liabilities in respect of scheme members under Article 74 of the Order and the cases in which the statutory power to defer winding up under Article 38 of the Order is not to apply.

Regulation 1 provides for citation, commencement and interpretation of the Regulations.

Regulation 2 makes provision as to when the winding up of a scheme starts for the purpose of the Regulations.

Regulation 3 makes provision for modifications to the statutory priority order.

Regulation 4 makes provision for the calculation of preferential liabilities.

Regulation 5 makes provision for trust scheme rules to be modified to fix the liabilities of the scheme at a date earlier than the commencement of winding up.

Regulation 6 sets out the arrangements which have to be followed by the trustees in order for them to be treated as having discharged the scheme’s liabilities in respect of scheme members.

Regulation 7 sets out the requirements which have to be met by the notices of discharge issued under regulation 6.

Regulation 8 sets out the requirements which apply to methods of discharge under Article 74(3) of the Order.

Regulation 9 provides that the requirements under section 28A of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 are unaffected by regulations 6 to 8.

Regulation 10 disapplies the statutory power to defer winding up under Article 38 of the Order in certain cases.

Regulation 11 sets out the records required to be kept and the information to be disclosed to members concerning determinations about deferring winding up or the timing of the crystallisation of preferential liabilities.

Regulation 12 makes provision for where the minimum funding requirement applies separately to different parts of a scheme.

Regulation 13 makes provision for modifications of the amounts of assets and liabilities to be taken into account where some of the benefits provided by the scheme are money purchase benefits or calculated on a money purchase basis.

The Pensions (1995 Order) (Commencement No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. 1996 No. 91 (C.4)) provides for the coming into operation of Articles 38, 49, 68, 73 and 74(2),(3) and (5)(b) of the Order, on 6th April 1996 for the purpose only of authorising the making of regulations, and Articles 116 and 166 of the Order, in so far as it was not already in operation, on 6th April 1996. The Pensions (1995 Order) (Commencement No. 5) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. 1996 No. 534 (C. 25)) provides for the coming into operation of Articles 115 and 122(2) to (4) of the Order, in so far as they are not already in operation, on 19th November 1996.

As these Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain, the requirement for consultation under Article 117(1) of the Order does not apply by virtue of paragraph (2)(e) of that Article.