The Personal and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Amendment of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Minimum Funding Requirement and Actuarial Valuations) Regulations

7.—(1) The Occupational Pension Schemes (Minimum Funding Requirement and Actuarial Valuations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(1) shall be amended in accordance with sub-paragraphs (2) to (11).

(2) In regulation 6(1) for sub-paragraph (c) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(c) except for the purposes of Article 60(2) to (7), the amount of any increase in value to which paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 applies.”.

(3) In regulation 7—

(a) in paragraph (2) at the beginning there shall be inserted “Subject to paragraph (8A),”; and

(b) after paragraph (8) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(8A) The amount of the liabilities of the scheme in respect of any money purchase benefits shall be calculated in accordance with the guidance given in GN 27.”.

(4) In regulation 10(3)(a) for the words from “the date” to the end there shall be substituted “the effective date of the last minimum funding valuation;”.

(5) In regulation 17—

(a) in paragraph (2) for sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(b) in the actuary’s opinion on the date he signs the certificate of the rates of contributions shown in the schedule the value of the scheme assets is less than 100 per cent, but not less than 90 per cent, of the amount of the scheme liabilities,”; and

(b) in paragraph (3) for sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(b) in the actuary’s opinion on the date he signs the certificate of the rates of contributions shown in the schedule the value of the scheme assets is less than 90 per cent. of the amount of the scheme liabilities,”.

(6) In regulation 20 after paragraph (5) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(6) After Article 60(7) (serious underprovision) there shall be inserted—

“(7A) In any case where—

(a) there has been a valuation by virtue of which paragraph (2) has applied in relation to a scheme, but

(b) the actuary of the scheme certifies at the time when he certifies the rates of contributions shown in the schedule of contributions for the scheme which is prepared or revised under Article 58(3) following the valuation that in his opinion on the date he signs the certificate—

(i) the value of the scheme assets is no longer less than 90 per cent. of the amount of the scheme liabilities, or

(ii) the amount by which that value is less than 90 per cent. of the amount of those liabilities (“the difference”) has decreased,

paragraph (2) shall cease to apply or, as the case may be, paragraphs (2) and (5) shall apply as if the shortfall were the difference on that date.”.”.

(7) In regulation 28(3)—

(a) after “arises” there shall be inserted “in the case of a scheme to which Article 56 applies”; and

(b) for “and (apart from this paragraph Article 56 would apply to the scheme then, except as provided in paragraph (5), that Article” there shall be substituted “Articles 57 to 60”.

(8) In regulation 30—

(a) in paragraph (1) after “to which Article 56 applies” there shall be inserted “(other than a scheme which is being wound up)”; and

(b) in paragraph (5)(a) for the words from “the date” to the end there shall be substituted “the effective date of the last such valuation,”.

(9) In Schedule 2 in Part I after paragraph 4 there shall be added the following paragraphs—

“5.   If, in a case where there has been a serious shortfall valuation, the actuary is of the opinion that on the date he signs the certificate there is no longer such a difference as is mentioned in Article 60(1), he shallt insert the following statement after paragraph 1 of the certificate—

“Cessation of serious shortfall in assets

1A.   In my opinion an actuarial valuation for the scheme as at the date of this certificate would not show such a shortfall as is mentioned in Article 60(1) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(value of scheme assets less than 90 per cent. of amount of scheme liabilities).”.

6.   If, in a case where there has been a serious shortfall valuation, the actuary is of the opinion that on the date he signs the certificate the difference mentioned in Article 60(1) has decreased, he shall insert the following statement after paragraph 1 of the certificate—

“Decrease in serious shortfall in assets

1A.   In my opinion an actuarial valuation for the scheme as at the date of this certificate would show that the shortfall mentioned in Article 60(1) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (value of scheme assets less than 90 per cent. of amount of scheme liabilities) has decreased since the last actuarial valuation for the purposes of Article 57 and is now .”.”.

(10) In Schedule 4 in paragraph 1(1) in the definition of “Article 60 shortfall”

(a) after “serious shortfall valuation” there shall be inserted “(after taking Article 60(7A) into account in any case where it applies)”; and

(b) after “the valuation” there shall be inserted “(or, in a case where Article 60(7A) applies, the date the actuary signed the certificate)”.

(11) In Schedule 5—

(a) in paragraph 1(2)(a) for “pensionable employment under the scheme” there shall be substituted “pensionable service under the section”;

(b) in paragraph 1 after sub-paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraphs—

“(2A) For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2), there shall be disregarded any provisions of the scheme by virtue of which contributions or transfers of assets may be made to make provision for death benefits; and where those sub-paragraphs apply and contributions or transfers are so made to a section (“the death benefits section”) the assets of which may only be applied for the provision of death benefits, the death benefits section shall also be treated as if it were a separate scheme for the purposes of Articles 56 to 60 and these Regulations.

(2B) For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (1), (2) and (2A), there shall be disregarded any provisions of the scheme by virtue of which on the winding up of the scheme assets attributable to one section may be used for the purposes of another section.”; and

(c) in paragraph 2(1) the words “(other than a scheme to which paragraph 1(1) or (2) applies)” shall be omitted.

(1)

S.R. 1996 No. 570, to which there are amendments not relevant to these regulations