The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Amendment of the Pension Sharing (Implementation and Discharge of Liability) Regulations

5.—(1) The Pension Sharing (Implementation and Discharge of Liability) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation) after the definition of “base rate” there shall be inserted the following definition –

• ““effective date” in regulation 16(2) and (2A) means the date as at which the assets and liabilities are valued;”.

(3) In regulation 16 (adjustments to amount of pension credit – occupational pension schemes which are underfunded on the valuation day) for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs –

“(2) Subject to paragraphs (2A) and (2B), where a scheme to which Article 56 of the 1995 Order (minimum funding requirement) applies had, at the effective date of the actuary’s latest report to the trustees or managers of the scheme before the valuation day in accordance with “Retirement Benefit Schemes – Transfer Values (GN 11)” published by the Institute of Actuaries and the Faculty of Actuaries and current at the valuation day, assets that were not sufficient to pay the full amount of the cash equivalent in respect of all members of the scheme, the lesser amount referred to in paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 5 may be determined for the purposes of that paragraph by reducing the amount of the pension credit which relates to the liabilities referred to in Article 73(3) of the 1995 Order by an amount that is no greater than the percentage by which the assets are shown in that report as being insufficient to pay the full amount of the corresponding part of the cash equivalent to all members of the scheme.

(2A) Where a scheme to which Article 56 of the 1995 Order applies had, at the effective date of the latest actuarial valuation under Article 57 of the 1995 Order (valuation and certification of assets and liabilities) before the valuation day, assets that were not sufficient to pay the minimum amount of the cash equivalent in respect of the liabilities referred to in Article 73(3) of the 1995 Order in respect of all members of the scheme, the lesser amount referred to in paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 5 may be determined by reducing the amount of the pension credit that relates to those liabilities by an amount which is no greater than the percentage which is the difference between –

(a) 100 per cent., and

(b) the percentage of the pension credit which the actuarial valuation shows the scheme assets as being sufficient to satisfy.

(2B) The amount of any cash equivalent after the reduction mentioned in paragraph (2) shall not be less than the minimum amount that is required under regulation 4(3)(b)(iii) of the Pension Sharing (Valuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (occupational pension schemes: manner of calculation and verification of cash equivalents) to satisfy the liabilities referred to in Article 73(3) of the 1995 Order.”.

(1)

S.R. 2000 No. 145, to which there are amendments not relevant to these regulations