Virgin Media: remediation measures
published
Government amendments to the Pension Schemes Bill included measures to
address issues arising from the Virgin Media case (clauses
100-107).
Trustees will in principle be able to remediate amendments which
might otherwise be void for lack of actuarial confirmation, by
obtaining confirmation on a retrospective basis.
For an amendment to be remediated, the scheme actuary will need
to confirm in writing that, in their opinion, "it is
reasonable to conclude that [the amendment] would not have
prevented the scheme from continuing to satisfy the statutory
standard".
In some limited circumstances, amendments will be excluded from
remediation. The exclusions may be relevant where legal proceedings
as to validity are already underway, or where trustees have taken
"positive action" on the basis that an amendment was
void.