Two legal consequences followed the demise of Robert Maxwell and the discovery of his plunder of the Mirror Group Newspaper Pension Fund. First, there was a flurry of litigation (and threats of litigation) brought by the Mirror Pension Trustees against, amongst others, the pension fund managers and auditors in an attempt to replenish the depleted funds. The second consequence is the Pensions Bill which is at present working its way through Parliament. This represents a wide ranging reform of both the regulation of occupational pension schemes and the responsibilities of those who manage or advise them.
In general terms the Bill provides for:
a) a minimum solvency requirement for occupational pension schemes;
b) the rectification of any shortfall between the value of a scheme's assets
and the amount of a scheme's liabilities;
c) the criteria which must be applied by the trustees of a scheme in exercising
their powers of investment. These
