Occupational Pension Schemes — Member -Nominated Trustees And Directors

The requirements for occupational pension schemes to have member-nominated trustees ("MNTs") or, for sole trustee companies, to have member-nominated directors ("MNDs") have been amended by the Pensions Act 2004 (the "Act") and the associated Occupational Pension Schemes (Member-Nominated Trustees and Directors) Regulations 2006. This has resulted in drastically reduced ability to opt out, but will also make the process of electing such persons much less prescriptive. The Act therefore requires that, within a reasonable period, arrangements must be in place for at least one-third of the scheme’s trustees or directors to be member-nominated.

MNTs are trustees of an occupational trust scheme who are nominated by at least some of the members of the scheme. Member-nominated directors are similarly nominated as directors of a company acting as sole corporate trustee of a scheme. This Commentary discusses MNTs, but unless otherwise indicated, all references apply equally to membernominated