Partner Vikki Massarano comments in the Legal Diarist on TPR’s call on trustees to stay vigilant for companies paying out dividends and “excessive” bonuses
The pressures and dilemmas created by the C-virus are so widespread that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Vikki Massarano, a partner at specialist pensions law firm Arc Pensions Law, has drawn attention to what is happening in the pensions field where The Pensions Regulator has called on retirement fund trustees to stay vigilant for companies paying out dividends and “excessive” bonuses if this weakens financial support for company pension schemes.
Vikki commented that trustees and employers should remember that recent relaxations about payment of deficit contributions and TPR’s enforcement activities are ‘only temporary’.
“While it is acceptable to take unprecedented steps to deal with this unprecedented crisis, employers should not expect those to continue unchecked and trustees will need, as ever, to make sure they are being treated equitably and that members are not losing out to shareholders or other creditors,” she warns.
Read Vikki’s comments in the Legal Diarist.
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