Rosalind Connor comments on the upcoming BA judgement
Towards the end of 2016, a three-year argument between British Airways and the trustees of one of its pension schemes erupted into a mammoth seven-week court battle.
The case retired in December, with a few further written arguments made in January and the judgement is expected imminently. The judge’s comments could be narrow or quite wide but, either way, they will likely have ramifications for the pensions industry.
Issues include the role of the trustees and whether they can make decisions in advance of having all the facts about a particular issue.
Rosalind Connor commented that a judgment on this point would be very helpful, helping the industry to understand what constitutes a proper decision by trustees that can be relied upon.
“If you’ve made a decision while standing to be an MNT, presumably before you’re in possession of all the facts, are you making an improper decision?” she asked. “When is it that we can know someone has made an improper decision? All of us in the industry would love to hear where the courts are on that.”
Read the full article in Professional Pensions here.
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