The Occupational Pension Schemes (Payments to Employer) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Notice of proposal to distribute excess assets to the employer

15.—(1) The prescribed requirements for the notice specified in Article 76(3)(d) (excess assets on winding up) are set out in paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) Where the trustees or the employer propose to exercise the power in Article 76(1)(c), the trustees or, as the case may be, the employer, must take all reasonable steps to ensure that each member, except any excluded person, is sent a written notice divided into two parts, of the proposal in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(3) The first part of the notice shall—

(a) inform the member as to—

(i) the trustees' estimate of the value of the assets remaining after the liabilities of the scheme have been fully discharged and the persons or class of person to whom, and in what proportions, it is proposed that they should be distributed, and

(ii) whether the requirements of Article 76(3) are satisfied,

(b) invite the member, if he wishes, to make written representations in relation to the proposal to the trustees or, as the case may be, to the employer, before a specified date (which is not earlier than two months after the date on which the first part of the notice is given), and

(c) advise the member that—

(i) the second part of the notice will be sent to him if the trustees or, as the case may be, the employer intend to proceed with the proposal to exercise that power, and

(ii) no excess assets may be distributed to the employer in accordance with the proposal until at least three months after the date on which the second part of the notice is sent to him.

(4) The second part of the notice shall be given after the date specified in accordance with paragraph (3)(b) and at least three months before the power is exercised, and shall—

(a) contain the information referred to in paragraph (3)(a), including any modifications to the proposal, and

(b) advise the member that he may make written representations to the Regulator before a specified date (which is not earlier than three months after the date on which the second part of the notice is sent to him) if he considers that any of the requirements of Article 76(3) are not satisfied.

(5) The parts of the notice under paragraph (3) or (4) shall be treated as having been given to a member where it has been sent by post to either—

(a) the address at which he was last known to be living, or

(b) in the case of a person who was an active member, immediately before the commencement of the winding up of the scheme, an address at which he is currently known to be employed.