Pensions Act 2004

136 Power to validate contraventions of section 135

(1) The Board may validate an action for the purposes of section 135(9) only if it is satisfied that to do so is consistent with the objective of ensuring that the scheme’s protected liabilities do not exceed its assets or, if they do exceed its assets, that the excess is kept to a minimum.

(2) Where the Board determines to validate, or not to validate, any action of the trustees or managers for those purposes, it must issue a notice to that effect and give a copy of that notice to—

(a) the Regulator,

(b) the trustees or managers of the scheme,

(c) any insolvency practitioner in relation to the employer or, if there is no such insolvency practitioner, the employer, and

(d) any other person who appears to the Board to be directly affected by the determination.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) must contain a statement of the Board’s reasons for the determination.

(4) The validation of an action does not take effect—

(a) until—

(i) the Board has issued a notice under subsection (2) relating to the determination, and

(ii) the period within which the issue of that notice may be reviewed by virtue of Chapter 6 has expired, and

(b) if the issue of the notice is so reviewed, until—

(i) the review and any reconsideration,

(ii) any reference to the PPF Ombudsman in respect of the issue of the notice, and

(iii) any appeal against his determination or directions,

has been finally disposed of.

(5) In subsection (1) the reference to the assets of the scheme is a reference to those assets excluding any assets representing the value of any rights in respect of money purchase benefits under the scheme rules.