Finance Act 2007

17 (1) Paragraph 12 (when enhanced protection ceases) is amended as follows. U.K.

(2) In paragraph (c) of sub-paragraph (2), for “solely for the purposes of a permitted transfer” substitute “ in permitted circumstances ”.

(3) After that sub-paragraph insert—

“(2A) An arrangement is made in permitted circumstances if it is made—

(a) for the purposes of a permitted transfer,

(b) as part of a retirement-benefit activities compliance exercise, or

(c) as part of an age-equality compliance exercise.

(2B) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2A)(b) an arrangement (“the new arrangement”) relating to an individual is made as part of a retirement-benefit activities compliance exercise if—

(a) it is made in connection with the cancellation of rights under another arrangement relating to the individual (“the old arrangement”),

(b) the old arrangement and the new arrangement relate to the same employment,

(c) there is a prospective entitlement to pension death benefits within section 167(1) or lump sum death benefits within section 168(1) (or both) under both the old arrangement and the new arrangement,

(d) the making of the new arrangement and the cancellation of the old arrangement constitute or form part of a transaction the purpose of which is to secure that the activities of the pension scheme under which the arrangement is made are limited to retirement-benefit activities within the meaning of section 255 of the Pensions Act 2004 or Article 232 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005, and

(e) the rights cancelled under the old arrangement and the rights conferred under the new arrangement are not significantly different.

(2C) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2A)(c) an arrangement (“the new arrangement”) is made as part of an age-equality compliance exercise if—

(a) it is made in connection with the cancellation of rights under another arrangement relating to the individual (“the old arrangement”),

(b) the old arrangement and the new arrangement relate to the same employment,

(c) there is a prospective entitlement to pension death benefits within section 167(1) or lump sum death benefits within section 168(1) (or both) under both the old arrangement and the new arrangement, and

(d) the new arrangement is made, and the old arrangement cancelled, in order to comply with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 or Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (or any regulations amending or replacing them).”

(4) In sub-paragraph (7)—

(a) omit paragraph (a),

(b) in paragraph (b), omit “held for the purposes of, or representing accrued rights under, the arrangement”, and

(c) in paragraph (c), for “those” (in both places) substitute “ the ”.

(5) In paragraph (a) of sub-paragraph (8), omit—

(a) “, or two or more money purchase arrangements that are not cash balance arrangements,”, and

(b) “or” at the end.

(6) After paragraph (b) of that sub-paragraph insert—

“(c) where the arrangement is a cash balance arrangement or a defined benefits arrangement relating to a present or former employment, they are transferred in connection with a relevant business transfer so as to become held for the purposes of, or to represent rights under, a cash balance arrangement or defined benefits arrangement made under a registered pension scheme or recognised overseas pension scheme, or

(d) where the arrangement (“the old arrangement”) is a cash balance arrangement or a defined benefits arrangement, they are transferred as part of a retirement-benefit activities compliance exercise so as to become held for the purposes of, or to represent rights under, a cash balance arrangement or defined benefits arrangement (“the new arrangement”) relating to the same employment as the old arrangement and made under a registered pension scheme or recognised overseas pension scheme.”

(7) After that sub-paragraph insert—

“(8A) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (8)(c) “relevant business transfer” means a transfer of an undertaking or a business (or part of an undertaking or a business) from one person to another—

(a) which involves the transfer of at least 20 employees, and

(b) in the case of which, if the transferor and the transferee are bodies corporate, they would not be treated as members of the same group for the purposes of Chapter 4 of Part 10 of ICTA.

(8B) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (8)(d) sums or assets held for the purposes of, or representing accrued rights under, the old arrangement are transferred as part of a retirement-benefit activities compliance exercise if—

(a) there is a prospective entitlement to pension death benefits within section 167(1) or lump sum death benefits within section 168(1) (or both) under both the old arrangement and the new arrangement, and

(b) the transfer constitutes or forms part of a transaction the purpose of which is to secure that the activities of the pension scheme under which the old arrangement was made are limited to retirement-benefit activities within the meaning of section 255 of the Pensions Act 2004 or Article 232 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005.”

(8) In sub-paragraph (9)—

(a) in paragraph (a), omit “, or each of the arrangements,” and “and” at the end,

(b) in paragraph (b), after “(8)(b)” insert “ or (d) ” and after “15” insert “ to 17 ”, and

(c) after that paragraph insert “and

(c) if the transfer is a permitted transfer by virtue of sub-paragraph (8)(c), this paragraph (and paragraphs 13, 15 to 17 and 17A(3)) apply as if the arrangement to which the transfer is made were the same as that from which it is made and (if the employment is transferred) as if the employment with the transferee were the employment with the transferor.”

(9) After that sub-paragraph insert—

“(10) The Treasury may by order amend sub-paragraph (8) (and make other amendments consequential on any amendment of that sub-paragraph).”