Search Legislation

Pension Schemes Act 2021

Status:

This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).

Sanctions for avoidance of employer debt etc

This section has no associated Explanatory Notes

6(1)After Article 54 insert—

Sanctions for avoidance of employer debt etc
54AOffence of avoidance of employer debt

(1)This Article applies in relation to an occupational pension scheme other than—

(a)a money purchase scheme, or

(b)a prescribed scheme or a scheme of a prescribed description.

(2)A person commits an offence only if—

(a)the person does an act or engages in a course of conduct that—

(i)prevents the recovery of the whole or any part of a debt which is due from the employer in relation to the scheme under Article 75 of the 1995 Order (deficiencies in the scheme assets),

(ii)prevents such a debt becoming due,

(iii)compromises or otherwise settles such a debt, or

(iv)reduces the amount of such a debt which would otherwise become due,

(b)the person intended the act or course of conduct to have such an effect, and

(c)the person did not have a reasonable excuse for doing the act or engaging in the course of conduct.

(3)A reference in this Article to an act or course of conduct includes a failure to act.

(4)This Article does not apply to a person if the act done, or course of conduct engaged in, by the person is in accordance with the person’s functions as an insolvency practitioner in relation to another person.

(5)For the purposes of this Article a reference to a debt due under Article 75 of the 1995 Order includes a contingent debt under that Article.

(6)Accordingly, in the case of such a contingent debt, the reference in paragraph (2)(a) to preventing a debt becoming due is to be read as including a reference to preventing the occurrence of any of the events specified in Article 75(4C)(a) or (b) of the 1995 Order upon which the debt is contingent.

(7)A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (2) is liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or a fine, or both.

(8)Proceedings for an offence under paragraph (2) may be instituted only—

(a)by the Regulator or the Department, or

(b)by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(9)For the purposes of this Article and Articles 54B to 54D “insolvency practitioner”, in relation to a person, means—

(a)a person acting as an insolvency practitioner, in relation to that person, in accordance with Article 3 of the Insolvency Order, or

(b)an insolvency practitioner within the meaning of Article 105(9)(b) (persons of a prescribed description).

54BOffence of conduct risking accrued scheme benefits

(1)This Article applies in relation to an occupational pension scheme other than—

(a)a money purchase scheme, or

(b)a prescribed scheme or a scheme of a prescribed description.

(2)A person commits an offence only if—

(a)the person does an act or engages in a course of conduct that detrimentally affects in a material way the likelihood of accrued scheme benefits being received (whether the benefits are to be received as benefits under the scheme or otherwise),

(b)the person knew or ought to have known that the act or course of conduct would have that effect, and

(c)the person did not have a reasonable excuse for doing the act or engaging in the course of conduct.

(3)A reference in this Article to an act or a course of conduct includes a failure to act.

(4)A reference in this Article to accrued scheme benefits being received is a reference to benefits the rights to which have accrued by the relevant time being received by, or in respect of, the persons who were members of the scheme before that time.

(5)In this Article “the relevant time” means—

(a)in the case of an act, the time of the act,

(b)in the case of a failure to act—

(i)the time when the failure occurred, or

(ii)where the failure continued for a period of time, the end of that period, or

(c)in the case of a course of conduct, the time when the course of conduct ended.

(6)A reference in this Article to rights which have accrued is to be read in accordance with Article 67A(6) and (7) of the 1995 Order (reading any reference in those paragraphs to a subsisting right as a reference to a right which has accrued).

(7)For the purposes of this Article the benefits that may be received under the following provisions are to be disregarded—

(a)Chapter 3 of Part 3 (the Board of the Pension Protection Fund: pension protection), and

(b)section 286 of the Pensions Act 2004 (the financial assistance scheme for members of certain pension schemes).

(8)This Article does not apply to a person if the act done, or course of conduct engaged in, by the person is in accordance with the person’s functions as an insolvency practitioner in relation to another person (see Article 54A(9)).

(9)A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (2) is liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or a fine, or both.

(10)Proceedings for an offence under paragraph (2) may be instituted only—

(a)by the Regulator or the Department, or

(b)by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(2)After Article 54B (inserted by sub-paragraph (1)) insert—

54CFinancial penalty for avoidance of employer debt

(1)This Article applies in relation to an occupational pension scheme other than—

(a)a money purchase scheme, or

(b)a prescribed scheme or a scheme of a prescribed description.

(2)Article 83A (financial penalties) applies to a person who was party to an act or deliberate failure to act the main purpose or one of the main purposes of which was—

(a)to prevent the recovery of the whole or any part of a debt which is due from the employer in relation to the scheme under Article 75 of the 1995 Order (deficiencies in the scheme assets),

(b)to prevent such a debt becoming due,

(c)to compromise or otherwise settle such a debt, or

(d)to reduce the amount of such a debt which would otherwise become due,

if it was not reasonable for the person to act or fail to act in the way that the person did.

(3)This Article does not apply where the Regulator is of the opinion that the person, in being a party to the act or failure, was acting in accordance with the person’s functions as an insolvency practitioner in relation to another person (see Article 54A(9)).

(4)For the purposes of this Article a reference to a debt due under Article 75 of the 1995 Order includes a contingent debt under that Article.

(5)Accordingly, in the case of such a contingent debt, the reference in paragraph (2) to preventing a debt becoming due is to be read as including a reference to preventing the occurrence of any of the events specified in Article 75(4C)(a) or (b) of the 1995 Order upon which the debt is contingent.

(6)For the purposes of this Article the parties to an act or deliberate failure to act include those persons who knowingly assist in the act or failure.

(7)If the Regulator is of the opinion that—

(a)a person was party to a series of acts or deliberate failures to act, and

(b)the requirements of paragraph (2) are met in relation to the series,

the series of acts or failures to act is to be regarded as an act or failure to act in relation to which the requirements of paragraph (2) are met.

54DFinancial penalty for conduct risking accrued scheme benefits

(1)This Article applies in relation to an occupational pension scheme other than—

(a)a money purchase scheme, or

(b)a prescribed scheme or a scheme of a prescribed description.

(2)Article 83A (financial penalties) applies to a person who was party to an act or deliberate failure to act that detrimentally affected in a material way the likelihood of accrued scheme benefits being received (whether the benefits are to be received as benefits under the scheme or otherwise), if—

(a)the person knew or ought to have known that the act or failure to act would have that effect, and

(b)it was not reasonable for the person to act or fail to act in the way that the person did.

(3)This Article does not apply where the Regulator is of the opinion that the person, in being a party to the act or failure, was acting in accordance with the person’s functions as an insolvency practitioner in relation to another person (see Article 54A(9)).

(4)In this Article a reference to accrued scheme benefits being received is a reference to benefits the rights to which have accrued by the relevant time being received by, or in respect of, the persons who were members of the scheme before that time.

(5)In this Article “the relevant time” means—

(a)in the case of an act, the time of the act;

(b)in the case of a failure to act—

(i)the time when the failure to act occurred, or

(ii)where the failure continued for a period of time, the end of that period;

and, in the case of acts or failures to act forming part of a series, any reference in this paragraph to an act or failure to act is a reference to the last of the acts or failures in that series.

(6)A reference in this Article to rights which have accrued is to be read in accordance with Article 67A(6) and (7) of the 1995 Order (reading any reference in those paragraphs to a subsisting right as a reference to a right which has accrued).

(7)In determining for the purposes of this Article whether an act or failure to act has detrimentally affected in a material way the likelihood of accrued scheme benefits being received, the following provisions are to be disregarded—

(a)Chapter 3 of Part 3 (the Board of the Pension Protection Fund: pension protection), and

(b)section 286 of the Pensions Act 2004 (the financial assistance scheme for members of certain pension schemes).

(8)For the purposes of this Article the parties to an act or deliberate failure to act include those persons who knowingly assist in the act or failure.

(9)If the Regulator is of the opinion that—

(a)a person was party to a series of acts or deliberate failures to act, and

(b)the requirements of paragraph (2) are met in relation to the series,

the series of acts or failures to act is to be regarded as an act or failure to act in relation to which the requirements of paragraph (2) are met.

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

You have chosen to open The Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open the Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open Schedules only

The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Show Explanatory Notes for Sections: Displays relevant parts of the explanatory notes interweaved within the legislation content.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources