The Pension Protection Fund (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

Amendment of the Pension Protection Fund (Valuation) Regulations

3.—(1) The Pension Protection Fund (Valuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (6).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation)—

(a)after the definition of “pension credit rights” insert—

““pre-6th April 1997 contract of insurance” means a contract of insurance that—

(b)for the definition of “relevant accounts” substitute—

““relevant accounts” for the purposes of identifying and valuing the assets of a scheme, means audited accounts for the scheme which—

(3) In regulation 2 (provision of actuarial valuation to determine scheme underfunding)—

(a)for paragraph (1) substitute—

“(1) The trustees or managers of an eligible scheme shall provide the Board or the Regulator on the Board’s behalf with its first Article 162 valuation—

(a)in the case of an eligible scheme which is a registrable scheme prior to 6th April 2007—

(i)within 15 months of the relevant time of that valuation; or

(ii)by 31st March 2008,

whichever is the earlier;

(b)in the case of an eligible scheme which becomes a registrable scheme on or after 6th April 2007, within 15 months of the effective date of the first actuarial valuation obtained by them under Article 203(3) of the Order (actuarial valuations and reports).”;

(b)omit paragraphs (2) and (3);

(c)in paragraph (5) for “12 months” substitute “15 months”.

(4) In regulation 3 (excluded assets) after paragraph (b) add—

“(c)in the case of either an Article 127 or Article 162 valuation, an amount in respect of the value of any pre-6th April 1997 contract of insurance if—

(i)the trustees or managers have taken all reasonable steps to obtain information concerning that contract of insurance (whether by searching the records of the scheme or otherwise); and

(ii)the information that they provide concerning that contract of insurance is insufficient, in the opinion of the appropriate person, to conduct a valuation.”.

(5) In regulation 6 (valuation of protected liabilities)—

(a)the provisions of the regulation shall become paragraph (1) of the regulation;

(b)after that paragraph add—

“(2) Where regulation 3(c) applies, the amount representing the value of a protected liability(4) in respect of the benefits secured by a pre-6th April 1997 contract of insurance shall be excluded from the valuation of the eligible scheme’s protected liabilities.”.

(6) At the end add the Schedule as set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.