Pensions

Simcocks’ pension lawyers have the ability, experience and technical expertise to advise corporate clients, pension fund trustees and members on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious issues including:

• Isle of Man pension law
• Establishment
• Tax approval
• IPA authorisation and contracting out
• Scheme mergers, restructuring and winding up (solvent and insolvent)
• Scheme deficit and surplus
• Corporate sales, acquisition and restructuring
• Pension scheme buy outs and buy ins
• Executive severance and advice relating to professional advisers and investment management.

The Isle of Man is one of the few offshore jurisdictions with a dedicated and comprehensive regulatory regime for both domestic and international pension arrangements. Simcocks has considerable experience in providing legal advice on pension schemes in the Isle of Man.

Our leading pensions team provides technical yet pragmatic advice to companies, employers, trustees and administrators on all aspects of pensions law and regulatory issues.

Our expertise includes advice on the management of pensions involving M&A transactions, reorganisations, employer debts, cross-border issues, and ranges from the establishment of new schemes and changes to existing schemes to the winding up process.

We are advising the trustees of an insolvent Isle of Man defined benefit contracted out occupational pension scheme on its winding up, including equalisation,  BPA agreement and other issues. We have advised the employer and sponsor of an international pension scheme on claims against the trustees in respect of the administration of the scheme. By way of other examples, we have advised several pension providers in relation to drafting and updating the rules of their pension schemes, the introduction of an Isle of Man section of a group pension scheme, and administration outsourcing.

Simcocks often works closely with its corporate colleagues on cross-border, complex commercial transactions that will need the input of pension experts as well as those in commercial property and employment.

We benefit from having pension litigation experience, having dealt with many types of pension and trust related claims.

Several of our lawyers are also members of the Pensions Management Institute and the Chartered Insurance Institute.