Pension schemes—Approved occupational pension schemes—Unauthorised member payments

Chancery Division, Bean J, 15 Dec 2011

Maximising pension value arrangement loans made by six Revenue-registered occupational pension schemes were unauthorised member payments as defined by  s 160(2) of the Finance Act 2004 (FA 2004).
 

Andrew Spink QC and Fenner Moeran (instructed by McGrigors LLP) for the claimant. Nicholas Stallworthy QC (instructed by Gately Manchester LLP) for the first defendant. James Clifford (instructed by Freedman Law) for the second and third defendants.

The case concerned six Revenue-registered occupational pension schemes with a total membership of at least 487 members and funds of approximately £25m. The schemes operated a pension reciprocation plan (PRP) which was conceived as a way of getting members access to their pension capital prior to retirement but without breaching HMRC rules. At the heart of the PRP model was a structure called a “maximising pension value arrangement” (MPVA), whereby scheme Y would loan funds