Practices

Pensions and Incentives

Our expertise:

Our Group provides experienced direction on transactional and advisory work for domestic and international, private sector and public sector clients. Our clients cover the full range of multi-national corporate organisations, major domestic bodies and State and commercial semi-State entities, SME and start-up clients.  We advise on the design, implementation and restructuring of pension and remuneration plans. The Group has a history of advising on some of the most complex and largest pension issues of the past decade.  We have particular and recent experience in innovative pension cases, which have evolved due to distressed situations for trustees and employers for schemes relating to high profile companies, bodies and organisations.

Our incentives work involves advising sponsoring employers and trustees on both Revenue approved and unapproved incentive plans.

Key areas:

Our work in this area includes advising on:

• the establishment, harmonisation, restructuring, freezing and wind-up of public and private sector pension arrangements
• dealing with the legal aspects of funding proposals and contingent assets, as well as s50 directions
• scheme mergers and moves to master trust vehicles
• public sector pension schemes and issues specifically relating to those schemes
• governance, administration and day-to-day management of pension schemes including compliance with pensions legislation and regulatory requirements
• pensions disputes and investigations including internal dispute resolution, Pensions Ombudsman complaints, Pensions Authority engagement and investigations, regulatory investigations, mediation, judicial review and general litigation
• outsourcing, both in the public and private sectors
• relation to liability management exercises including PIE, ETVs, buy-ins, and buy-outs
• pensions investment law and compliance with ESG regulations including SFDR and SRD II
• the exercise of discretionary powers and duties
• Pensions aspects of corporate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs and business sales

Our incentives work includes:

• Revenue-approved profit sharing schemes
• Revenue-approved save-as-you-earn schemes
• “KEEP” share option schemes
• Management incentive plans (cash-based)
• Unapproved share option schemes
• Long-term incentive plans
• Restricted stock unit plans
• Employee share ownership trusts