On Jan. 1, 2013, amendments to Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act (PBA) took effect, allowing employers to use a letter of credit (LOC) to cover up to 15% of solvency liabilities in a pension plan. For employers in the province, the welcome change may help alleviate some of the funding challenges faced by DB plan sponsors.
On Feb. 1, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its hotly anticipated decision in the Sun Indalex Finance, LLC v. United Steelworkers (Indalex) appeal. The case pitted the claims of pension plan members against those of secured creditors in the context of an employer insolvency. Specifically, the SCC considered whether company assets should […]
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal recently ruled that members of the Saskatchewan public service pension plan are not entitled to indexed pension benefits, beyond what was already provided for in legislation: May et al. v. Government of Saskatchewan 2013 SKCA 11.
What exactly does Basel III mean for financial institutions and their risk-management practices?
While 2012 saw strong investment returns for Canadian DB pension plans, solvency funding issues continued to be a challenge. With similar patterns expected to continue in 2013, plan design considerations and related legal developments will revolve around issues such as plan de-risking and solvency funding solutions.
The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in the Sun Indalex Finance, LLC v. United Steelworkers case, which said that pensioners should be paid before creditors. The Supreme Court sided with the original ruling by the provincial court, which indicated that the profits of the Indalex assets need to […]
The New Brunswick government has introduced Bill 20, An Act to Amend the Pension Benefits Act. Among other things, Bill 20 will afford protections for those carrying out administrative functions with respect to shared risk pension plans (SRPPs), provide protection for parties involved in the conversion of DB plans to SRPPs and clarify the treatment of vested base benefits.
The 2012 DB Summit, held today in Toronto, will explore recommendations and practical strategies to make DB sustainable for future generations of Canadian workers.
A former worker at the NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill in Cape Breton says about 250 people have been hit with a $5- million bill because of a mistake made in the calculation of their pensions.
The new coalition government in the Netherlands has announced measures to further limit tax advantages for the country’s pension plans, starting in 2015 or possibly even 2014.