Clause 16 - Injunctions and interdicts
Pensions Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Malcolm Wicks (Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions; Croydon North, Labour)
The effect of amendments Nos. 134 and 135 would again be to inhibit seriously the regulator's power to apply for an injunction to prevent the misuse or misappropriation of scheme assets. ''Reasonable likelihood'' is the same standard of proof contained in the power to apply for injunctions under the Pensions Act 1995, although that protection was extended only to members of occupational pension schemes. The Bill extends it to personal pension schemes, so it is an advance. It means that the regulator has to prove to the court that there has been a reasonable likelihood that there has been or will be a misuse or misappropriation of scheme assets.
That is a standard well known to the courts and commonly used for regulatory intervention via injunctions. For example, it is the same standard to which a court must be satisfied to grant applications to the Financial Services Authority. Of course, the courts will exercise the usual safeguards to protect the rights of any directly affected parties, and they have held that what is required for reasonable likelihood is a ''good
and arguable'' case. The power to apply for an injunction is a vital tool in the regulator's armoury.