Trust breached pension laws

A judge expressed surprise yesterday that the country's largest pension trustee had failed to provide annual reports and information to members of a pension scheme as required by law.

The Irish Pensions Trust (IPT) Ltd, of Oyster Point, Temple Road, Blackrock, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to breaching the Pensions Act, 1990, by failing to file annual reports for the years ending March 2001 and March 2002 within the time specified.

The trustees also failed to inform members of the scheme or notify a trade union representing members of the scheme that the annual reports were available.

A total of four charges were brought against Irish Pensions Trust by the Pensions Board, the statutory body responsible for regulating pension schemes in the Republic.

The company was fined €1,250 and ordered to pay the Pensions Board's court costs of €2,500.

A spokeswoman for Irish Pensions Trust said the legislation breaches related to the trustee services it had been providing to one particular client company and that the failure to furnish the annual reports was an "administrative error".

The reports were prepared, but were not issued within the correct timeframe, she said.

The matter had been fully investigated and steps had been taken to ensure that it would not happen again, the spokeswoman added.

Dublin District Court heard that the company, which is owned by Mercer Consultants, was the largest professional trustee in Ireland.

Following a complaint from a member of the pension scheme, the Pensions Board carried out an audit of Irish Pensions Trust.

The head of investigations and compliance at the Pension Board, Mr Gerry Moriarty, said that when information and reports were sought, Mercer Consultants asked for a six-month extension of time to provide them. However, as this was after the offence had been discovered, this request was denied and a prosecution was initiated.

The court heard that all reports and information had since been supplied and matters were now up to date. The company had no previous convictions.

District Court president, Judge Peter Smithwick, said the defendant was very well known and was a high-profile firm in the pensions world. "It is rather surprising that they allowed this offence to occur but I am glad that everything now appears to be in order."

In a statement, the chief executive of the Pensions Board, Ms Anne Maher, said the board regarded information disclosure as a very important governance requirement for pension scheme trustees and would take steps to enforce the rules where necessary.