Deficits have brought into the spotlight the conflicts between the different interested parties in a funded defined benefit pension scheme set up under trust (referred to here as a ‘scheme’). This article looks at the legal rules on conflicts and some ways of managing them. Table 1 below summarises the interests and ways in which conflicts arise in a deficit situation. In considering conflicts in relation to a scheme deficit, it is first important to establish what powers relevant to the deficit the trustees and the employer respectively have under the scheme’s trust deed, overriding legislation and trust law.
