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Arcadia collapse leaves bigger than expected £510m pension deficit
Arcadia s pension deficit is bigger than expected.
The collapse of high street empire Arcadia has left a £510m pension deficit, some £200m more than previous estimates.
Arcadia collapsed in December, becoming the largest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic and leaving thousands jobless.
The news of a bigger-than-expected pension deficit, first reported by the Retail Gazette, paints a starker picture for individuals affected by the collapse.
A spokesperson for the Arcadia pensions schemes said the true deficit may still be lower than the latest quoted figure.
They explained: “The deficit quoted is the difference between the value of the schemes’ assets and the cost of buying-out all members’ benefits with an insurance company.
Industry finds fault with regulator’s DB assessment guide after two weeks of trials
The advice sector has had about fortnight to work through the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new pension transfer tool and to form a view about what it means for the market.
The tool covers the regulations as they stood up to 1 October 2020, rather than the rules as they apply now, although an adapted version is in the works.
The FCA was explicit at launch that the tool – the Defined Benefit Advice Assessment Tool (DBAAT) – would help firms check their previous advice.
“We published the DBAAT to help firms and pension transfer specialists understand the FCA’s file review methodology for DB transfer advice,” the watchdog explained.
A City dealmaker who once worked for Boris Johnson has held talks over an audacious rescue of the stricken Debenhams department store staff pension fund, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In a move that could trigger a wave of similar salvage deals, Edi Truell s Pension Superfund has held detailed discussions with the Debenhams administrator and The Pensions Regulator about a plan to snap up the £1billion scheme.
A deal would mean many of the Debenhams scheme s 15,000 members would escape forfeiting part of their future pension payouts. Without a rescue, they face losing up to 10 per cent of their future pension income under rules imposed by the Pension Protection Fund.
Workers Revolutionary Party
BT workers demonstrating over pay â they now face a battle to defend jobs
THE DEVASTATING ramifications for BT employees of the brutal new management approach sweeping across BT is not just illustrated by the scores of compulsory redundancies that have already reached their sad conclusions. Dozens more are currently underway.
An even starker illustration of the depths to which BT has plumbed is revealed in the way in which potential redeployment options are now being actively thwarted.
Key safeguards negotiated by the CWU included Pay and Pension Protection (PPP) for redeployees directed into lower graded roles in situations where no opportunities for sideways shifts existed are being ignored.