The Upper Tribunal Court has rejected an application by various Lehman companies to strike out an application by the trustees to challenge the original decision by the Pension Regulator's Determinations Panel to impose Financial Support Directions (FSD) on only six companies within the Lehman group.
Of general application it is worth noting the following points:
- trustees of pension schemes can bring appeals against decisions of a Determinations Panel to the Upper Tribunal as they are a "interested party" for the purposes of the legislation;
- the tribunal has jurisdiction to consider whether it was right not to impose FSDs on other Lehman group companies; and
- the two year time limit for imposing an FSD on a company which is connected or associated runs form the period the Determination Panel issues its warning notice. Therefore, appeals or other court proceedings do not restart the clock.
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