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Government Investigations in Singapore 2025
We have contributed the Singapore chapter of Getting the Deal Through, Government Investigations 2025.
United Kingdom | Publication | June 2023
In Mr Y (CAS-44123-K4V8) the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint by a member regarding the employer's failure to inform him about the tax implications of paying part of his redundancy payment into the pension scheme in the form of AVCs. The member left employment after taking voluntary redundancy. Following a conversation with the company's pensions department about his options, he decided to pay the taxable element of his redundancy payment into the pension scheme as an AVC.
Having signed a declaration confirming he had obtained financial advice, he then opted to take the AVC as an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS), which triggered the money purchase annual allowance (MPAA). The member was subsequently informed that he would need to take his scheme benefits at the same time as his AVCs since he was taking his benefits before age 55 with a protected pension age of 50.
The member complained that he was not told that taking his AVC would trigger the MPAA or that if he took his AVC benefits he would also need to take his main scheme benefits. Had he known about the MPAA, he would not have paid the redundancy payment into the scheme.
The Deputy Ombudsman rejected the complaint on the basis that the MPAA related to a member's individual tax considerations and operated outside the scheme's rules. The Deputy Ombudsman concluded that finding a duty on the employer in these circumstances would "widen considerably" the scope of the employer's implied duty as determined by the House of Lords in Scally v Southern Health and Social Services Board [1992]. In addition, the member had been given the chance to return the UFPLS and select an alternative AVC option which would not trigger the MPAA. As the member had seemingly received financial advice and continued to select the option of taking a UFPLS in full knowledge that the MPAA would be triggered, the Deputy Ombudsman concluded that none of the respondents could be held responsible for the financial loss incurred as a result.
Publication
We have contributed the Singapore chapter of Getting the Deal Through, Government Investigations 2025.
Publication
The private credit market and direct lending have grown and diversified immensely in the past decade, offering alternative sources and terms of debt compared to those historically provided by the syndicated leveraged loan and public issuance markets. Consequently, they are fast becoming pivotal components in the capital ecosystem, so much so that the Bank of England consider that the private credit market is currently responsible for approximately $1.8 trillion of debt issuance, which is four times its size in 2015. This growth has been particularly pronounced in Europe and the US but there has also been significant activity in Asia.
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The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation, commonly referred to as the AI Act, is expected to come into force during the summer of 2024 (the AI Act). The AI Act will be the first comprehensive legal framework for the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI), and is intended to ensure that AI systems developed and used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly.
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