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25 1990

PENSIONS ACT, 1990

PART VI

Trustees of Schemes

General duties of trustees of scheme.

59. —Without prejudice to the duties of trustees generally and in addition to complying with the other requirements of this Act, the duties of trustees of schemes shall include the following:

(a) to ensure, in so far as is reasonable, that the contributions payable by the employer and the members of the scheme, where appropriate, are received;

(b) to provide for the proper investment of the resources of the scheme in accordance with the rules of the scheme;

(c) where appropriate, to make arrangements for the payment of the benefits as provided for under the rules of the scheme as they become due;

(d) to ensure that proper membership and financial records are kept.

Duty to register scheme.

60. —(1) Subject to the following subsections, it shall be the duty of trustees of a scheme to ensure that the scheme is registered with the Board.

(2) A scheme shall be registered not later than—

(a) in case the scheme commenced before the commencement of this section, one year after such commencement,

(b) in any other case, one year after the commencement of the scheme.

(3) It shall be the duty of the trustees of a scheme to provide the Board, in such a manner as may be prescribed, with such information as may be prescribed for the purposes of this section.

Restriction of Perpetual Funds (Registration) Act, 1993.

61. —Sections 7, 8, 10, 12 (2), and, in so far as it relates to those sections, section 14 of the Perpetual Funds (Registration) Act, 1933 shall not apply in the case of a scheme.

Selection by members of funded schemes of persons for appointment as trustees.

62. —(1) The Minister shall provide by regulations, in respect of schemes having not less than a specified number of members, that the members of any such scheme may, if a majority of the members decide to do so, select or, at the option of such majority, approve of the selection by the employer concerned of, a person or a specified number of persons who shall be appointed to be trustees of the scheme and different numbers of persons (including one person) may be so specified for different schemes.

(2) Regulations under this section—

(a) shall specify the manner in which decisions of members of schemes, and the selection of persons for appointment as trustees of schemes by the members of schemes, for the purpose of subsection (1) shall be made,

(b) may make such other provision as the Minister considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of this section and for enabling it to have full effect.

Appointment and removal of trustees by High Court.

63. —(1) The High Court (in this Part referred to as “the court”) may, on application to it by the Board by petition, make an order for the appointment of one or more new trustees of a scheme in substitution for the existing trustees of the scheme.

(2) The court may make an order under subsection (1) in relation to the trustees of a scheme, if it considers—

(a) that the trustees have failed to carry out the duties imposed on them by law (including this Act), and

(b) that the scheme is being or has been administered in such a manner as to jeopardise the rights and interests thereunder of the members of the scheme.

(3) (a) A petition under this section shall be served only on the existing trustees unless the court directs otherwise.

(b) Upon the hearing of a petition under this section, the Board, the existing trustees of the scheme concerned, the employer concerned and the members of the scheme shall be entitled to be heard unless the court directs otherwise.

(4) A trustee of a scheme appointed under this section shall, as well before as after the resources of the scheme become by law vested in him have the same powers, authorities and discretions and may in all respects act as if he had been originally appointed a trustee by the rules of the scheme.

(5) An order under this section may make provision for such ancillary and consequential matters (including the vesting of the property of the scheme concerned in the trustees appointed by the order and (notwithstanding anything contained in the rules of the scheme) the making of payments from the resources of the scheme to the trustees appointed by the order in respect of fees, expenses or other matters relating to their duties as such trustees) as the court considers necessary or expedient.

(6) An order under this section shall not operate further or otherwise as a discharge to any former trustee of the scheme concerned than an appointment of new trustees under any power for that purpose contained in any instrument would have operated.

(7) Where any land of which the ownership is registered under the Registration of Title Act, 1964 , becomes vested, by order under this section, in any person or persons, the registering authority under that Act shall, upon production of the relevant order under this section, and upon payment of the appropriate fee, register that person or those persons in the appropriate register maintained under that Act as owner (within the meaning of that Act) of the land.

(8) Where an order is made under this section, any assets vested by the order that immediately before the commencement of the order were standing registered in the books of any bank, corporation or company or were entered in any register kept in pursuance of any enactment in the names of the former trustees of the scheme concerned shall, upon such commencement, be transferred into the names of the new trustees of the scheme.

Appointment and removal of trustees by Board.

64. —(1) Where, in relation to a scheme, there are no trustees or the trustees cannot be found, the Board may, if it considers it necessary to do so, on application to it in that behalf by a person having an interest by order under its seal—

(a) appoint a new trustee or new trustees of the scheme in substitution, where appropriate, for any existing trustee or trustees; and

(b) vest, subject where necessary to transfer in the books of any bank, corporation or company, the assets of the scheme in the persons appointed trustees of the scheme by the order.

(2) The Board shall—

(a) not less than 14 days before the date on which it proposes to make an order under this section, publish a notice in a daily newspaper circulating throughout the State stating the proposal and giving particulars of the proposed order,

(b) within 10 days after the date of the making of the order, publish a notice in a daily newspaper circulating throughout the State stating the proposal and giving particulars of the proposed order.

(3) Every trustee of a scheme appointed under this section shall, as well before as after the resources of the scheme become by law vested in him, have the same powers, authorities and discretions and may in all respects act as if he had been originally appointed a trustee by the rules of the scheme.

(4) (a) A person having an interest may, within 21 days after the publication of a notice under subsection (2) (b) (or such longer period as the court may fix, being a period that, having regard to the circumstances of any particular case, the court considers to be reasonable), appeal to the court against the making of the order to which the notice relates.

(b) On an appeal under this subsection the court may make such order confirming, annulling or varying the order concerned and such order as to costs as it thinks fit, but if the court annuls or varies an order under this section that has come into operation, the annulment or variation shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(c) The Board, the trustees, the employer and the members of the scheme concerned shall be entitled to be represented and heard on any appeal under this subsection.

(d) An order under this section shall not come into operation—

(i) during the period of 21 days from the date of the publication of the notice under subsection (2) (b) in relation to the order, or

(ii) if an appeal against the order is brought during the period aforesaid, before the final determination of the appeal or any appeal from such determination the withdrawal of either such appeal.

(5) An order under this section may make provision for such ancillary and consequential matters (including the vesting of the property of the scheme concerned in the trustees appointed by the order and (notwithstanding anything contained in the rules of the scheme) the making of payments from the resources of the scheme to the trustees appointed by the order in respect of fees, expenses or other matters relating to their duties as such trustees) as the Board considers necessary or expedient.

(6) An order under this section shall not operate as a discharge of any liabilities of a former trustee of the scheme concerned to any greater or different extent than the appointment of new trustees under any power for that purpose contained in any instrument would have operated.

(7) Where a body corporate is appointed under this section to be, or a body corporate appointed under this section becomes, sole trustee of a scheme the terms of which provide for or require the appointment of more than one trustee, then, during such time as the body corporate holds the office of trustee of the scheme and is the only such trustee—

(a) the rules of the scheme shall be deemed to provide for or require the appointment of one trustee only, and

(b) one trustee only shall be deemed to have been originally appointed under the terms of the scheme.

(8) Where any land of which the ownership is registered under the Registration of Title Act, 1964 , becomes vested, by an order under this section, in any person or persons, the registering authority under that Act shall, upon production of a copy of the order sealed with the seal of the Board, and upon payment of the appropriate fee, register that person or those persons in the appropriate register maintained under that Act as owner (within the meaning of that Act) of the land.

(9) Where an order is made under this section, any assets vested by the order that immediately before the commencement of the order were standing registered in the books of any bank, corporation or company or were entered in any register kept in pursuance of any enactment in the names of the former trustees of the scheme concerned shall, upon production after such commencement of a copy of the order sealed with the seal of the Board, be transferred into the names of the new trustees of the scheme.