The Pensions Regulator has warned employers not to cook up plans to dump their pension schemes. Companies have been warned they may be breaking the law if they transfer their schemes to new employers without meeting their financial obligations.
The Regulator says it has seen a number of plans to do this without making sure the pension scheme is properly funded. Pension scheme trustees(托管人)have been told to make sure employers do not get away with it. The Regulator's Chief Executive Tony Hobman said, “We are starting to see proposed corporate transactions involving schemes where the primary intent behind the transaction is for the employer to abandon the scheme.”
“We do not consider that abandonment of a scheme by its employers is usually likely to be in the best interests of scheme members,” he added.
He told trustees that they should apply an “extremely high level of scrutiny(詳細(xì)審查)” if any such plan came their way. What the Regulator is worried about are attempts to transfer a pension scheme to a new, nominal employer which in reality does not have the finances to properly support the pension scheme it is taking on.
If the scheme later runs into trouble the new employer will be in no position to avoid it.
A spokesman for the Regulator said that so far it had seen fewer than five examples of employers who had suggested abandoning their schemes this way. But the fact that such a public warning is being made is a clear indication of the dangers of what might be an emerging trend.
Section 25 of the Pensions Act 1995 says that if an employer capable of meeting financial obligations wishes to stop running a scheme altogether, then it must pay the cost of transferring it, fully funded, to an insurance company to guarantee that accrued(逐漸增加的)pensions can always be paid.
This would always be extremely expensive, even for a scheme with a surplus, because the insurance company would charge a large amount of money, based on the assumption that the pension scheme's assets would be invested largely in bonds, plus a margin for its own profit on top. However, earlier this year the Regulator gave its blessing to a plan apparently similar to the one which it is now warning against. The Regulator has refused to explain exactly why it took this decision.
1. On the issue of transferring schemes to new employers, what is the consequence if the companies fail to meet their financial obligations?
2. By saying “make sure employers do not get away with it”(Line 3, Para. 2), what does the Pensions Regulator imply?
3. According to Tony Hobman, the employers' abandonment of a scheme is often not considered _____.
4. According to the passage, the Regulator worries that the scheme may later run into trouble if the new employer could not _____.
5. If an employer wants to stop running a scheme wholly, it must pay the cost of transferring it to _____ to make sure accrued pensions can always be paid.
文章精要:
本文闡述了養(yǎng)老金的移交問題。文章提出目前養(yǎng)老金移交很可能會出現(xiàn)觸犯法律的問題,并給出了解決這一問題的相關(guān)建議:如果雇主要終止養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃,可以將其轉(zhuǎn)交給保險(xiǎn)公司以確保后續(xù)養(yǎng)老金的如期支付。
答案解析:
1. They may be breaking the law.
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段提到Companies have been warned they may be breaking the law if they transfer...without meeting their financial obligations,公司被告知,如果沒有履行經(jīng)濟(jì)職責(zé)就轉(zhuǎn)移養(yǎng)老金可能會觸犯法律。
考點(diǎn)歸納
● meet one's obligation指“履行某人的義務(wù)”,如:The contractors must meet their obligations. 立約者必須履行義務(wù)。
● meet one's needs指“滿足某人的需要”,如:The trainer will design a fitness program to meet your needs. 教練將設(shè)計(jì)一套健身課程來滿足你的需要。
2. Employers should make sure the pension scheme is properly funded.
推斷題。文章第二段一開始就提到The Regulator says it has seen a number of plans to do this without making sure the pension scheme is properly funded...make sure employers do not get away with it,即管理局說已經(jīng)看到很多沒有確保養(yǎng)老金得以完全支付就開始實(shí)施的計(jì)劃……確保雇主不會逃避支付,由此可推斷,管理局希望雇主支付養(yǎng)老金。
3. to be in the best interests of scheme members
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段提到We do not consider that abandonment of a scheme by its employers is usually likely to be in the best interests of scheme members,即我們認(rèn)為雇主放棄養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃通常不可能是為了計(jì)劃受益者的利益。
4. have the finances to support the pension scheme
推斷題。由題干中的the Regulator worries和run into trouble定位到文章第四段中部及第五段可知,管理局擔(dān)心的是如果養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃轉(zhuǎn)交至一個(gè)新的、名義上的雇主,而這個(gè)雇主卻沒有足夠的財(cái)力支持養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃的實(shí)施,以后勢必會造成不可避免的問題。
5. an insurance company
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第七段提到if an employer...wishes to stop running a scheme altogether... to an insurance company to guarantee...,即如果雇主想完全停止養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃,最好將其轉(zhuǎn)交給保險(xiǎn)公司以確保后續(xù)養(yǎng)老金的如期支付。
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