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Jennifer Bell

Partner

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English

Jennifer is a partner in the Pensions team. Jennifer’s experience includes general advisory work covering all aspects of occupational pensions for both sponsoring employers and trustees. She advises scheme documentation, scheme mergers, and the pensions aspects of corporate transactions and restructurings, including major outsourcing programmes and dispute resolution. She has also advised on complex scheme restructurings and drafted and negotiated innovative funding guarantees with overseas parents.

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"She's got this happy knack of being on top of her brief and having a style and tone that brings people with her."

Client Feedback on Chambers & Partners

Relevant experience

  • Advising trustees on complex scheme restructurings and scheme mergers.
  • Advising employers on scheme closures and restructurings.
  • Day to day advice to trustees of pension schemes on a wide range of topics including in particular funding issues arising out of the Pensions Act 2004 Statutory Funding Objective, negotiation of both standard PPF format and scheme-specific funding guarantees and other contingent assets, discretionary trusts payments, ill health early retirement, Finance Act 2004 issues, pension sharing on divorce, IDR and Ombudsman complaints, MNT/MND requirements and conflicts of interest.
  • Advising on the legal issues in DC Schemes including those arising out of the introduction of new and changes to existing DC investment options, trustee protections and DC Governance.
  • Negotiation of investment management agreements with fund managers and investment policies with providers including L&G, BGI, Fidelity and PIMCO.
  • Advising on Pension Protection Fund Guarantees and security issues, including extension of PPF guarantees.
  • Advising on issues arising out of the winding up of pension schemes and securing of member benefits, including trustee insurance, benefit specifications, trustee disclosure requirements; buy ins and buy outs.
  • Advising on company takeover issues as impacting on pension schemes and negotiating security for pension scheme trustees.
  • Advising on corporate restructurings and making clearance applications, negotiating re flexible apportionment arrangements and related documentation; advising trustees in connection with a regulated apportionment arrangement agreed with TPR and the PPF.

Litigation experience

  • Denny v Yeldon as the fourth defendant in an action challenging removal and appointment of Independent Trustees; Hoover Ltd v Hetherington and The Hoover Trust Fund (1987) Ltd [2002] relating to interpretation of early retirement wording for deferred members and employer consent requirement; Pitmans v The Telecommunications Group Plc [2004] relating to the application of s75 to multi-employer schemes; IBM UK Pensions Trust v IBM UK Holdings and Others [2012] relating to the rectification of Scheme deeds back to 1983 and most recently IBM v S Dalgleish, L Harrison and IBM UK Pensions Trust [2014].
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Memberships & Roles

  • Full Member, Association of Pension Lawyers
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Publications

  • Editor of and Contributor to the Pensions Law Handbook (16th Edition), Bloomsbury Professional
  • Editor of and Contributor to the Pensions Law Handbook (15th Edition), Bloomsbury Professional
  • Editor of and Contributor to the Pensions Law Handbook (13th Edition), Bloomsbury
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Education

  • 1989 – B.A. (Hons) Oxon
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Feed

09/10/2023
CMS launches 16th edition of the Pensions Law Handbook
CMS is delighted to announce the launch of the 16th edition of the Pensions Law Handbook, the definitive guide to pensions law and practice in the UK. Written by the CMS pensions team, it is an essential...
13/02/2023
Advising the Board on Pension Risk
Directors’ risk report Following a number of high-profile pension scheme failures, the Pensions Reg­u­lat­or (“TPR”) has been given a greater arsenal of powers to bring companies and in­di­vidu­als...
30/11/2022
Tune into the latest ‘CMS Pensions LawCast’ episode #44 - Pensions Dashboards...
Hosted by CMS Pensions experts this series looks ahead at the key issues developing in the pensions sector with a specific focus on what you need to know, and practically, what you need to do.In this...
30/06/2022
Download the latest ‘CMS Pensions LawCast’ episode #40 – Pension sharing...
Hosted by CMS Pensions experts this series looks ahead at the key issues developing in the pensions sector with a specific focus on what you need to know, and practically, what you need to do. In this...
02/11/2021
Trustee Knowledge Update: August - October 2021
Trustees of occupational pension schemes have a statutory duty to ensure that they have an adequate knowledge and understanding of the legal issues relevant to their scheme. They must also ensure that...
11/02/2021
The Pension Schemes Act 2021 arrives
Over a year since it appeared in Parliament, the Pension Schemes Act has received Royal Assent. The Act arms The Pensions Regulator (TPR) with sweeping civil and criminal powers; introduces new climate...
27/10/2020
Download the latest ‘CMS Pensions LawCast’ episode #12 – Pensions Regulator...
Hosted by CMS Pensions experts this series looks ahead at the key issues developing in the pensions sector with a specific focus on what you need to know, and practically, what you need to do. In this...
30/01/2019
CMS launches 14th edition of the Pensions Law Handbook, amid significant...
CMS is delighted to announce the launch of the 14th edition of the Pensions Law Handbook, the definitive guide to pensions law and practice in the UK. Written by the CMS pensions team, it is an essential...
07/03/2017
Survivors' benefits: nomination requirement unlawful
This article was produced by Nabarro LLP, which joined CMS on 1 May 2017. The Supreme Court has recently considered the case of Brewster concerning pension rights for surviving cohabiting partners. It...
12/01/2017
Pension liberation: new restriction on transfer rights
This article was produced by Nabarro LLP, which joined CMS on 1 May 2017. Following on from the Autumn State­ment­con­sulta­tion, the DWP and HM Treasury have issued looking at three aspects of pension liberation...
28/10/2016
Master trusts: greater protection for members
This article was produced by Nabarro LLP, which joined CMS on 1 May 2017. The Pension Schemes Bill 2016 – published on 20 October – includes new regulatory requirements for master trusts. These provisions...
24/06/2016
Pension schemes and Brexit: what happens now?
This article was produced by Nabarro LLP, which joined CMS on 1 May 2017. With the referendum result confirming a UK withdrawal from the European Union what, if anything, should pension scheme trustees...