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Portrait ofMark Atkinson

Mark Atkinson

Partner

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

Mark Atkinson is a partner in CMS’ Pensions team. He acts for trustees and companies in relation to occupational pension schemes providing day to day advice along with leading on some of the most structural issues that impact schemes - mergers, buy-out/in, takeover of sponsors, PPF entry and contingent assets. He also acts for claimants and defendants in relation to professional negligence claims involving pension scheme advisers as well as for parties in applications for directions from the Courts.

Mark provides on going advice to many household names including Sainsbury's, BAA, Harrods and Coca Cola.

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Mark is named as a leading specialist in the pensions field ('energetic client man', 'Super-bright and extremely articulate') and pensions litigation field ('keen as mustard and extremely clever', 'Fantastic pensions litigator')

Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession and The Legal 500.

Relevant experience

  • Sainsbury’s trustees on large property based Scottish Limited Partnership.
  • Booker trustees on a seven scheme merger.
  • Headway trustees on a successful application for directions (including success defending, the first instance decision in the Court of Appeal).
  • Coca-Cola trustees on captive reinsurance transaction.
  • BAA trustees on initially hostile takeover by Ferriovial led consortium and subsequent reorganisation and refinancing.
  • Clearing banks on reorganisation of cheque clearing provider.
  • Trustees of the BMI Pension Scheme on sale of sponsor and entry into Pension Protection Fund.
  • Multiple clients (sponsors and trustees) on negotiating with the Pensions Regulator.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Past Chair, Association of Pension Lawyers
  • Associate, Pensions Management Institute
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Publications

  • Contributor to the Pensions Law Handbook (15th Edition), Bloomsbury Professional.
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Education

  • 1990 - Pembroke College, Cambridge University
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Feed

13/10/2021
Download the latest ‘CMS Pensions LawCast’ episode #31 – Pension Schemes...
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...
20/02/2020
RPI Reform: should you be taking action?
On Budget Day, currently 11 March 2020, the Government is expected to start a consultation on changing how the Retail Prices Index (RPI) is calculated. The changes could lead to a transfer in value from...
19/12/2019
Pensions on insolvency: CJEU suggests “poverty line” test in the Bauer...
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has held once again that the Insolvency Directive does not require member states to put measures in place to fully fund lost pension rights on the insolvency of an...
26/10/2018
It’s official: schemes must equalise for the effect of GMPs
The High Court has handed down an extensive, complex and keenly awaited judgment in the Lloyds Banking Group case. The Court has ruled that pension benefits must be equalised for the effect of guaranteed...
08/03/2017
Budget - rules on overseas pension transfers change tomorrow!
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has issued his first Budget. Although there had been speculation about further restrictions on pensions tax relief, these changes have not materialised...
29/11/2016
DWP launches consultation on GMP conversion and equalisation issues
The Government is finally consulting on long-trailed proposals on equalising for the effect of guaranteed minimum pensions (GMPs) in private sector occupational pension schemes, and on GMP conversion...
22/02/2016
High Court overturns Pensions Ombudsman in liberation case
The High Court has given judgment in Hughes v The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society, the first appeal from the Pensions Ombudsman Service in relation to pension liberation. Overruling the Ombudsman...
26/11/2015
Government consults on new PPF entry rules
Introduction: The Government has launched a new consultation on a number of technical and regulatory changes affecting pensions legislation. One of the proposed changes is to amend the entry rules in...
06/10/2015
Equality Act can restrict pension entitlements of civil partners and same...
The Court of Appeal has handed down its decision in Walker v Innospec, an important case about discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and whether it is permissible, in some circumstances, to...
08/07/2015
Budget 2015 - Implications for pensions
After the seismic changes to the pensions landscape announced in the 2014 budget, many people feared what the summer 2015 budget would contain for the pensions world. We knew the Lifetime Allowance was...
23/04/2015
New Ombudsman rulings on transfers to alleged liberation schemes
Hot on the heels of the industry-wide Code of Good Practice on pension scams, the Pensions Ombudsman has issued his latest determinations on so-called pension liberation. These reinforce the obligation...
16/01/2015
Ombudsman outlines approach to suspected liberation cases
The Pensions Ombudsman has published three long-awaited determinations on pension liberation, together with a wider statement on the topic. For the first time, trustees and administrators now have concrete...