Expertise
We are masters of every facet of pension law. We provide advice and litigate on the following aspects (and others):
- changes to (pension) contracts, varying from pension agreements to pension plans and management agreements;
- disputes on the operational ambit of compulsory sectoral pension funds (operational ambit and exemption from compulsory membership);
- collective value transfers of pensions, buy-outs and liquidation processes;
- interpretation disputes on surcharges/indexation;
- pension law and tax;
- pension insurances;
- outsourcing;
- mergers of pension funds and different pension providers;
- setting up general pension funds and premium pension institutions;
- pension aspects on company mergers and takeovers;
- governance with pension funds, such as management models;
- disputes with the supervisory authorities DNB and AFM;
- employee participation;
- equal treatment.
Our clients
We work for businesses, pension funds, insurers, law firms, works councils, accountability bodies, stakeholder bodies, management organisations and financial advisers. We also work closely alongside mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyers for certain transactions.
If necessary, we can call on an extensive network of top independent advisers – such as actuaries, civil-law notaries and accountants – so that we can offer a fully integrated service.
Our expertise
We work for businesses, pension funds, insurers, law firms, works councils, accountability bodies, stakeholder bodies, management organisations and financial advisers. We also work closely alongside mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyers for certain transactions.
If necessary, we can call on an extensive network of top independent advisers – such as actuaries, civil-law notaries and accountants – so that we can offer a fully integrated service.
Advice
We advise businesses, pension managers, management organisations, works councils, stakeholder and accountability bodies and lawyers, using clear language, on the legal and practical aspects of pension plans.
Lots of lawyers offer ‘advice’ by summarising the possible outcomes, after a lengthy introduction, and then rounding things off with a disclaimer. This “hit and miss” approach to advice lobs the ball straight back into the client’s court. And it’s then the client who has to check things out.
Our specialist knowledge of pension law lets us offer clarity. We answer many (legal) questions with a simple “yes” or “no”, albeit backed up by a thorough justification.
The way we offer advice is not unique, but it is rare. Our advice is based exclusively on the question asked by the client. We provide our opinion, even if we have to answer the legal question based on open standards. To provide an opinion in these cases requires knowledge and experience: knowledge of pension law and experience as lawyers. And that is exactly the profile where we fit in.
Litigation
Litigation places great demands on a lawyer, but also on the client. Litigation is labour-intensive, time-consuming and costly. There are good reasons why the code of conduct for lawyers stresses that an amicable solution is often preferable to court action. Litigation is sometimes unavoidable, however, in order to achieve what the client wants.
A good litigation lawyer knows all about the merits of his case, procedural law and can also put across his client’s position clearly and convincingly. He will perceive and think up strategies. We fit this profile.
We have experience with litigation at every level. In civil cases from the sub-District Court up to the Court of Appeal, in both preliminary relief proceedings and actions on the merits. In administrative law cases, we represent our clients for objections and appeals to the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (for exemption issues and against decisions by DNB) or the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State (on dispensation issues for CLAs). We also have experience with arbitrations and binding advice procedures, including as arbitrators.
Takeovers
The unusual thing about terms of employment on pensions is their external management by a pension fund or insurance company. And this unusual feature is exactly what generates complications during takeovers. In asset-liability transactions (transfers of undertaking), the starting principle is that terms of employment will also be transferred. The same applies to pensions, although there are a number of exceptions.
ON the other hand, the management of a pension plan never transfers by operation of law alone. The buyer will have to find a new pension manager or else ensure that the pension plan is (temporarily) continued with the previous pension manager. While it is only control that changes hands in share-structured transactions, they also have similar issues. For instance because a breach in the group structure prevents the continuation of a link to a company pension fund, or because the umbrella protection of a group insurance contract falls away. And, in all takeover cases, the possibility of compulsory membership of a sectoral pension fund needs to be kept an eye on.
Takeovers also offer opportunities in the field of pensions, for instance for harmonising pension plans. We are also comfortable dealing with these situations.
We have extensive takeover experience. We represent buyers and sellers (via the lawyers dealing with the transaction) in due diligence investigations, in formulating contract provisions in SPAs and APAs, and for every other imaginable aspect that might arise in takeovers involving pensions. We are fully familiar with actuarial valuations of pension obligations and the problems that arise in different jurisdictions.