Briefing paper on GMP Equalisation

On September 21, 2023, the House of Commons Library published a research briefing paper on Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) equalisation. The briefing paper is a useful reminder and covers three main areas:

1. What GMPs are, and the requirement for schemes to provide them.

2. GMP equalisation and possible approaches schemes could take.

3. The Pensions Schemes (Conversion of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions) Act 2022, which came into force last year, with the aim of amending existing legislation relating to GMPs to:

• Clarify that the legislation applies to survivors as well as earners.
• Provide for a power to set out in regulations the conditions that must be met in relation to survivors’ benefits.
• Provide for a power to set out in regulations detail about who must consent to the conversion.
• Remove a requirement for schemes to notify HMRC when they carried out a conversion exercise.

Regulations to supplement 2022 Act are still awaited.