A new white paper published by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries is proposing new rules during defined benefit plan windups, requiring higher solvency ratios for members who are retired and lower ones for those at earlier stages in their careers. “This paper suggests that retiree pensions would be better protected if the solvency funding regime framework […]
A total of $0.9 billion in group annuity sales were placed in Canada in the first quarter of 2019, roughly in line with the same period last year, when sales reached $1 billion in the first quarter of the year, according to a quarterly update from Willis Towers Watson. In the first quarter of 2019, […]
Generally, when a pension plan goes through a solvency or hypothetical windup valuation, the actuaries will value some of the expected liabilities as commuted lump-sum payments and some as annuity payments. When valuing the annuity portion, plan actuaries often use a proxy method based on guidance from the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. Instead of this […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is introducing regulations amending the assessment of pension plans on April 1, 2019. The amendments aim to streamline the process and eliminate assessments for certain terminated pension plans, noted a release from the OSFI. In July 2018, it consulted with plan administrators about the proposed amendments, with no concerns or objections […]
Sears Canada Inc. retirees are facing clawbacks to their pensions due to 10 months of overpayments. Since October 2017, the retailer’s former employees have been receiving 100 per cent of their entitlement, rather than the reduced rate that aligns with the plan’s underfunded status. Morneau Shepell Ltd., the firm overseeing the plan’s windup process, originally […]
Representative counsel for Sears Canada Inc.’s retirees has sent a letter to the monitor, FTI Consulting Inc., and all parties involved in the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings asserting their first priority claim against the company’s estate on behalf of pension members. In the letter sent recently, Andrew Hatnay, a partner at Koskie Minsky LLP, wrote that […]
The Ontario Superintendent of Financial Services has selected Morneau Shepell Ltd. to take over the administration of Sears Canada Inc.’s pension plan. Following the announcement earlier this month that the company will seek a liquidation order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the superintendent has determined a plan windup is inevitable, according to a […]
The Ontario Superior Court has postponed a motion by Sears Canada Inc. retirees and employees to wind up the company’s defined benefit pension plan. On Tuesday, Justice Glenn Hainey issued an order noting the court wouldn’t hear the motion before Nov. 30, 2017 but suggesting it would otherwise “proceed as expeditiously as possible.” In the meantime, he […]
New draft regulations published in Quebec this summer address policies around annuity purchases for defined benefit pension plans for the first time. Industry stakeholders have been expecting the province’s regulations, which are currently under consultation, since Jan. 1, 2016, when Quebec implemented legislative changes that replaced its solvency regime with enhanced going-concern funding rules and required […]
While the motion by Sears Canada Inc. retirees to force a windup of the company’s pension plan is in line with a significant body of jurisprudence from the Supreme Court of Canada, that’s not to say there’s any certainty of success. Ultimately, the decision is in the hands of an Ontario Superior Court judge, who enjoys wide discretion. […]