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  1. Point in time
    2021-07-23

COMP 12A.1 Trustees and pension schemes

COMP 12A.1.1 R

1If a claimant’s claim includes a claim as:

  1. (1)

    trustee; or

  2. (2)

    the operator of, or the person carrying on the regulated activity of winding up, a stakeholder pension scheme (which is not an occupational pension scheme) or personal pension scheme,

the FSCS must treat him in respect of that claim as if his claim was the claim of a different person.

[Note: this and other rules in this section derive from provisions previously in COMP 12.6]

COMP 12A.1.2 R

If a claimant has a claim as a bare trustee or nominee company for one or more beneficiaries, the FSCS must treat the beneficiary or beneficiaries as having the claim, and not the claimant.

COMP 12A.1.3 R

If a claimant has a claim:

  1. (1)

    as the trustee of an occupational pension scheme or the trustee or operator of, or the person carrying on the regulated activity of winding up, a stakeholder pension scheme (which is not an occupational pension scheme) or personal pension scheme; and

  2. (2)

    for one or more members of a pension scheme (or, where relevant, the beneficiary of any member) whose benefits are, or include, money-purchase benefits;

the FSCS must treat the member or member scheme (or, where relevant, the beneficiary of any member) as having the claim, and not the claimant (insofar as members’ benefits are money-purchase benefits).

COMP 12A.1.4 R

If any group of persons has a claim as:

  1. (1)

    trustees; or

  2. (2)

    operators of, or as persons carrying on the regulated activity of winding up, a stakeholder pension scheme (which is not an occupational pension scheme) or personal pension scheme,

(or any combination thereof), the FSCS must treat them as a single and continuing person distinct from the persons who may from time to time be the trustees, operators or persons winding up the relevant pension scheme.

COMP 12A.1.5 R

Where the same person has a claim as:

  1. (1)

    trustee for different trusts or for different stakeholder pension schemes (which are not occupational pension schemes) or personal pension schemes; or

  2. (2)

    the operator of, or the person carrying on the regulated activity of winding up, different stakeholder pension schemes (which are not occupational pension schemes) or personal pension schemes,

COMP applies as if the claims relating to each of these trusts or schemes were claims of different persons.

COMP 12A.1.6 R

Where the claimant is a trustee, and some of the beneficiaries of the trust are persons who would not be eligible claimants if they had a claim themselves, the FSCS must adjust the amount of the overall claim to eliminate the part of the claim which, in the FSCS’s view, is a claim for those beneficiaries.

COMP 12A.1.7 R

Where any of the provisions of COMP 12A.1.1R to COMP 12A.1.6R apply, the FSCS must try to ensure that any amount paid to:

  1. (1)

    the trustee; or

  2. (2)

    the operator of, or the person carrying on the regulated activity of winding up, a stakeholder pension scheme (which is not an occupational pension scheme) or personal pension scheme,

is, in each case:

  1. (3)

    for the benefit of members or beneficiaries who would be eligible claimants if they had a claim themselves; and

  2. (4)

    no more than the amount of the loss suffered by those members or beneficiaries.

COMP 12A.2 Personal representatives, agents and joint claims

COMP 12A.2.1 R

Where a person numbers among his claims a claim as the personal representative of another, the FSCS must treat him in respect of that claim as if he were standing in the shoes of that other person.

[Note: this and other rules in this section derive from provisions previously in COMP 12.6]

COMP 12A.2.2 R

If a claimant has a claim as agent for one or more principals, the FSCS must treat the principal or principals as having the claim, not the claimant.

COMP 12A.2.3 R

If two or more persons have a joint beneficial claim, the claim is to be treated as a claim of the partnership if they are carrying on business together in partnership. Otherwise each of those persons is taken to have a claim for his share, and in the absence of satisfactory evidence as to their respective shares, the FSCS must regard each person as entitled to an equal share.

COMP 12A.3 Collective investment schemes

COMP 12A.3.1 R
  1. (1)

    If a claimant has a claim in its capacity as a collective investment scheme, or anyone who is an operator, depositary, manager or trustee of such a scheme, and the conditions in (2) are met:

    1. (a)

      the FSCS must treat the participant or participants as having the claim, and not the claimant;

    2. (b)

      COMP 12A.1.6R and COMP 12A.1.7R apply, reading “trustee” as “collective investment scheme, or anyone who is an operator, depositary, manager or trustee of such a scheme”, “trust” as “collective investment scheme” and “beneficiary” as “participant”.

  2. (2)

    The conditions referred to in (1) are:

    1. (a)

      the claim is against a relevant person:

      1. (i)

        acting in the capacity of manager or depositary of the collective investment scheme; or

      2. (ii)

        in connection with that person’s managing investments or safeguarding and administering investments; and

    2. (b)

      as a result of the matters in (a), a participant in the collective investment scheme has suffered loss but the participant has no claim for that loss against that relevant person.

COMP 12A.4 Foreign law

COMP 12A.4.1 R

In applying COMP to claims arising out of business done with a branch or establishment of the relevant person outside the United Kingdom, the FSCS must interpret references to:

  1. (1)

    persons entitled as personal representatives, trustees, bare trustees or agents, operators of pension schemes or persons carrying on the regulated activity of winding up pension schemes; or

  2. (2)

    persons having a joint beneficial claim or carrying on business in partnership;

as references to persons entitled, under the law of the relevant country or territory, in a capacity appearing to the FSCS to correspond as nearly as may be to that capacity.

[Note: this rule derives from a provision previously in COMP 12.6]

COMP 12A.5 Claims arising under COMP 3.2.4R

COMP 12A.5.1 R

If a firm has a claim under COMP 3.2.4R, the FSCS must treat each customer of the firm as having the claim for the purposes of calculating compensation within COMP 12.

[Note: this rule derives from a provision previously in COMP 12.6]