The Pensions Regulator has dropped its probe into whether Johnston Press used a controversial insolvency procedure to dump 300m in pension liabilities on the industry lifeboat fund.
The UK regulator opened an investigation in November after Johnston, the publisher of the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post, used a pre-pack insolvency to keep the business afloat.
Pre-packs are legitimate insolvency procedures which allow a business to go into administration, with the assets then sold on to a new buyer, minus liabilities, such as pension debt.
Once a company is insolvent, its pension scheme becomes eligible for transfer to the industry-backed Pension Protection Fund (PPF), where members face cuts to their retirement income.
The administrators o…
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