(This archived guidance relates to HMRC discretionary
practice before the 6th April 2006. For current guidance on
Registered Pension Schemes see the Registered Pension Schemes
Manual)
With a retirement benefits scheme the employer must declare
the trust and set aside assets to be held by a trustee, who may be
the employer, on trust for the members. The terms of the trust must
ensure that the scheme assets are alienated from the employer who
set up the scheme. This separation of interests is fundamental to
the basic concept that a trust is an arrangement under which a
person (or group of persons) holds property for the benefit of
others. More particularly, in a pension scheme it provides better
security for the benefits than if the funds were part of the
employer's assets.
