Pensions Team

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You can rely on top level

expertise of our lawyers and

benefit from their long standing

experience in all legal fields

related to pensions.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

Pensions Team

The pensions team at Loyens & Loeff is a multidisciplinary team of lawyers,

offering full service and top level expertise, giving clients the benefit of many

years of experience in the industry. Each team member is a renowned expert

in his or her field of the law. Their combined know-how and expertise covers all

aspects of first, second and third pillar pensions. It includes the different aspects

of

• the prudential and regulatory legal framework applicable to pension funds,

mutual funds and to life insurance companies, both at national and European

level;

• financial law, project financing and all other legal aspects relating to the

management of pension assets;

• tax, VAT and international taxation of pension investments;

• life insurance laws and captives;

• social and labour laws;

• national and international accounting standards;

• pensions in M&A and other corporate restructuring projects;

• corporate governance regulations;

• public procurement regarding pension services for clients in the public

sector;

• investments in real estate projects; privacy law and pension data protection;

• antidiscrimination legislation and legal proceedings;

• life insurance agencies and distribution;

• pension and succession planning;

• pension harmonization processes;

• insolvency laws;

• securities litigation and arbitration and the regulatory and employment

framework of pensions in the public sector.

The lawyers of the pensions team in Brussels work together with the pensions

lawyers in the other L&L offices, in particular with their colleagues in Rotterdam,

Amsterdam and Luxembourg, and offer cross-border pensions advice and

assistance to clients.

The lawyers of the pensions

team in Brussels work

together with the pension

experts of our offices in

Rotterdam, Amsterdam and

Luxembourg and offer cross-

border pension advice and

assistance to our clients.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

Your Activities• You are a pension fund or an IORP (institution for occupational retirement

provision), a life insurance company, a mutual or mutual fund, and you

operate pension schemes in an increasingly complex regulatory and

prudential environment. You provide pensions to the benefit of the workforce

of your sponsoring companies or industries or to self-employed individuals

or other individual workers and persons. You act as a long term investor in

challenging financial markets and you are looking for prudent tax optimized

investment returns, in accordance with EU and Belgian regulations and

international treaties. You want your governance structure to meet all legal

requirements and you are looking for a legally compliant administration

of the schemes, while simultaneously seeking to manage costs and offer

transparency to the workers and (future) retirees. You wish to be kept

informed of new developments in the market, including new financial

markets opportunities, as well as of changes in the legal framework. You

come to Loyens & Loeff for simple, creative and practical solutions which

allow you to succeed in achieving your objectives. You continuously strive

to offer top level service to your sponsors and to the pension scheme

participants and, to that end, you wish to be able to rely on efficient and

readily available know-how and expertise. You want your L&L pensions

team to be able to defend your interests before the courts and vis-à-vis the

regulatory (prudential) and tax authorities. You also count on them to enable

you to easily meet the fit and proper requirements for your directors and

staff.

• You are a life insurance company and you operate life insurance contracts.

In addition to staying abreast of new financial market opportunities and

changes in the legal, regulatory and tax environment, you are looking for

guidance from your L&L pensions team when searching for new products

and developing alternative operational structures. You count on L&L for

independent legal compliance advice and you use our legal audits to

strengthen your market position and to validate your products. You expect

L&L to make recommendations on the basis of its audits and to inform you

of new or developing legislation. You rely on L&L to defend your interests

before the courts or in arbitration proceedings and to represent you in your

relations with the competent authorities.

We assist industry wide

organizations and not-for-profit

associations with respect to

their pension activities.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

• You are a company, in the private or public sector, in Belgium or abroad, and

you offer your workers and directors an occupational pension scheme and

coverage against biometric risks (death, disability, longevity, dependency,

old age) as part of a competitive global compensation package. You want

to ensure that your benefit schemes comply with all applicable social

and labour laws and you want to benefit from all possible tax incentives.

Moreover, you expect advice on plan designs which limit the corporation’s

financial, legal and tax exposure. You look for expert assistance which

covers all legal, social and labour, tax and (international) accounting aspects

of your benefit schemes. You expect your lawyers to actively support the

pension scheme operations and to make recommendations regarding

possible improvements. You rely on your L&L pensions team to assist you

in the negotiations with your workers and their representatives, as well as

in your relationship with the competent prudential and tax authorities and

with your subcontractors. You want the potential impact of reorganisations,

mergers and acquisitions, transfers and delocalisations to be proactively

assessed, with due consideration being given to HR concerns and all

different legal aspects (tax, prudential, insurance, accounting, social and

labour, corporate, regulatory and European law). You want your L&L

pensions team to defend your interests before the courts as well as in your

relations with all competent authorities and administrations (social security,

bank, prudential, accounting and tax authorities). When working with your

L&L pensions team, compliance of your pension schemes within the legal,

tax and regulatory framework should no longer be one of your concerns.

• You are a service provider to the pension industry. You are an insurance

company, a bank, an asset manager, an administrator, a project developer

wishing to engage in investment structures with pension funds, an internal

or external audit firm, a compliance officer, an international administration

platform organiser, an investment fund, or more generally, a company,

authority or a not-for-profit organization which provides services to or

engages in contractual or financial agreements with pension funds, mutuals

or mutual funds, insurance companies or corporations regarding pension

assets and liabilities. You want an independent advisor to review, label

and support your services and establish contracts as “IORP/life insurance

company/mutual fund- compliant”. At your request, your L&L pensions team

carries out regular independent legal audits and makes recommendations to

improve or adapt your contracts and the performance of your activities.

Our clients include companies

of the private and public

sector and several Belgian

and European pension funds

(IORPs), mutual funds and life

insurance companies.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

Our ClientsThe companies and organizations which we serve are active both in the private

and in the public sectors. Companies, corporations and other organizations,

which act as sponsors of pension schemes, call upon our services to assist

them in the setting up, the management and the operation of their pension

schemes. We offer them guidance and practical assistance in the implementation

of all their pension projects and other strategic projects which may impact their

pension schemes and pension institutions.

Our clients include several Belgian and European pension funds (IORPs),

mutual funds and life insurance companies, as well as pension service providers.

They seek our assistance in different aspects of the operation of their pension

schemes and we support them in acting prudently and in developing pragmatic

and creative solutions, new structures and new products.

We assist industry wide organisations and not-for-profit associations with respect

to their pension activities. We help them in the day to day operations of their

pension schemes and in their relations with pension providers and with the

authorities.

Our clients have operations in Belgium and abroad.

We can represent our clients

before the civil, criminal and

administrative courts.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

Our ExpertiseOur expertise covers both advisory work on all pensions related issues as well

as litigation work. We render advice in pension related matters, issue opinions

and opinion letters, create IORPs and dissolve pension institutions, give practical

guidance and assistance in the implementation of specific projects, negotiate

with Belgian, European and foreign authorities and administrations as well

as with subcontractors, workers representatives, employer’s federations and

unions, organise transfers, splits and mergers of pension institutions, perform

legal audits and issue compliance reports, present projects to shareholders

meetings, board of directors and works councils, take care of the corporate

housekeeping and defend the interests of our clients before the courts in

legal proceedings. We can represent our clients before the civil, criminal and

administrative courts. We have also acted before the Court of Justice of the

European Union in pension litigation.

A multidisciplinary approach brings the

know-how and experience together

and allows the team to offer a full

service advice and assistance to

clients for all questions relating to first,

second and third pillar pensions.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

Matters handled• Cross-border IORP: we created a new OFP with cross-border activities. We

also organized, for other clients, cross-border transfers into Belgian OFPs.

We assist several international groups of companies and service providers in

the development of their cross-border pension projects.

• Harmonisation of pension schemes: we implement harmonisation processes.

• Changes to pension schemes: we assist several companies in implementing

new or modified pension schemes, switching from a DB to a DC scheme,

transforming it into a cafeteria scheme, converting a DC into a cash balance

scheme and we plan and implement other plan changes.

• Insolvency and deficits: we defend clients in a liquidation procedure of an

insurance company and we assist IORPs in establishing recovery plans.

• Industry wide pensions: we assist social partners at industry level in the

creation and operation of their pension schemes and pension institution.

• Accounting standards: we advise on new pension plan designs in order to

enable corporations to improve the control of their pension liabilities and

avoid negative impact on their market value.

• Pension assets management: we draft IORP-compliant asset management

documents and develop opportunities for pension institutions to participate in

project financing and public private partnerships.

• Tax: we advise on tax treaty structuring of investment proceeds.

• Public sector: we advise public sector employers regarding their first pillar

and second pillar pension schemes.

• Antidiscrimination: we advise and defend clients in antidiscrimination claims.

• New insurance products: we aid insurance companies to develop and launch

new life insurance products.

• M&A projects: we perform due diligence audits and draft reports and pension

schedules for M&A purchase agreements.

• Negotiations with workers representatives: we attend works council

meetings, make presentations, draft minutes and draft collective bargaining

agreements.

• Corporate governance and the fit & proper requirement: we make

recommendations for improving or adapting the governance structure of

pension institutions, at national and European level. We give training to

pension fund directors and social partners.

We closely follow up market

opportunities and create new

products and structures in

order to support the future

growth of your business.

Pensions Loyens & Loeff

Loyens & LoeffLoyens & Loeff is a leading independent full service law firm offering its

clients integrated legal and tax advice in all aspects of their business. As a

client of Loyens & Loeff, you receive practical assistance and guidance in

the development of your activities. We ensure that the lawyers of your team

know and understand your business and the market in which you operate. We

continuously invest in your industry. To that end, we closely follow up market

opportunities and create new products and structures in order to support the

future growth of your business. You can rely on top level expertise of our lawyers

and benefit from their long standing experience in all legal fields. We offer you

full service legal support so that you can concentrate on your core business .

Our lawyers are at your service.

The principles of high quality of service, involvement in your business and in your

industry, pragmatic solutions to complex legal and tax issues, transparency and

short-line communication are at the foundation of our firm.

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Loyens & Loeff CVBA/SCRL - Rue Neerveldstraat 101-103, 1200 Brussels - 0821.233.870

Loyens & Loeff

Woluwe Atrium

Rue Neervedstraat 101-103

1200 Brussels

Belgium

T +32 2 743 43 43

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