The long running MG Rover Group senior pension scheme saga has finally ended, with the announcement of an £8m cash injection into the scheme.

The scheme is now expected to avoid entry into the Pension Protection Fund and provide its 100-odd members with benefits in excess of PPF levels as a result of a settlement agreement which was reached after an investigation into the scheme by the Pensions Regulator.

In December 2012, TPR issued a warning notice to MGR Capital Limited (Capital), indicating its intention to issue a financial support direction (FSD) against the company, which had been set up in 2001 to acquire the loan book of the MG Rover Group, which went into administration in 2005.
Capital entered into a members’ voluntary liquidation in 2009.

In a report on the agreement, TPR explained that it had threatened Capital with an FSD in 2012 on the basis that "the acquisition of the Loan Book could have been structured in such a way as to have been acquired by and be of benefit to MGRG instead of Capital".

TPR will no longer now seek an FSD against Capital.

Details of the case and the settlement are published today in a Section 89 report by the regulator, which can be viewed here.

The regulator’s interim chief executive Stephen Soper said he was very pleased with the settlement which he said was "substantial in this context and an excellent outcome for the scheme".

“Our involvement once again demonstrates that the regulator will not hesitate to use its powers to protect the retirement savings of scheme members and limit calls on the PPF," he said.

“It is clear that our warning notice led to productive negotiations with Capital, concluding in a settlement which achieves our joint objectives to act in the best interests of scheme members and the PPF.”

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