The judgment in the 2nd instalment of the GMP equalisation litigation involving Lloyds Banking Group’s defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, has been handed down today (Friday, 20 November 2020). T… Schemes are required to equalise (for the effects of) GMP The judge (Mr. Justice Morgan) ruled that the Lloyds Schemes Trustee is “obliged to adjust the benefits payable under the Schemes in excess of the GMP in order that the total benefits … are equal.” The judgment was announced on 26 October 2018 and confirmed that GMP equalisation is required. While the judgment relates to the Lloyds Banking Group schemes, it provides a legal precedent that affects other schemes as well. More than two years on from the first Lloyds judgment, we know so much more about how GMP equalisation can be implemented – yet many schemes are still struggling to get it off the ground. In that hearing, transfers were briefly considered. DWP guidance on using the GMP conversion legislation to help address inequality, as well as HMRC and industry guidance (such as PASA’s methodology guidance ), have now gone some way to filling in the gaps. Whilst the judgment helpfully approved certain methods for achieving equalisation, some key questions were left unanswered. This could affect you if you built up a GMP between 17 May 1990 and 6 April 1997. This means some members – men and women – could get an increase to their pension. The latest piece in the GMP puzzle is the most recent instalment of the Lloyds case - dealing with transfers out and GMP equalisation. The High Court decided that we need to change how Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) are treated – known as equalisation. It provided the Trustees with a number of options for achieving this. The final judgment in the long running Lloyds Bank GMP equalisation saga looked at what this means for individual and bulk transfers that trustees have made since 17 May 1990. to court judgment on GMP equalisation ... At 10:30 am on Friday 20 November 2020 Justice Morgan issued his long awaited judgment in the latest instalment of the Lloyds Banking Group case on equalising for Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs). GMP equalisation: New year, new focus. The judge concluded that individual transfers should have been calculated on an equalised basis. The High Court has issued a long-awaited follow-on judgment in the Lloyds Bank case. The judgment suggests that many transfer payments made since May 1990 will need to be topped up, to allow for GMP equalisation. The first Lloyds decision, in November 2018, established that the trustees of formerly contracted out schemes were obliged to adjust members’ benefits for the unequal effects of guaranteed minimum pensions (GMP equalisation). The hearing relates to a former member of the scheme who transferred their benefits elsewhere - prior to equalisation - and looks at just how these members should be treated for GMP equalisation purposes. Lloyds: High Court rules on GMP Equalisation 3 What the judgement said 1. The original Lloyds judgment confirmed there was a duty to equalise, and in the summer of this year the High Court turned its attention to what that meant for historic transfers from DB schemes that provided GMP but had not equalised transfer values over the 30 years since the Barber judgment. About GMP equalisation.