The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has today published "Guidance for Trustees" [PDF]. This is designed to help trustees of pension schemes, insolvency practitioners and advisers to trustees understand their roles and responsibilities associated with managing an eligible pension scheme through the PPF's assessment process. Over the course of at least a year, the process will establish whether a pension scheme will finally enter into the PPF.

The key tests undertaken to determine whether the PPF should assume responsibility for a pension scheme are:

* whether the pension scheme can be rescued; and

* whether the actuarial valuation of the pension scheme as at the assessment date shows that the funds exceed the PPF level of protected liabilities.

The assessment period ends when there is either "a withdrawal event", or the answer to both questions is negative and a transfer notice accepting responsibility for the scheme is issued by the Board of the PPF.