Advice in the area of occupational pension provision largely takes place in classical civil law. Thus, for example, tangierungen with tax, social security, employment and accounting law are indispensable and consequently classic fields of advice for legal advisors. However, for more than three decades, the insurance industry has been giving the impression that occupational pension provision is exclusively a product issue and that the associated legal advice is a classic ancillary business. For more information on this subject, see the section on illicit legal advice in the above-mentioned areas:
Execution of the Bundesverband der Rechtsberater für betriebliche Altersversorgung und Zeitwertkonten e. V. (Federal Association of Legal Advisors for Occupational Pension Plans and Time Value Accounts) (BRBZ) for the presentation and elimination of illicit legal advice within the framework of occupational pension schemes and working time account models.
The current jurisdiction should also make people sit up and take notice in this context: The Federal Supreme Court has definitely made it clear that legal advice in the field of occupational pensions may only be provided by licensed legal advisors. Otherwise there is a risk of liability consequences (see BGH ruling of 20.03.2008 – IX ZR 238/06; DB of 02.05.2008, p. 983 – 985). This makes it clear to the consultant or employer involved that occupational pension provision is to be regarded as a “consulting area” and not as a “product sales vehicle”.
This makes it clear to consultants operating at a high level of quality that occupational pension provision is to be regarded as a “consulting area” and a “service area” and not as a “product sales vehicle”. These conditions are also underlined by the introduction of the Retirement Income Act in 2005:
As a result, the area of occupational pension provision has undergone considerable changes, particularly with regard to the possibilities for shaping and applying this legislation in terms of labour and tax law. At the same time, the introduction of the Retirement Income Act led to a paradigm shift in the taxation of occupational retirement provision, namely away from upstream taxation towards downstream taxation. This affects in particular the insurance-based methods of implementing occupational pension schemes.
In summary, it therefore becomes clear that in the broad field of occupational pension provision, high-quality specialist knowledge is indispensable in order to be able to advise clients in a professional and task-oriented manner.
In this context, Kenston Pension GmbH, as an independent legal consulting company for company pension schemes, assumes all legal and pension consulting activities in this regard and provides its customers and clients with an all-encompassing and legally secure occupational pension back office.