B.Sc., LL.B., Solicitor, Pension Trustee Practitioner (PTP)
Michael Hickey is a practising solicitor, having been admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1997. He has an LL.B. in law from UCG (1994) and a B.Sc.(Hons) in Computer Science from UCC (1991). He was awarded the Certificate in Pension Law and Practice in 2014 from the Law Society of Ireland and qualified in 2019 as a Pension Trustee Practitioner (PTP). With over 25 years of legal experience in the areas of banking, commercial property, life assurance, pensions & trust law, he brings considerable experience to DTS as general counsel and as head of Regulation & Compliance. He has acted for life & pension companies, banks & pension trustees / administrators on compliance & regulatory issues, matters arising out of the Pensions Act, 1990 (as amended), IORP II and the legal formalities involved in the provision of trust / trusteeship and administrative services for life assurance and pensions.
As a professional trustee director since 2010, he has overseen regulation / compliance in pension and group risk schemes of all profiles / sizes with particular focus on discharging trusts of schemes in line with legal / governing documents (trust deeds & rules), use of trustee discretion in claims processes and benefit payments. He also deals regularly with compliance matters surrounding family law issues (Pension Adjustment Orders on judicial separation / divorce), complex death claims, equality & equal pension treatment issues.