The regulator said the trustees and Telent had agreed a number of measures designed to protect members’ interests and safeguard the future governance of the scheme.

The regulator was first alerted when trustees from the Telent scheme expressed concern in October last year, after Pension Corporation bought the former Marconi company for £400m (€495m). Three independent trustees were appointed to stop potential conflicts of interest.

As a result of the regulator’s latest decision, the board will now be made up of three company, three member nominated and three independent trustees.

“This is really a story of style over substance,” said Patrick Bloomfield, partner at Hymans Robertson.

“The regulator has focused on conflicts of interest, governance and trusteeship, rather than what Pension Corporation might actually do further down the track.

“On the one hand, the regulator is backing the UK system of trusteeship and the advisory community. But on the flip side, there is still a void about what Pension Corporation was going to do and what it was trying to achieve.”

Mr Bloomfield added that there were still questions surrounding the regulator’s actions.

“The veiled part is why the regulator is acting in this way. Simplifying this to how Pension Corporation might manage the investments, which is driving this situation, an example would be Pension Corpration taking a very risky investment strategy with a view to generating upside that pays members benefits in full, with some profit on top for Pension Corporation.

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