Advisers criticize U.K. pension rules: laws will deter formations, they say. (National Association of Pension Funds against Pensions Act 1995's regulations)

LONDON - U.K. pension advisers contend that new regulations designed to protect occupational pension plans are so onerous that they will deter the formation of new plans and put the advisers out of business.

The Pensions Act 1995, promulgated in the wake of the Maxwell scandal in which the former press baron swindled his companies' pension funds of millions of pounds, became effective April 6. On the same day, a new government agency, the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority, began regulating pensions.

Although the new law generally has been welcomed as offering greater protection for members of occupational pensions, the complexity of the accompanying …