High Court approves the Part VII FSMA transfer of Scottish Widow's annuity portfolio to Rothesay

On 14 May 2025 the High Court approved the transfer of Scottish Widows' in-force bulk annuity portfolio to Rothesay.

The transfer completed pursuant to Part VII of FSMA, which governs the transfer of insurance business, and completes the sale announced by Scottish Widows and Rothesay in March 2024.

This transaction marks Rothesay's first acquisition of this nature since its purchase of Prudential's annuity business in 2021. The previous transfer faced significant challenges, including objections from policyholders and an initial refusal by the High Court to sanction the transfer. After a two-year delay, the Court of Appeal ultimately overturned the High Court's decision, allowing the transfer to be completed.

The current Scottish Widows transfer was sanctioned by the High Court with significantly less challenge than the Prudential transfer with only a small number of policyholder objections to the scheme raised, and the Independent Expert and both the PRA and FCA not objecting to the scheme.

Our insurance transactions team, which has advised clients on some of the largest Part VII transfers in the UK courts, is keeping a close eye on this matter and will provide updates when available on the positive implications for future Part VII transfers. We expect the sanction of the Scottish Widows transfer to provide further clarity to clients who are considering Part VII transfers and would be happy to share our insights on this. Please feel free to contact our team.