Head of Regulation & Compliance

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) & 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) 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, Michael Hickey has overseen regulation and compliance in pension and group risk schemes of all profiles and sizes with particular focus on discharging the trusts of the schemes in line with legal / governing documents (trust deeds & rules) and 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 or divorce), complex death claims, equality & equal pension treatment issues.