The UK's Supreme Court has ruled that the Pensions Regulator does not have the power to grant "super-priority" to pensions debts in an insolvency, in a case involving a £2.2 billion claim by retirement funds for Lehman Brothers and Nortel Networks.

Speaking this morning, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, president of the Supreme Court, said the five judges hearing the case had "unanimously" decided to allow the companies' appeals.