A legal case due to be fought next month between the UK's pensions regulator and the estates of two companies that have filed for bankruptcy protection, Lehman Brothers' European division and Nortel Networks, does not, as previously thought, hang on the regulator's ability to issue orders against non-UK companies.

Rather the case hinges on the timing of the regulator's order for more money to be paid into the company's pensions, according to law firm Norton Rose.