All articles by Jeremy Woolfe – Page 10
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NewsBernardino confirmed as head of EIOPA
European Parliament OKs first chair of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.
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NewsMEPs decry 'sub-par' search for supervisory authority heads
Committee calls for more guarantees regarding independence of all senior executives.
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Opinion Pieces
Language barriers
Pensions terminology is a confusing mishmash and needs to be simplified. It is causing problems not just for legislators but for all those who are pushing towards comparability in the finance and pensions industries.
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NewsPension heavyweights welcome revision of IORP Directive
European commissioner Michel Barnier promises any changes to directive will take in "substance, rather than form".
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NewsBrussels shuffles pensions team
Georg Fischer to become director for social and demographic analysis.
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NewsMEP calls for immediate review of EU pension costs
EUROPE – English MEP Vicky Ford of East England has demanded a review of the €1.3bn annual budget covering pensions for the European Union's retired civil servants.
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Opinion Pieces
Deficits in focus
The EU has now made a significant concession to accommodate the demands made by eight CEE member states and Sweden in August last year for the incorporation of future pension funding shortfalls into national annual budget statistics. Their governments claimed current rules effectively punish them for having made reforms to their pension systems that involved channelling some contributions away from the state system and into private funds.
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NewsEuropean ministers back policy of 'active ageing'
EUROPE – European government ministers for employment and social policy have thrown their support behind the principle of 'active ageing'.
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Features
Stalemate ahoy
The debate on the reform of pensions and the creation of systems that are “adequate, sustainable and safe” has now moved from the European Commission and into the European Parliament. This institution is now developing its follow-on to the Commission’s Green Paper that set out a series of questions in July. But Parliament’s challenges appear to be formidable.
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NewsMoneta: EU will need €1.9trn a year for adequate pension provision
EUROPE – The EU will need to set aside more than €19trn every year if its citizens hope to receive an adequate income in retirement, according to Andrea Moneta, chief executive at Aviva Europe.
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NewsEuropean Commission must prioritise workplace pensions, says EFRP
EUROPE – The creation of more workplace pensions must be the top priority of the Brussels institutions, according to the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP).
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NewsEuropean insurers call for level playing field with pension funds
EUROPE – European insurers have called for the principle of 'same risks, same rules' to be applied to the regulations covering life insurers, institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) and mutual funds offering guaranteed benefits.
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NewsMEP slams Commission for ignoring small business in pensions Green Paper
EUROPE – Ria Oomen-Ruitjen, MEP, has slammed the European Commission's Green Paper on pensions for neglecting small and medium-sized (SMEs).
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Opinion Pieces
EIOPA: Mixed feelings
The new European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) opens its doors in 2011 with the prospect of greatly increased powers and a fivefold increase in staff in due course. EIOPA replaces the existing Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pension (CEIOPS), which is one of the three ‘level three’ ...
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NewsEC Commissioner says pension reforms may have to go further
EUROPE – Lásló Andor, the European Union's Commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion has said that while member states may well have introduced pension reforms, they may need to go further.
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NewsCEIOPS chair calls for risk and liability harmonisation
EUROPE – A common framework should be applied to pension liability and risk calculation, according to Gabriel Bernadino. chairman of the Committee European Insurance and Occupations Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS).
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NewsAIFM directive clears another hurdle
EUROPE – The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have cleared the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive at a closed meeting today.
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NewsFinance ministers approve AIFM directive
EUROPE – European finance ministers have cleared the latest version of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive, sending it off for an expected rubber stamp by the European Parliament at its plenary session in early November.
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NewsOur Man in Brussels: The Eurofi Forum's take on pension reform
EUROPE – The challenge of progressing EU pensions policy along the lines suggested in the European Commission's Green Paper may seem overwhelming.
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Opinion Pieces
IAS19 volatility danger
Perhaps unsurprisingly, pension fund representative bodies have registered their objection to the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) fair value proposals for defined benefit (DB) pension accounting. There is also backing from two major US organisations and a European one, plus general support by a second European body.
