All articles by Jeremy Woolfe – Page 8
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: A welcome day
You can almost hear the sound of satisfied occupational pension fund representatives rubbing their hands together at the news that the IORP II Directive has been postponement.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: HFT debate hots up
The debate in Brussels on high-frequency trading (HFT) is heating up. The main forum is the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee (ECON), which in July will clarify its position with a vote.
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Opinion Pieces
EC backing for VC
Radical changes in opportunities to invest in venture capital (VC) are emerging via the EU, including in Brussels, where the European Parliament is now vetting a draft Regulation on European Venture Capital Funds. The package aims to make it easier for VC funds to raise capital from across the EU.
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Opinion Pieces
Politicians vs pensions
Two strongly divergent positions concerning the European Commission’s proposals for a financial transaction tax (FTT) have emerged in Brussels. Pension fund interests vehemently oppose the tax, while other parties, including some members of the European Parliament, take a diametrically opposite view.
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NewsCommission plans to encourage later retirement, promote funded pensions
Leaked draft of White Paper expands on points made in draft seen by IPE last year.
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Opinion Pieces
Don’t touch Article 18
Investment rules for workplace pension funds should not be harmonised at European level. At least, this is the view aired in several responses to the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s (EIOPA) call for advice (CfA) document on the revisions to the 2003 IORP Directive.
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NewsOne-third of Europeans hope to keep working beyond pensionable age – survey
EUROPE - One-third of Europeans currently employed say they would like to continue working even after they become entitled to a pension, according to a Eurostat survey announced by the European Commission. This proportion ranges from more than half of respondents in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and the UK to ...
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![IORP directive should require trustees to act with 'loyalty' [amended]](https://d3ese01zxankcs.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/7/3/2/41732_European+Commission+flags.jpg)
NewsIORP directive should require trustees to act with 'loyalty' [amended]
Member of EIOPA pensions stakeholder group says directive should hold trustees more accountable.
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Opinion Pieces
IORP under pressure
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s (EIOPA) call for advice on the subject of revisions to the EU’s 2003 IORP Directive on work-place-based pensions closes on 2 January 2012. It seeks advice on the extent to which the legislative framework should be similar to that for other financial institutions and products.
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NewsBelgian 10-year bond yields soar after fresh political setback
BELGIUM – Yields breach 5% mark – a 10-year high – after resignation of political leader Elio Di Rupo.
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NewsSolvency II: Bernardino fights his corner
Pensions luminaries give new EIOPA chairman a less-than-warm welcome in Frankurt.
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Opinion Pieces
Building sector pensions
The European Association of Paritarian Institution’s (AEIP) is working on a continent and sector-wide pension system for the building industry. Francesco Briganti, director of AEIP’s Brussels office, says it aims to create a sector-wide social scheme that could eventually pool pension contributions. Overall benefits would be the spread of best practice in this vast industrial sector.
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NewsJeremy Woolfe on the Belgian pensions system
There are many ways to skin the pensions cat – Belgium may have discovered the best one.
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NewsNext stage of IORP consultation to launch this week
EIOPA stakeholder group told of "massive" consultation, expected to launch Tuesday.
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NewsBelgian schemes see H1 returns wiped out by inflation
Belgian pension association still insists scheme results for first six months are "good".
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Opinion Pieces
Thoughtful ownership
Investment managers too often have very little understanding of the businesses in which they are investing, delegates were told at a meeting in Brussels during the launch of a new study on stewardship.
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NewsUK pension funds 'lack understanding' of companies in which they invest
Paper delivered to European lawmakers aims to fight 'short-termism' in investment.
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Opinion Pieces
Plenty on the horizon
Even without fears of a double-dip recession, the wake of the 2008 crisis is keeping European Commission financial law drafters working hard at the legislative coalface. And that was before European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, warned, early in August, that the sovereign debt crisis was spreading beyond the periphery ...
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NewsAEIP reverses previous stance, urges against use of Solvency II for IORPs
Organisation now argues existing IORP directive should be used as basis for new draft.
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Opinion Pieces
MiFID II
The European Commission is preparing its revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID I) that provides harmonised regulation for investment services. MiFID II is due to be published in September 2011, slightly delayed from the earlier deadline of July.
