Latest on Regulation & Reform – Page 349
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NewsHutton's interim report receives warm welcome from industry
UK – Lord Hutton's interim report on UK public sector pension reform has generally been welcomed by the pensions industry, with commentators recognising the difficult balancing act between protecting employees' pension rights and ensuring the system is sustainable and affordable.
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NewsLord Hutton sets sights on 'fundamentally unfair' final salary pensions
UK – The UK government has published its interim report on public sector pensions reform, setting out the case for ending final salary benefits and moving to provision based on career averages.
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NewsUK pensions minister to make decision on NEST 'within days'
UK – Pensions minister Steve Webb has sought to separate the introduction of auto-enrolment from that of NEST, saying the UK coalition government remained committed to auto-enrolment, but that he would announce his decision on NEST shortly.
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NewsTPR transfer guidance creates dilemma for trustees, says Mercer
UK – The UK Pensions Regulator's draft guidance on transfer incentive exercises may create unrealistically high expectations of trustees, Mercer has warned.
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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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NewsATP, LD get green light on conducting banking, credit and insurance activities
DENMARK – Legal changes in Denmark will boost the business power of pensions institutions ATP and LD, paving the way for them to run banking, credit and insurance activities, as well as their pensions operations.
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NewsDutch authorities' pension decisions risk hurting economy, says APG's Kemna
NETHERLANDS – Politicians and supervisors must understand short-term supervisory decisions for pension funds' investment policies could damage the Dutch economy, according to Angelien Kemna, chief investment officer of the €250bn asset manager APG.
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NewsAP7's Peter Norman to become Sweden's financial markets minister
SWEDEN – Peter Norman, executive president at AP7, the Seventh National Pension Fund in Sweden, is set to replace Mats Odell as the country's minister for financial markets.
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NewsRobust pensions system may require loss of benefits, says DWP committee member
UK – A member of the select committee for the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said a loss of benefits would be acceptable if it meant keeping pension schemes working.
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NewsIncreasing Dutch retirement age by 2020 is 'too little too late'
NETHERLANDS – The increase of the Dutch state pension AOW age from 65 to 66 in 2020 is "too little and far too late" to counter the financial impact of an ageing population, according to Sweder van Wijnbergen, economist at Amsterdam University.
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NewsStorebrand to offer 'flexible' DB pensions despite 2011 deadline
EUROPE – Corporate pensions provider Storebrand is on track to offer a breed of flexible defined benefit (DB) pension when Norway's new pension legislation comes into force in January 2011, despite the very tight deadline.
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NewsEC debt rules still 'inadequate' for countries reforming pension systems
EUROPE – The Polish finance minister has called new proposals for how pension debt is calculated as part of a country's annual debt level "inadequate".
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NewsUK roundup: Baker Tilly, Legal & General, Scottish Widows, Horwath Clark Whitehill
UK – The biggest challenge facing UK trustees, according to Baker Tilly's 2010 confidence survey, is their pension schemes' deficit recovery plans – ahead of both investment strategy and longevity risk.
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NewsDutch fund PME sticks to recovery plan without rights cuts
NETHERLANDS – The board of the €22bn pension fund for the Metalektro (PME) has insisted it can recover its financial position without cutting its participants' rights.
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NewsUK pensions regulator faces legal challenge from Nortel, Lehman Brothers
UK – The Pension Regulator (TPR) is facing a legal challenge from Lehman Brothers and Nortel Group over two Financial Support Directions (FSD) totalling £2.3bn.
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NewsSwiss roundup: Complementa, Swisscanto, second-pillar reform
SWITZERLAND – The true amount of asset management fees paid by Swiss Pensionskassen is unclear and difficult to compare, according to consultancy Complementa.
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NewsUK roundup: Arnold Laver Pension Scheme, Pension Insurance Corporation, PPF, NAPF, KPMG
UK – Trustees of the Arnold Laver Pension Scheme have entered into a pension insurance buyout deal with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).
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NewsIrish DB pension schemes at 'tipping point', says Mercer
IRELAND – Defined benefit pension schemes in Ireland have reached the "tipping point", and the government will need to take urgent action to save them, according to Mercer.
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NewsRegulatory pressure to invest in bonds could kill economy, says Belgium's Neyt
EUROPE – Europe is running the risk of "killing" its own economy by applying regulatory pressure on pension funds to make them invest in bonds, according to Philip Neyt, president of the Belgian Association of Pension Institutions.
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NewsSwisscanto justifies pension funding statistics
SWITZERLAND – Swisscanto has defended its figures on funding levels of Swiss Pensionskassen, saying divergences with official stats can be explained by differing samples and methods.
