Latest on Regulation & Reform – Page 390
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NewsNAPF updates corporate governance guidelines
[16:06 CET 18-02] UK - The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has updated its Corporate Governance Policy and Voting Guidelines urging investors to adopt a "stronger stance" on companies' application of the Combined Code.
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Expert demands state hand-outs for Pensionskassen
[16:05 CET 18-02] AUSTRIA – Austrian pension expert Johannes Rudda would like to see the federal state put money into Pensionskassen with employers being another possible source for financial aid.
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UBS adopts IAS19 accounting
[15:45 CET 17-02] SWITZERLAND – Swiss bank UBS has changed the way it is accounting for its pension assets thereby increasing the group’s assets by CHF1.6bn (€1.07bn).
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UK considers switch to DC for ministerial pensions (amended)
[17:05 CET 16-02] UK – Gordon Brown has ordered a review of final salary parliamentary pension arrangements which could see ministers moved into a defined contribution scheme.
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Pension consultants plead for levy amnesty
[16:50 CET 16-02] UK – The UK Society of Pension Consultants has claimed the UK government should grant pension schemes of companies which are in financial distress temporary amnesty from PPF levies, to enable corporate sponsors to continue their defined benefit scheme.
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Trade bodies warn against hard-hitting measures
[11:00 CET 16-02] NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension funds’ lobbying organisations have warned they will oppose any recovery measures that are could hit schemes’ participants hard, as long as it is not clear whether the consequences of the credit crunch will be lasting.
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NewsDNB to scrutinise schemes’ reporting
[16:30 CET 13-02] NETHERLANDS - Pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) intends to pay extra attention to the reliability of reporting by pension funds, as part of its supervision in 2009.
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OECD calls for pension expansion despite $5.4trn loss
[16:55 CET 12-02] GLOBAL – Private pensions across the world lost $5.4trn between January and December 2008, up from $5trn in October 2008, driven mainly by returns on US pension funds, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
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PPF guides trustees on entering lifeboat scheme
[16:00 CET 12-02] UK – As more pension scheme sponsors threaten to go bust, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published guidance to help trustees through the UK lifeboat scheme’s assessment period.
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NewsGerman ministry warned against Solvency II
[12:00 CET 12-02] GERMANY – A German ministerial committee has reiterated pension associations’ fears by arguing the introduction of Solvency II for the insurance sector could be detrimental to the financial system.
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Harbour workers ask judge to replace Optas board
[16:45 CET 11-02] NETHERLANDS – The representative body of the Dutch harbour workers (SBPVH) has today launched a lawsuit against the board of Optas through a court in The Hague.
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NewsEC lets BT off with £17m ruling
[16:00 CET 11-02] EUROPE/UK – The European Commission (EC) has ordered British Telecom to pay £16.6m (€18.5m) for withholding the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levy subsidy under the terms of the UK Crown guarantee.
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Iceland to allow 'temporary' access to 3rd pillar savings
[14:30 CET 11-02] ICELAND – The Icelandic government plans to introduce legislation allowing holders of individual pension accounts to access their savings early to meet “dire financial difficulties”.
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Mercer warns of 'less transparency' under new accounting
[11:00 CET 11-02] NETHERLANDS - Replacing the present accounting rules for unlisted Dutch companies, as proposed, could lead to a decrease in transparency, a partner at Mercer Consultants has suggested.
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Eumedion seeks end to short-selling bans
[16:00 CET 10-02] EUROPE - Eumedion, the Nethelands-based corporate governance forum for institutional investors, has called on European governments and supervisors to lift the remaining short-selling bans.
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AP1 updates ownership governance policy
[15:30 CET 10-02] SWEDEN - Första AP-fonden, (AP1), the first Swedish national pension fund, has updated its 'ownership policy' relating to how it uses active ownership to influence corporate governance issues in both Swedish and foreign companies.
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Complexity and costs have 'killed' DB
[15:15 CET 09-02] UK – An increase in “well-meaning” legislation has effectively ‘killed off’ defined benefit (DB) schemes through rising complexity and costs, experts have warned.
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Pearson pension transfers stall at calculation
[14:30 CET 09-02] UK – Hundreds of members of the Pearson Group Pension Trustee Limited are facing yet more delays to requested occupational pensions transfers, even though administrators are understood to have repeatedly indicated members’ transfer values would be calculated and dealt with months ago.
