Latest on Regulation & Reform – Page 448
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Dismay at €1bn UK pension protection levy
UK – The Pension Protection Fund’s announcement that it plans to levy an estimated £675m (€1bn) on pension funds in 2007/8 – more than double the previous levy – has been met with dismay by commentators.
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Dutch MPs approve FTK parameters
NETHERLANDS – The Dutch parliament has approved the parameters of the new financial assessment framework for pension funds, or FTK, as proposed by Social Affairs minister Aart Jan de Geus.
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Association of British Insurers’ pension head leaves
UK – Chris Kenny, head of pensions at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), will be leaving the organisation as of tomorrow.
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Dutch Maxeda scheme eyes transfer to industry fund
NETHERLANDS – The corporate pension fund of retailer Maxeda will transfer to the €4.6bn industry wide pension fund for the retail industry (BPFD), the firm has confirmed today.
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Investment Management Association gets new chair
UK – The UK’s Investment Management Association, the asset management trade body, has named Robert Jenkins as its new chairman.
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Swiss banking watchdog rejects pensions role
SWITZERLAND – Eugen Haltiner, president of Switzerland’s banking watchdog (EBK), has rejected the notion that regulation of Swiss pension funds (Pensionskassen) would be improved if it were immediately handed over by the EBK.
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Denmark tops European pensions rankings - Aon
EUROPE – Denmark tops Aon Consulting’s new ‘European Pensions Barometer’ – with accession countries Estonia and Latvia also making the top four.
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AMF Pension issues warning on Swedish reform
SWEDEN – The Swedish pension fund AMF Pension argues that the recent pension reform will fail if the government does not put more resources into pension education and information.
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Turkey implements new pension parameters
TURKEY – The Turkish government says it will implement new pension parameters to help put its medium-term finances on a secure footing.
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PGGM confirms asset management-admin split
NETHERLANDS – The €77bn healthcare and social workers’ scheme PGGM, has officially announced the separation of its asset management and administration activities.
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DNB plans principles-based pensions supervision
NETHERLANDS – Dutch pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) will ease its supervision on pension funds, banks and insurers in favour of monitoring compliance to principles, rather than strictly regulations.
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Too much choice confusing, says ABP chief
NETHERLANDS - Pension funds should limit the freedom of choice for new collective schemes, otherwise workers will face considerable financial uncertainties, says Dick Sluimers, deputy chair of the executive board at Dutch civil service scheme ABP.
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Dutch govt says indexation text not yet mandatory
NETHERLANDS - Pension funds don’t have yet to use the exact text of the indexation matrix in the communication to their participants, Social Affairs minister Aart Jan de Geus says.
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Ex-Unilever pensions head Lewin to help DWP
UK – The Department for Work and Pensions has appointed former Unilever UK head of pensions Chris Lewin to help it cut red tape.
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Swiss court throws out pension fund lawsuit
SWITZERLAND – A court for the Swiss region of Olten has dismissed a government lawsuit against six people connected with the 1996 collapse of the Vera/Pevos pension fund – the biggest ever in Switzerland.
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Immigration won’t save European PAYG - professor
EUROPE – Immigration won’t come to the rescue of Europe’s pay-as-you-go pension systems, argues Harvard professor Martin Feldstein.
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European firms see pension risk – survey
GLOBAL – Nearly a quarter of continental European companies believe their pension plans represent a serious risk to the organisation, a survey by Mercer has found.
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Solvency II for pension directive “unclear” - FSA
EUROPE - It's still unclear whether the European Union's occupational pension fund directive will be amended to account for the Solvency II project for insurance companies, according the UK's Financial Services Authority.
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Pension funds taking on too much risk, says ECB
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has warned that underfunded pension obligations may be leading investors into taking on too much risk – especially in emerging markets and high-yield bonds.
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Groupe expects changes to assumptions under IORP
EUROPE – The Groupe Consultatif Actuariel Européen says it expects to see “significant” changes in the way discount rates and other pension fund assumptions are determined under the occupational pension fund directive.
