Latest on Regulation & Reform – Page 457
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Collapsed scheme compensation case to go to full hearing
UK – Pension campaigners, challenging the government’s refusal to compensate members of collapsed occupational pension schemes, have won the right for a full hearing next year, a High Court judge has ruled.
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Eumedion welcomes moves on changes to shareholder voting
NETHERLANDS – Eumedion, the Dutch foundation for corporate governance issues, which is supported by pension funds, says that its members will follow the strategy whereby though shares are loaned the pension funds will keep their voting rights.
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Audit Commission says London pension fund admin too expensive
UK – “The average administration cost per London council scheme member is £126 (€188) compared to only £44 for metropolitan council funds,” the Audit Commission finds in its study on London council pension funds.
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Survey finds Swiss funds content with own governance
SWITZERLAND – Swiss pension funds feel that there are no major shortcomings in their corporate governance and that the government need not need tighten their regulation.
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TFR transfer agreement could be €5bn boost to Italian pension funds
ITALY - A compromise reached in Italy will see approximately one third of the €19bn expected yearly in severance payments (TFR) being transferred into private pension funds, one third going into a state pension fund (INPS) and one third staying with small companies, the government estimates.
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Germany excludes housing from REITs
GERMANY – The German finance ministry has abruptly decided to exclude residential housing from German real estate investment trusts (G-REITs), due to be legalised by the government from January 1, 2007.
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EU Commission report to analyse UCITS
BELGIUM – The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market and Services is looking to commission a €600k comparative analysis of investment funds in the European Union.
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€30bn London fund merger proposed
UK – A new report will suggest merging London pension schemes into one or two funds with a combined value of approximately £20bn (€30bn), according to a newswire report.
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Dutch government confirms FTK requirements
NETHERLANDS – The Dutch Minister of Social Affairs Aart Jan de Geus will adopt some of the stricter FTK-requirements for the financial supervision of pension funds made by De Nederlandsche Bank.
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MEPs, industry gather to discuss portability
EUROPE - The European Commission's proposed directive on pensions portability is to be discussed by the European Parliamentary Pensions Forum at a meeting in Brussels tomorrow.
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Dutch associations call for governance principles
NETHERLANDS - The three Dutch pension associations have asked Social Affairs minister Aart Jan de Geus to introduce the principles for pension fund governance and the participation covenant as of January 1 2008, as initially agreed.
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UK sets €1bn pension protection levy ceiling
UK – The UK government has set the Pension Protection Fund levy ceiling at £718.75bn (€1.07bn) for next year.
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Allianz to launch pan-European pensions
EUROPE – Allianz will launch a new pan-European pension fund offering later this year, the German insurer and financial service provider announced today.
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Dutch union’s new DC scheme gets go-ahead
NETHERLANDS – Trade union FNV, the largest in the Netherlands, will go ahead with its new defined contribution pension fund for self-employed members from next year.
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Woolworths pension head slams UK regulation
UK – Elisabeth Browning, group pensions manager at the £300m (€438m) Woolworths group pension scheme, has attacked UK pension regulation, calling it “crippling” and “confusing” for members.
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EU to look into French postal pension scheme
FRANCE – The European Commission will start an “in-depth investigation” into whether planned changes to the French pension scheme for public sector postal workers employed by La Poste will give the company an advantage over its competitors.
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Siemens: sacked pension manager breached code
SWITZERLAND – Siemens says Swiss pension fund manager Roland Rümmeli was fired because he breached the industrial group’s business conduct guidelines.
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Academic urges Chilean-style reform for Germany
GERMANY – A leading economist has called for Germany’s pay-as-you-go state pension system to be replaced by a Chilean-style capital-backed arrangement.
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EU says six member states at high ageing risk
EUROPE – The European Commission says the public finances of at least six EU member states are at “high risk” due to population ageing.
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EU takes Italy to court over pension directive
EUROPE – The European Commission is to refer Italy to the European Court of Justice for not transposing the occupational pension fund directive into national legislation.
