EUROPE - Increased reporting on debt has been introduced by the third compromise version of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive released today by the Swedish Presidency of the European Council.

US - The City of New Haven's Employee Retirement Fund (NHERF) has invested US$8m in a hedge fund replication strategy based on exchange traded funds (ETFs) marking the scheme's first foray into hedge funds.

IRELAND - A construction company has pleaded guilty to deducting pension contributions from its workers but failing to deposit the funds into the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS).

ITALY - The Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza dei Giornalisti Italiani has hit back at media reports which recently indicated the pension fund for Italian journalists was in financial troubles.

GLOBAL - Asset managers and pension plan sponsors are putting working on putting more focus on stress testing and identifying the underlying drivers of risk and return across asset classes in a major overhaul of risk management practices, a new survey...

US/UK - A US law firm is advising European pension funds and institutional investors to opt out of the US class action against Royal Bank of Scotland and to seek damages in the UK.

EUROPE - The Institutional Money Market Funds Association (IMMFA) is set to implement tighter rules for its members on maturity, credit quality, liquidity and disclosure.

AUSTRALIA - Total estimated assets held by superannuation funds grew by A$114.5bn (US$104.7bn) to a total of A$1.2trn, an increase of 10.6%, data by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) revealed.

CANADA - The Ontario government has proposed a number of changes to the employment pension system in what could be the most far reaching reform in the last two decades.

IRELAND - Ireland is set to create a separate single pension scheme for all new entrants to the public service in a bid to reduce the state's pension bill, minister of finance Brian Lenihan said yesterday during the presentation of the 2010 Budget.