The Royal Bank of Scotland's defined benefit deficit has risen to £3.9bn over 2012 in a year which saw it fall as low as £1.7bn, its final results show.

The latest set of financial results from FTSE companies has re-ignited the debate over smoothing discount rates as strong asset returns were wiped out due to falls in discount rates.

National Express has seen its schemes' overall deficit increase more than ten times despite securing a buy-in for one of its three schemes.

Equiniti is set to completely rebrand its remaining Xafinity products under the parent company's name.

The Pensions Regulator is to launch a thematic review of its common data targets next week in order to identify the level of data accuracy within the industry, with a warning it will "take action" against failings.

Engineering giant GKN has split its UK defined benefit scheme into two in its latest annual move to curtail scheme deficits and reduce risk, its 2012 final results reveal.

Taha Lokhandwala on the challenges to healthy scheme funding

The reduction in defined benefit schemes has resulted in an overall lower pensions coverage, research from Office for National Statistics shows.

Premier Foods will use the consumer prices index to calculate benefits in its RHM Pension Scheme following a 66% spike in overall deficits, its 2012 results show.

BAE Systems has agreed a £3.2bn longevity swap to cover 31,000 pensioners, in the UK's largest pensions insurance transaction.