This week's top stories included an accountant admitting fraud and making employer-related investments in the latest criminal prosecution pursued by The Pensions Regulator.

A panel of industry professionals, led by Stephenson Harwood, discusses how the quarterly trustee meeting can be improved. James Phillips explores the suggestions

Defined benefit (DB) scheme consolidator Clara Pensions has appointed Steve Groves to its corporate board.

An accountant who acted as a trustee and administrator to pension schemes has pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud and two counts of making employer-related investments.

Law Debenture has reported a surge in revenue from its pensions business in 2018, thanks to a "considerably increased number" of defined contribution (DC) appointments.

The Interserve Pension Scheme has recognised a £70.6m reduction in liabilities after swapping the index used to uprate benefits.

Professional trustees will be expected to apply for accreditation in the near future as a regulator-backed working group has published a set of seven standards against which they will need to demonstrate compliance.

The Merseyside and Tyne & Wear pension funds have joined as limited partners in the final investment round of Hearthstone Investment Management's ten-year closed-ended private equity fund.

Asset servicing bank CACEIS has conditionally agreed to acquire KAS Bank for €188m (£163m) to boost its product offering to institutional investors across Europe.

Smaller schemes should be given more time to prepare data for the pensions dashboard while larger counterparts should be brought on earlier, this week's Pensions Buzz respondents say.