CANADA - Employers can now use pension surpluses to pay defined contribution (DC) holidays after the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) reversed most of a previous ruling from the Ontario Supreme Court (OSC).

UK - Barings Asset Management has called on the UK government to establish several CalPERS style pension funds as a way of dealing with an expected £600bn civil service pensions black hole which will officially be recognised this year.

US - Citigroup has reportedly agreed to pay over US$15m to settle charges of misleading documentation and inadequate disclosure in retirement seminars for former BellSouth employees in North and South Carolina.

SMOKERS have benefited most from the steady rise in annuity rates over the past six months, new figures show.

UK - The Government has been defeated in the House of Lords after peers backed proposals to ensure fair compensation is available to thousands of pensioners of failed company pension schemes.

US - Robert Leggett has been named chief investment officer of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL).

CHINA - Hong Kong-based China Life Franklin Asset Management Co. Ltd has been launched by Franklin Templeton Investments and China Life, aiming to provide investment management and advisery services to Chinese institutional investors.

UK - Fidelity International has launched its first institutional absolute return fund aiming to help defined benefit (DB) pension plans gain access to a range of traditional and alternative investments.

SINGAPORE - The FTSE Group, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Singapore Exchange (SGX) are to launch new indices by the end of this year.

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) may have moved even closer to compulsory divestment from Iran after the passing of a new bill in the state assembly on 6...