I have feared right from the start of the current financial crisis that we would face calls for the press to be regulated and gagged. Those fears have been realised with the publication of the Treasury Select Committee's terms of reference for its inquiry...

I have feared right from the start of the current financial crisis that we would face calls for the press to be regulated and gagged. Those fears have been realised with the publication of the Treasury Select Committee's terms of reference for its inquiry...

UK - Final salary scheme funding jumped back into a £23bn (US$34bn) surplus in November - the largest single monthly improvement on record, Aon Consulting says.

EUROPE - The European Commission has taken steps against the UK to amend legislation which denies deductibility of pension contributions paid to funds established outside Britain.

CANADA - The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has launched OMERS Strategic Investments, a new entity which will invest in a portfolio of global private companies.

GLOBAL - Hermes has endorsed the Bank of Brazil pension fund's (PREVI) Guide to Shareholders' Participation in Shareholder Meetings.

UK - RWC PARTNERS is set to launch a convertible bond fund to take advantage of pricing anomalies in the convertible bond asset class.

North Yorkshire County Council has appointed ING Real Estate to manage a global property portfolio for its pension fund.

Public sector pensions are in desperate need of reform but the Conservative party has not drawn up detailed plans on the issue, its pensions spokesman says.

Tory seeks to defuse anger over speech; Doubt cast on accounts proposal; Collapse promises huge headache for PPF; Pensions squeeze for public sector as Tories vow to end 'apartheid'; Public pensions and private cost; Rude, arrogant and just the sort of...