Investment

UK/Spain - A merger deal between British Airways and Iberia, the Spanish airline, could be terminated should BA be unable to reach a funding arrangement with its scheme trustees.

US - The New York Times Co. will freeze its defined benefit plan for non-union employees and management at year-end in a move that will save the company over US$130m, the firm said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert - the French minister of finance under King Louis XIV - is said to have observed "the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing".

It would be a "huge wasted opportunity" should the crumbling political consensus lead to the abandonment of the 2012 pension reforms, the EEF says.

A merger deal between British Airways and Iberia, the Spanish airline, could be terminated should BA be unable to reach a funding arrangement with its scheme trustees.

The National Association of Pension Funds has written to FTSE350 companies urging executive pay restraint.

EEF head of employment policy David Yeandle talks to Jenna Towler about the rocky road of political consensus and how important it is for pension reforms to stay the course

SPAIN - Assets under management of pension funds falling under the individual system category decreased 0.63% during the month of October, data from research company VDOS Stochastics revealed.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund is expected to be fully funded by 2014, its chief executive Alan Rubenstein said.

UK - British Telecom's pension deficit of £6.8bn (US$11.2bn) could affect the wholesale prices charged to its competitors, following a review to be undertaken by Ofcom.