Legislation

US - BlackRock Inc. and the largest US business lobby groups are fighting to strike a provision in the regulatory-overhaul legislation that they say could harm millions of investors in retirement plans and pension funds.

NORWAY - Radical changes to laws governing defined benefit plans in Norway will be needed to adapt the schemes to the new old-age state pension, a commission tasked with examining the future of pensions in the country's private sector has concluded.

BRAZIL - Brazil's lower house of parliament has approved a 7.7% increase in pension payments for some of the country's pensioners but serious obstacles remain before it can go into effect, including a possible veto from president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva....

CANADA - The Canadian government has proposed shelving certain investment restrictions currently imposed on private pension plans.

GREECE/GLOBAL - Greece has pledged to undertake a pensions overhaul as part of the structural reforms agreed with its partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a €110bn (US$144bn) rescue package.

AUSTRALIA - The Rudd government has committed to raising the employer contribution to superannuation funds from 9% of salary to 12% by 2020, a move that will mean an extra half a trillion dollars in superannuation assets under management by 2035.

ITALY - The speaker for Italian members of Parliament Gianfranco Fini has called for the creation of a pension safety net for corporate and multiemployer schemes to encourage membership into second pillar pensions.

US - The US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced plans to make extra information available to sponsors charged with evaluating and selecting target date retirement funds for their employees.

AUSTRALIA - The preliminary results of the Australian government sponsored Cooper review of the country's pension system has suggested superannuation funds should offer a new low-cost product called MySuper.

The Confederation for British Industry's claim that NEST will be deserted by workers fleeing the 2% charge is "absolute rubbish", Tom McPhail says.