Europe

UK - Proposed changes to international accounting standard IAS19 could wipe £8.7bn (US$13.2bn) off reported company profits, Mercer warned.

UK - Sales of enhanced annuities in the UK increased by 24% last year, latest Towers Watson research revealed.

NORWAY - The Government Pension Fund Global posted a 25.6% profit for 2009 on the back of equities and fixed income gains.

UK - Another wave of quantitative easing proposed by Mervyn King could push up pension scheme liabilities and increases deficits after a period of relative calm, Aon warned.

GREECE - Greece has frozen all state pensions as part of a package of measures worth €4.8bn (US$6.5bn), erasing the announced increases included in the previous budget.

UK/NETHERLANDS - The Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals has rejected a request by Hermes and the Universities Superannuation Scheme to investigate Canon's tender offer worth €730m (US$998.4m) to buy Océ.

UK - The Conservatives voted against a batch of regulations governing auto-enrolment in a House of Commons committee yesterday.

EUROPE - The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has released guidelines for pension funds meant to help investors evaluate the impact climate change will have on their private equity portfolios.

EUROPE - Hedge fund trade bodies have reacted with some dismay to the Committee of European Securities Regulators' (CESR) proposal for a pan-European disclosure regime for short selling.

UK - ITV has reported gains totalling £110m (US$165.4m) from initiatives aimed at reducing the future costs and risks of operating its pension schemes.