Europe

UK - Equitable Life policyholders who take an early exit from the insurer will now face losing a fifth of their funds.

UK/GLOBAL - Corporate bonds will continue to offer stable, high-rate returns despite global uncertainty over company values, Rothschild Asset Management maintains.

UK - Delaying the introduction of FRS17 could expose British companies to accounting disasters similar to those experienced in the US, City experts warn.

UK - Insolvent schemes in wind-up can use a hidden procedure in contracting-out rules to get members reinstated into the State Second Pension, a lawyer claims.

UK - Gresham Private Equity has invested £4.65m in the acquisition of Kindercare Group by Busy Bees, a childcare facilities company.

UK - Threadneedle Investments, part of Zurich Financial Services, has appointed Nigel Boakes as head of client reporting for the company's institutional business.

UK - Regularly updated benefit statements are one of the keys to maintaining employee trust in pension schemes, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says.

US/UK - Hedge fund manager Discovery Capital Management has selected UK-based software publisher Trema to provide it with straight-through processing and risk management systems.

UK - HBOS is rebranding its fund management operations as part of its efforts to become a top five manager of UK, European and pan-European equities.

UK - Members of the London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA) will get a chance to meet and question those who manage the scheme at its ninth fund members' forum.