Europe

EUROPE/UK - The European Commission has rejected UK media reports suggesting British workers could see pensions cut up to 20% under European rules that govern insurance company capital requirements.

EUROPE - Up to 65 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are set to take legal action to block the reforms on the Additional Voluntary Pension Scheme for MEPs recently adopted by the European Parliament (EP) Bureau.

ITALY/EUROPE - The European Commission could begin legal proceedings against Italy because of the country's failure to equalise the retirement age of men and women.

EUROPE - Institutional investors renewed confidence in 2008 to the European private equity industry but early indications suggest a slowdown in fundraising in 2009, data by the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association shows.

UK - Barclays is set to close its final salary scheme to future accruals as part of a review of its pension arrangements.

UK/EUROPE - UK members of the European Parliament will be entitled to a bigger pension than their Westminster colleagues, calculations by Open Europe reveal.

Caroline Helbronner and Frances Phillips Taft look at a pension fund's responsibility in the face of the economic downturn

UK - A laptop containing the unencrypted personal data of 109,000 Pensions Trust members has been stolen from software provider NorthgateArinso.

With Norway's biggest schemes having seen record losses in 2008, Helen Morrissey looks at what action Norwegian pension funds are taking

Finland has been feeling the impact of the global economic crisis, but unlike other countries it has strong diversification tactics