Europe

UK - Troubled corporate sponsors will be a major source of insurance business over the coming months, Pension Corporation says.

UK - Universities Superannuation Scheme chief investment officer Peter Moon is to retire from the £23bn (US$32.2bn) scheme early next year.

UK - The Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund had appointed Mesirow Financial Currency Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management to manage a £40m active currency mandate.

SPAIN - Fonditel, the pension fund manager for Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica, is reviewing ways it can reposition the firm in order to boost returns going forward.

UK - Two major local authority schemes have started legal action against Royal Bank of Scotland, alleging it made "materially false and misleading" statements about its financial health.

UK / US - Barclays is in talks with a US-based private equity firm over the sale of its iShares exchange traded fund business, Global Pensions has learned.

NORWAY - The ministry of finance has decided to place Siemens under observation following allegations of corruption.

UK - Schemes are not to blame for the economic crisis but should do more to improve corporate governance, experts claim.

About 10% of occupational pension schemes have concerns about the value for money their investment consultant provides, National Association of Pension Funds research reveals.

UK - Trustees are largely unaware of the potential conflicts of interest and risk involved with securities lending, a former governor of the International Corporate Governance Network has claimed.