Europe

UK - Oliver Letwin, the Conservative shadow home secretary, has attacked the Civil Partnerships Bill, labelling it "both wrong and unnecessary".

UK - Pensioners of the Thorn Pension Fund have accused Nomura of wanting to hive off a scheme surplus before selling the company.

UK - Five shareholder meetings are of significance in the week beginning February 4, according to corporate governance specialists Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).

UK - UK pension funds are aiming to put a brake on non-executive directorships following the collapse of US energy giant Enron.

DENMARK - The EUR35bn Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension (ATP) is no longer certain whether it will proceed with an initial consideration of hedge fund investment.

UK - A new research organisation - The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) - has appointed its first director, Alison O'Connell.

UK - At the UK actuarial profession's conference on the ageing population in Edinburgh last week, actuaries, politicians and academics debated the issues facing both the UK and other countries, with government policy taking a battering.

SWEDEN/UK - SEB Invest is closing its London office, following the decision to co-ordinate its European operations from its parent company's headquarters in Stockholm.

UK - Software provider Euraplan is linking up with transaction cost specialist Inalytics to offer pension schemes an advanced analysis of fund managers' costs.

UK - Baring Asset Management (BAM) is changing the way it runs its European equity funds, assigning credit specialists to the European equities team and increasing the evaluation of credit factors when assessing stocks.