Europe

EUROPE - Leaders of the Eurozone nations, plus Britain, have agreed on a "concerted action plan" to boost ailing stock markets across the continent.

UK - Weaker regulation could lead to "significantly stronger" funding requirements, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has warned.

UK - Specialist manager evaluation firm Inalytics has launched a monthly transparency report as a further tool for pension funds to monitor the managers they have selected.

UK - Trustees preparing defined benefit pension schemes for their second triennial assessment must be aware the strength of the sponsor covenant will have deteriorated, The Pensions Regulator has warned.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is set to take investment strategy and credit risk into account when calculating risk-based levies.

UK - The cost of regulation is spiralling out of control and dictating the form of pension provision employers choose, delegates were told yesterday.

UK - The UK's National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has announced plans to reward better than average defined contribution pension schemes with a 'Pension Quality Mark'.

UK - A further 3% of UK private sector defined benefit pension schemes closed to new members in the past year, the latest research from the National Association of Pension Funds has revealed.

EUROPE - The European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) voted yesterday to agree the text of the Solvency II Directive, paving the way for the separation of the IORP and Solvency II legislative frameworks.

UK - The government's plan to shore up the battered UK banking sector with a £50bn (US$87.2bn) emergency share capital package and a further £450bn of loans and guarantees to boost liquidity has been well-received by the pensions industry.