Europe

UK - Charities are seeking financial help from the government in a bid to shore-up pension scheme deficits.

UK - Benefits for contracting-out are too low and the system should be scrapped to make it easier to review state provision, the Pensions Policy Institute claims.

UK - Markets will have to rise by at least 33% to eliminate the FRS17 deficits for FTSE100 companies, research from Lane Clark & Peacock shows.

UK - Ministers are unlikely to make major changes to measures in the Pensions Bill that bosses fear will curb investment in British firms, lawyers warn.

UK - The Institute of Actuaries has launched disciplinary proceedings against four former senior executives of Equitable Life.

UK - Employers have attacked plans which would force them to match government payments to scheme members who lost pension benefits when their firms failed.

UK - Hermes Pensions Management - the in-house fund management arm of the BT Pension Scheme - is in talks with 12 schemes about investing in its hedge funds.

UK - The government is "rethinking" how it calculates levies for the Pension Protection Fund following pressure from the UK's largest multi-employer schemes.

UK - JPMorgan will acquire a privately owned hedge fund administration firm in a bid to grow its business in the alternative asset market.

UK - Alexander Forbes Financial Services has launched an online pensions calculator which shows money purchase scheme members their full retirement income prospects.