Europe

UK - HSBC Republic Investments has closed two of its fund of hedge funds to new investors after raising $55m (£30m) within a month of their launch.

UK - FTSE 100 companies have paid almost twice as much into their defined benefit pension schemes in the past year than they did in the previous 12 months, new research shows.

UK - Pension contributions helped push the average wealth of British adults to £82,400, a study by IBM shows.

UK - Standard Life is to close its non-contributory £695m staff final salary scheme as part of a series of cost-cutting measures ahead of its floatation.

UK - HSBC Actuaries and Consultants has won a consultancy and administration brief from the Kawasaki Precision Machinery UK pension scheme.

UK - Trustees could be sued if they put a scheme into wind-up before the Pensions Protection Fund takes effect in April 2005, lawyers warn.

UK - Three out of four union workers believe that the government is not doing enough to protect pensions, new research shows.

UK - Independent Trustee Services has launched a website to provide pensions information to insolvency professionals liquidating companies.

UK - Most business leaders only pay "lip service" to corporate social responsibility despite the high performance it generates, a new report claims.

UK - Treasury secretary Ruth Kelly will be the keynote speaker at the Amicus Alliance in Finance conference on April 14.