Europe

UK - Mellon Financial Corporation is hosting a series of talks on changes outlined in the Pensions Bill.

FRANCE - The massive e16bn French Pensions Reserve Fund (FRR) has appointed 16 new external investment managers for four lots amounting to e10bn.

UK - The Inland Revenue is struggling to find ways of closing a loophole in its plans to simplify trivial commutation, an expert claims.

UK - New regulations to clamp down on "cowboy firms of independent trustees" may be added to the Pensions Bill.

UK - A new website dedicated to promoting corporate governance good practice in Scotland has been set up by the Institute of Directors.

UK - Compulsory retirement should be scrapped to alleviate the pensions crisis, a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development claims.

UK - A lucrative new incentive scheme which could net the chief executive of advertising giant WPP more than £34m has split corporate governance experts.

UK - Pensions ombudsman David Laverick has found the trustees of an Equitable Life AVC scheme guilty of maladministration after failing to identify its guaranteed annuity rate.

EUROPE - The Committee of European Securities (CESR) has appointed Lamberto Cardia, chairman of the Italian securities regulator, as chairman of CESR's expert group on Investment Management .

UK - Independent fund manager Baillie Gifford is "weeks away" from launching four pooled pension funds.