United Kingdom

UK - Linklaters has appointed Rosalind Knowles and Richard Kandler as consultants to its pensions group.

UK - Pension schemes with MFR shortfalls may be bullied into bypassing OPRA and "into unfavourable wind-up settlements in court, a professional trustee warns.

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting is to house its London operations under one roof by 2004.

UK - Gartmore has hired Geraldine Wright as account director, institutional client services.

UK - New figures show that around 61% of pensions schemes show deficits under controversial accounting standard FRS17.

UK - Employers will have the right to force staff to join a company pension scheme if a proposal in the Pickering review is enacted.

UK - Investment performance and administration consultancy, the WM company, has called for greater transparency in the impact of consultants' advice.

UK - Companies should fully explore ways of cutting final salary scheme costs before they close them, pensions administration specialist FPS claims.

UK - Local authorities will face increasing public wrath if they use council tax rises to correct pension scheme deficits, leading industry figures warn.

SCOTLAND - Strathclyde Pension Fund Superannuation Funds, one of the UK's largest regional funds, may extend its socially responsible investment (SRI) policy to cover its global holdings.