United Kingdom

UK - One agm is worthy of note in the week starting December 10, according to corporate governance specialists Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).

UK - The first of the expert witnesses to take the stand at the High Court yesterday in the MLIM/Unilever case described the performance of the Unilever UK equity portfolio as "among the worst" he had ever seen.

UK - The Liberty Ermitage Group has appointed Mark Hucker as group executive director, infrastructure responsible for all aspects of operations, finance and compliance, reporting to CEO Ron Mitchell.

UK - Local authority pension funds face greater scrutiny after new legislation compels them to abide by FRS17 accounting rules.

UK - The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has scrutinised the labour codes adopted by the nine retail groups in the FTSE100 in order to identify which are the most comprehensive and which are weakest.

UK - Three FTSE 100 companies with a combined pension fund valuation of more than £14.5bn are to axe final salary provision to new members.

UK - Boots' pension scheme's mass exodus to corporate bonds is unlikely to set the trend for the UK pensions industry, according to giant pensions custodian Northern Trust and the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

US/UK - Hedge fund multi-manager Arden Asset Management (Arden) is targeting European-based fund managers with its plans to open a London office in 2002.

UK - The Financial Services Authority intends to be a reforming regulator constantly on the lookout for changes which will reinforce its statutory objectives, FSA chairman Howard Davies said yesterday.

UK - Massive salary rises for senior executives in the food and drug retail sector are highlighted in a new report from proxy voting agency, Manifest.