United Kingdom

UK - Pension buyouts are set to break all records next year, after deals for the first three quarters of 2010 exceeded all of 2009, Pension Capital Strategies says.

UK - Ofcom has confirmed it will not allow BT to fund its £6.6bn ($10.3bn) scheme deficit through charges it levies on competitors for telecoms services.

UK - The deficit of the Local Government Pension Scheme has more than doubled to £100bn ($156.5bn) since the scheme's last triennial valuation, a study shows.

UK - The 6,560 schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund reported an aggregate deficit of £1bn ($1.6bn) at the end of last month.

UK - The government has launched a public consultation on giving people under-55 early access to their pension.

UK - The Barclays UK Retirement fund has launched its own asset management company to give its in-house investment team more flexibility around investment decisions.

UK - Goldman Sachs' insurance subsidiary Rothesay Life has bought a majority holding in Paternoster following a four-month sale process.

UK - Pension schemes should overhaul their internal governance structures to ensure they are able to take "timely and considered" investment decisions, Schroders says.

UK/US/CANADA - A financial support direction issued by The Pensions Regulator against insolvent companies is an expense of the administration and must be complied with, the High Court has ruled.

UK - The government has announced it will introduce legislation in the Finance Bill 2011 to reduce the annual allowance from £255,000 ($402,000) to £50,000 and the lifetime allowance from £1.8m to £1.5m.