United Kingdom

UK - The government will not make a compulsory increase to the number of member-nominated trustees on scheme boards - even though it would boost confidence, delegates at a recent conference heard.

UK - Retail giant Marks and Spencer remains a takeover target and schemes will retain their holdings to capitalise on any future bids, a fund manager predicts.

UK - Multi-employer and risk sharing plans will benefit from the demise of single employer defined benefit schemes, the conference heard.

UK - The Financial Reporting Council is to review its guidance on internal control and risk management to safeguard shareholder investments.

UK - National Australia Bank is shutting its UK custody arm, National Custodian Services, due to market consolidation and price pressures.

UK - The £500m Corus Engineering Steel Pension Scheme has dropped its third-party fund managers in favour of British Steel Pension Scheme's in-house team.

UK - Employer and employee contributions into the University of Cambridge Assistant Staff Pension Scheme are set to soar.

UK - BP has brought its pension administration back in-house using Aquila's pension administration solution administrator.

UK - Trade unions praised some of the CBI's "radical proposals" but criticised its recommendation to raise the state pension age to 70.

UK - A new fund has been set up offering schemes the opportunity to invest in property developments.