United Kingdom

UK - Withdrawal from the stakeholder pensions market is short-sighted, claims HSBC.

UK - PriceWaterHouseCoopers has appointed Peter McDonald as partner and head of the firm's regional team of 30 actuaries and pension consultants.

UK - A burgeoning £3.8bn deficit in local authority pension schemes will prompt a raft of council tax hikes, lawyers warn.

UK - NAPF CONFERENCE - The chairman of Cable and Wireless Richard Lapthorne (pictured) has attacked the FRS17 accounting standard, calling it "the final nail in the coffin for defined benefit schemes."

UK - Investor lobby group Pensions Investment Research Consultants has vowed to monitor corporate governance changes at oil giant Shell.

UK - Scheme members at Anglian Water will "almost certainly" strike over plans to remove outsourced workers from the final salary plan, unions believe.

UK - The number of Pension Credit recipients went up by 110,000 people in February, figures from the department for work and pensions show.

UK - Demand for bulk annuities has trebled over the last 12 months sparking fears that the market will reach its capacity by the end of the year.

UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, the fund management arm of Lloyds TSB, has posted a 59% increase in new business in 2003.

UK - NAPF CONFERENCE - Larger pension schemes have made the most progress on Myners' principles, according to David Lawton, head of financial stability and markets at the Treasury.