United Kingdom

GLOBAL - BP will not pay dividends for the remainder of the year as it has to put us$20bn in a compensation fund for victims of the Gulf oil spill.

UK - George Osborne has announced plans to abolish the Financial Services Authority and increase the powers of the Bank of England.

UK - The National Association of Pension Funds has urged the government not to damage the UK's savings culture by back peddling on pension reforms.

UK - A group of institutional investors has written to all FTSE350 chairmen urging them to reveal more detail about executives' pensions.

GLOBAL/UK - Institutional fund of hedge funds Fauchier Partners has won investor backing for a novel lock-in on one of its flagship products.

UK - Almost every defined benefit plan in the UK has plans to reduce or axe current provisions in the future, a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey revealed.

UK - Resolution Group, the consolidation vehicle which bought Friends Provident last year, is in talks to buy AXA UK's annuity, protection and group pensions business for £2.75bn (US$4bn).

GP invites readers to attend the Global Pensions Transition Management Forum London on September 8. Attendees will be informed on the latest transition management trends and the state of the ever-changing TM industry.

UK - HMRC's interpretation of minimum pension age rules is ‘complete madness' and could leave people aged between 50 and 55 with massive tax bills, Rowanmoor Pensions warned.

UK/EUROPE - The sovereignty of UK defined benefit provision is under threat following proposals from the EU Commission to shift legislative power to a European body, an internal Confederation of British Industry document revealed.