United Kingdom

UK - Regulators have blamed flawed legislation for leaving 48 deferred pensioners virtually penniless after their scheme was placed into wind-up.

UK - Watson Wyatt has appointed Debbie Clarke as a senior investment consultant.

UK - Southwark Council has dropped its legal action against Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, just days after issuing a claim against the firm in the High Court.

UK - The £1bn Kingfisher Pension Scheme has appointed State Street Global Advisors to run a £400m passive multi-asset mandate.

UK - The Treasury is being forced to increase its contributions to the £250m Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund to plug a £25m deficit.

UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership chief investment officer Sandy Nairn has left the firm to "pursue other interests".

UK/US - Record-keeping and administration costs will force all but the largest fund managers out of the fully-bundled DC market, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers predicts.

UK - Trade unions have welcomed the government's decision to grant ex-gratia payments to common law partners of servicemen.

UK - Scheme equity investments will be hit by new share option accounting rules similar to FRS17, Lane Clark & Peacock warns.

UK - Gartmore Investment Management has hit back at claims that firms which specialise in running DB schemes will struggle in the DC market.