Regions

GLOBAL - Companies selling autos in the European Union, with the exemption of BMW, are not disclosing carbon dioxide reduction strategies in compliance with a five-year-old EU agreement, new research warns investors.

GLOBAL - State Street Global Advisors has closed its European enhanced indexation product to new business, on the back of capacity constraints.

NORDIC - The Nordic region is looking to clamp down on broker commissions paid by pension providers by increasing the focus on clients to pay such fees.

LUXEMBOURG - In a move that could act as a trigger for other Belgian corporate pension funds, the e1.3bn Suez-Tractebel pension fund, consisting of five separate plans to cater for different groups of employees across the whole group, has decided to transfer...

EUROPE - Baring Asset Management (BAM) is launching directional funds in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland under the Baring Global Investment Umbrella Fund.

AFRICA - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Namibian authorities to consider prudential limits on the large equity exposure of pension funds and insurance companies.

EUROPE - Rockspring Property Managers, formerly Pricoa Property Investment Management, has opened two new offices in Paris and Madrid and appointed Alexandre Lamot as its European director.

EUROPE - The CEOs of 14 major pan-European asset and fund management companies have launched a forum to promote the benefits of an effective single market for cross-border asset management.

GLOBAL - Defined benefit (DB) pension plans worldwide failed to reap the benefits of strong year-end performance by equities in 2004, according to Towers Perrin.

GLOBAL - The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) are in the midst of discussions over the convergence of their standards.