Regions

ASIA - Asian pension funds could leapfrog over the west and lead the way in implementing environmental, social and corporate governance guidelines, according to a report by the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (Asria).

INCLUDING: US - Delphi; US - Lockheed earnings cut by pension costs; SWEDEN - Swedes not to work over 65.

GLOBAL - The International Accounting Standards Board is set to stick by its decision to make firms include all gains and losses relating to their pension arrangements in the year they occur, GP can reveal.

SWITZERLAND/SAUDI ARABIA - UBS is set to start financial and securities business activities in Saudi Arabia, following the authorization of Riyadh's Capital Market Authority.

ITALY/CHINA - Assicurazioni Generali has acquired a 30% stake of Chinese asset manager Guotai in a €100m (US$140m) deal that allows the Italian insurer to expand its reach into the Chinese pension market.

EUROPE - Proposed Solvency II implementation guidelines could significantly reduce annuity rates, consultants said.

GLOBAL - Law firms representing pension funds and other investors are targeting investment consultants and national authorities for their clients' losses in the Madoff scheme following the financier's conviction this week.

GLOBAL - The worldwide private equity sector has raised US$76.2bn from pension funds and other institutional investors in the second quarter of this year, according to data by Preqin.

Consultancy firms Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby and Watson Wyatt will merge, the two firms announced yesterday.

EUROPE/UK - The European Commission has rejected UK media reports suggesting British workers could see pensions cut up to 20% under European rules that govern insurance company capital requirements.