Regulation

US - The Employees Retirement System of the City of New Orleans (NOERS) has sued Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) alleging Berkshire's planned acquisition of BNSF discriminated other investors.

UK - The High Court has ruled trustees cannot rely on the safety net afforded by the Pension Protection Fund when taking decisions.

The High Court has ruled trustees cannot rely on the safety net afforded by the Pension Protection Fund when taking decisions.

NETHERLANDS - The country's three pension funds groups and the insurance association have criticised the government objective to improve pension funds' deficits by increasing the retirement age from 65 to 67.

US - State Street Corp. said on Friday it added another US$250m into its legal reserve and entered into an $89.8m proposed settlement of a class action suit regarding strategies run by State Street Global Advisors.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund has published proposals for the 2011/12 pension protection levy year in a bid to improve the way it assesses the insolvency risk for sponsoring employers of pension schemes that pay the levy.

Auto-enrolment regulations put forward by the government will not work in practice and need to be revisited, the National Association of Pension Funds says.

Workplace pension reforms will cause substantial costs and administration increases for small and medium enterprises, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants warns.

The Pensions Regulator is set to launch a campaign on governance and administration as part of its overall strategy to get employers more involved with pensions ahead of 2012.

From October 2012, large, small and micro employers will have to comply with auto-enrolment pension legislation and The Pensions Regulator will be at the helm of the employer compliance regime. Jenna Towler talks to TPR programme manager Charles Counsell...