Regulation

UK - The Pensions Regulator is taking an aggressive and threatening stance with trustees who have not performed a formal covenant review, a lawyer says.

The Pensions Regulator recently issued its covenant assessment guidance. Laura Blows looks at why this advice was necessary, its key points and how it may evolve

EUROPE - The European Commission is reviewing a letter from nine member states seeking to alter the way public debt is calculated to account for changes in state pension systems.

The Department for Work and Pensions has issued a formal consultation on proposals to shift the inflation link for increases in PPF and FAS payments from the retail prices index (RPI) to the consumer prices index (CPI).

UK - The Department for Work and Pensions' plans to abolish transfers between contracted-out defined benefit and defined contribution schemes could lead to a "firesale" of final salary liabilities, a consultant warns.

Major plan changes to auto-enrolment in 2012 risk undermining the consensus on workplace pension reform, leaving another generation exposed to retirement poverty, the Trades Union Congress warns.

The Pensions Regulator has appointed Nigel Peaple as head of corporate and international affairs.

Tom Selby looks at the potentially costly clarification of equal pay regulations for local authorities

US - Toyota Motor Corp. will face a Maryland public pension fund as the lead plaintiff in a consolidated shareholder lawsuit in which it's accused of failing to disclose defects related to sudden acceleration.

The Pensions Regulator chairman David Norgrove will step down from his role when his second term in post ends on 31 December.