Regulation

Trustees who breach tough new data protection powers could face fines of up to half a million pounds, lawyers warn.

Readers Digest UK has gone into administration after The Pensions Regulator vetoed an agreement to settle its long-standing pension scheme liability.

FRANCE - President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that negotiations on pension reform will start in April in a bid to rein in France's ballooning pension deficit.

SPAIN - The two major Spanish trade unions are organising over 100 public protests against the government's plan to raise the retirement age by two years.

HUNGARY - Hungary must make further progress on reforming its pension system to reduce cost pressures on its national budget, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.

NETHERLANDS - Over two-thirds of Dutch workers are either completely or partially unaware of how much they will earn when they retire, a survey by the government-sponsored platform for financial awareness CentiQ revealed.

US - Two US pension funds have sued Morgan Stanley accusing the bank's board of breaches of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment for failing to administer its compensation plans in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.

ROMANIA - The Romanian government has approved a draft law to reform state pensions in a bid to reduce the pressure pensions exert on its national budget.

Anti-forestalling regulations are driving high-earning employees in certain sectors to work abroad because they are no longer willing to work in a "tax hostile" environment, a provider says.

US/EUROPE - US class action law firms have been engaging in fierce competition in order to get business from European pension funds in recent years.