HM Treasury

UK - The shape of changes to the pension taxation system should be confirmed by the end of September, a Treasury consultation paper says.

Equitable Life policyholders will have to wait until the middle of next year for compensation, which could be as little as £400m.

The government is set to scrap the requirement to purchase an annuity and abolish alternatively secured pensions.

Industry figures are rushing to lobby the government on crucial pensions issues ahead of tomorrow's emergency Budget.

The government risks "compounding one unfairness with another" if it singles out public sector pensions alone for substantial reform, the Association of Consulting Actuaries warns.

The cost of implementing the new high earners' pension tax regime will spiral to £2.5bn - a figure seven times that originally estimated by the Treasury, Standard Life warns.

After days of indecision, the final agreement forming a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government was finally agreed last Tuesday (May 10), sadly, just after last week's edition of Professional Pensions went to press.

Equitable Life victims have rejected Sir John Chadwick's compensation review, calling it a ‘cover-up'.

Sebastian Cheek previews the March 4 edition of Professional Pensions.

The industry has lambasted proposals to restrict higher-rate tax relief for those earning more than £130,000.