News

The National Employment Savings Trust will allow employers to make scheme contributions using a debit card, a payment method most other providers shy away from.

UK pension provision is being undermined by accounting standards currently used to calculate schemes' assets and liabilities, a report finds.

An employment tribunal ruling in favour of a gay couple fighting for pension rights could clear the way for a challenge in the European Court of Justice, a lawyer claims.

About one third of employees will opt out of pensions when auto-enrolment comes into force after 2012, Legal & General says.

GLOBAL - Figures from State Street reveal investor confidence declined to 89.6 in August, down 12.9 from July after a volatile month led to the most substantial decline since October 2008.

EUROPE - RBS expects Greece will experience a hard default this December in a move it says will cause "violent contagion" in global markets.

US - The Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) will consider selling Treasury Inflation Protected Securities to take advantage of the high prices resulting from recent market volatility.

UK - Unions have walked away from a consultation by Unilever on plans to move all final salary members into career average, making strike action at the firm "very likely", an official says.

Pensions minister Steve Webb has vowed short service refunds will not be part of the future pensions landscape, and warned employers not to factor them in when selecting a scheme.

Unions have walked away from a consultation by Unilever on plans to move all final salary members into career average, making strike action at the firm "very likely", an official says.