Belgium

BELGIUM - The board of directors of the Belgium Pension Fund Association (BPFA) has elected Philip Neyt to be the new chairman of the association, succeeding the incumbent Bernard Cardon de Lichtbuer.

BELGIUM - Minister of pensions Bruno Tobback has said the bill transposing the EU pensions directive makes "considerable progress" towards the creation of a legal framework for pension funds.

BELGIUM - New pension fund reporting requirements imposed by both the Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission (CBFA) and the National Bank of Belgium (BNB) have been branded excessive and costly administrative burdens by the Belgian Association of Pension...

BELGIUM - The existing law on anti discrimination is ill-suited to pension funds and should be revised to provide extra clarification, according to the Belgian Association of Pension Funds (BPFA).

BELGIUM - The Belgian government has been accused of "creative accounting" following the transfer of the assets of a first pillar pension plan into its coffers.

BELGIUM - The e950m Amonis pension fund for medical professionals in Belgium has reported an 18.74% net investment return for 2005.

BELGIUM - The average weighted return for Belgian pension funds in 2005 was 15.1%, almost double the previous year's return.

BELGIUM - Subscriptions to Belgium's third pillar pensions have reportedly swollen following a government reform, which increased the amount people can save without being taxed from e650 to e780.

BELGIUM - Minister for Pensions Bruno Tobback (pictured) has declared 2006 ‘the year of women and their pensions,' and reforms tailored to this effect were approved last week.

BELGIUM - Europe needs to "summon the will" to reform pensions as demographics in many countries could make reforms more difficult in the future, said Raghuran Rajan, economic counsellor and director of the International Monetary Fund's research department....