Italy

ITALY - The Berlusconi government has tabled a bill to equalise the pension age of men and women, following legal action initiated by the European Commission over the country's "discriminatory" provisions on pension age.

ITALY - Italian pension fund service provider PensPlan has appointed State Street to provide a range of investment services for €100m (US$140.6m) in assets.

ITALY/EUROPE - The European Commission has confirmed today it will take legal action against Italy over the country's "discriminatory" provisions on pension age.

ITALY/EUROPE - The European Commission could begin legal proceedings against Italy because of the country's failure to equalise the retirement age of men and women.

ITALY - Watson Wyatt has appointed Fabio Carniol as leader of its Italian benefits team.

ITALY - The €300m (£271m) Previmoda has appointed Société Générale Securities Services as its new global custodian with effect from March 1, 2009, MandateWire reports.

ITALY - Italian pension schemes are asking fund managers to switch to low volatility cash-like instruments that can be liquidated quickly, MandateWire reports.

ITALY - The Italian government has laid out a draft law to increase the retirement age of women from 60 to 65 years old.

ITALY - Employees will have the right to transfer contributions accumulated in a pension fund as well as future contributions, Italian pension watchdog COVIP has ruled.

ITALY - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Italian government to implement further pension reforms in order to shore up the country's fiscal framework.