Law

EUROPE - A third of multi-national companies operating in Europe are set to implement pan-European pension arrangements by 2015, Hewitt Associates has forecast.

EUROPE - The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (EP) started their scrutiny of the latest draft of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive focusing on the exemption of pension funds and other entities....

US - A federal court ruling certified a class action led by three Ohio pension funds accusing the American International Group (AIG) of securities fraud, but excluded bondholders from the class.

US - A federal judge has approved a US$150m settlement between Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission settling charges that the bank failed to disclose material information about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

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.