June 2017

21Jun

Europe’s Insurers, Pension Cos. Still Face Risk, EIOPA Says

The macroeconomic environment remains fragile for Europe’s insurers and occupational pensions companies despite signs of improvement in the last six months, the European Union’s top insurance regulator said on Tuesday. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority said in a financial stability report that both sectors face challenges, partly due to uncertainty caused by national elections and the U.K.’s Brexit negotiations, which began in Brussels on Monday. The industries also face obstacles due to the growing risk of terrorism and cyberattack,...

June 21, 2017
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19Jun

Europe-wide private pension plan is set to hit the market – but it must protect consumers, says Insurance Europe

The commission began consultations last year on its Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP), which is intended to act as an additional income alongside public or workplace pensions. But industry trade body Insurance Europe has noted today that, unless done properly, the move to encourage more people to take out private pensions could end badly. “Insurance Europe welcomes the project of a Pan-European Personal Pension Product as a way to increase both the share of the population with private pensions and the...

June 19, 2017
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13Jun

EU. Private pensions risk bigger gender pension gap

The gender pension gap could be getting wider due to the increasing importance of private (complementary) pension schemes, and their failure to credit women for periods of maternity and parental leave (or other types of care leave). The difference in pension payments for men and women across the EU is 40%, according to the most recent study which was carried out four years ago (in 2013). A survey of 44 trade unions in 29 countries published today by the European Trade...

June 13, 2017
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09Jun

EU. Commission struggles with tax exemptions in EU-wide pension proposal

As part of the capital markets union mid-term review, the Commission announced it would submit a legislative proposal on a pan-European personal pension product by the end of this month. Dombrovskis told a group of journalists that the intention is to create a framework to enable providers to offer their pension schemes to customers across Europe. The goal is to correct the “unevenness” of the European market in this field, address the difficulties to switch between products and to facilitate the...

June 9, 2017
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07Jun

EU. Women at risk of poverty in retirement

Irish women typically retire on incomes that are more than 30 per cent lower than their male counterparts, a new report from Mercer reveals, as it calls on governments, policy-makers and employers to respond to the “urgent challenge” the pensions gap poses. According to the report, half of European Union states, including Ireland, have pension gaps of 30 per cent or more, while the EU average is 40 per cent. The gap means that a retired woman living in the EU...

June 7, 2017
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