March 2021
12Mar

U.K. Pensions Regulator proposes new criminal charges against sponsors

By Paulina Pielichata The U.K.'s The Pensions Regulator is looking for industry input on its new criminal sanctions policy, including two new charges the regulator may bring against pension fund sponsors. Read also Italy. Pension funds seize first Italian green bonds offering The regulator was given new powers under the Pension Schemes Act 2021, which was enacted in February and allows TPR to investigate and charge company executives for misconduct related to pension funds. Read also Warning lights flickering for South Africa’s wealthy...

March 12, 2021
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11Mar

Pension Trends for Executives in FTSE 350 & SmallCap Companies 2020

By e-reward.co.uk In this research, we outline: How contribution rates vary across the UK’s three main indices. The level of contribution rates paid to the majority of staff in the UK’s largest companies. Some of the approaches that individual companies have followed to reduce the pensions of their new and existing directors. Our data is sourced from over 1,200 annual reports published between September 2017 and 2020 from companies listed on the FTSE 100, mid-250 and SmallCap indices. This data represents...

March 11, 2021
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11Mar

US. House Passes $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 Stimulus Package; Biden Plans to Sign Friday — Update

The House passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief bill and sent it to President Biden for his signature, with Democrats muscling an expansive round of new spending and antipoverty measures through Congress just as America begins to emerge from a year of pandemic-related shutdowns. Read also Puerto Rico debt-restructuring plan filed amid criticism The relief bill offers a $1,400 check to many Americans, an extension of a $300 weekly jobless-aid supplement, and a one-year expansion of the child tax credit. It also...

March 11, 2021
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11Mar

Regulation and economics converge in ESG

By Sarah Rundell Investors from Schroders, Trillium and PensionDanmark discuss how a changing regulatory picture and the economics of sustainable investment are coming together to create a tipping point in ESG, but they warn their peers to look beyond the label to what is on the inside. In keeping with being one of the first investors in wind energy years ago, Denmark’s PensionDanmark was also an original investor in the country’s state of the art energy island in the North Sea....

March 11, 2021
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05Mar

US. Stimulus Bill Freezes Retirement Plan Contribution Limits

What You Need to Know The freeze would take effect in 2031. It is intended to reduce a tax deferment that favors the highest earners, Democrats say. Retirement plan lobbyists are working to get the provision stripped from the Senate version of the bill. The $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, which passed the House on Feb. 27, freezes retirement plan contribution limits starting in 2031. The bill, H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, would freeze the annual cost-of-living...

March 5, 2021
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04Mar

UK Budget: Sunak freezes lifetime allowance for pensions contributions

By Jenna Brown, Christopher Copper-Ind Britain's finance minister, Rishi Sunak, has frozen the lifetime allowance (LTA) for pension contributions at just over £1m for the remainder of this Parliament, and will be keeping IHT at the current level for a further five years. Read also UK. Women retirees win £2.7bn for underpaid pensions The Chancellor said the LTA would remain at its current level of £1,073,100 for 2020/21 rather than increasing in line with inflation. It had been expected to rise by...

March 4, 2021
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03Mar

Can the United States accelerate sustainability in financial regulations?

In the last few years, while multiple countries have made progress in developing sustainable-finance plans to help direct investment to climate solutions and environmentally beneficial companies and products, the United States, under the administration of former President Donald Trump, moved to weaken environmental regulations and discourage sustainable investing. With the arrival of President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States could rapidly roll out policies to make up lost ground. Sustainable-finance plans advance globally Around the globe, countries are stepping up to...

March 3, 2021
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02Mar

US. Pension Relief Plan in COVID-19 Stimulus Bill That Passes House

On Saturday, a measure to give troubled multiemployer pension plans assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) passed the House of Representatives, as part of a larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package from President Joe Biden. Read also US. Stimulus Bill Freezes Retirement Plan Contribution Limits The federal stimulus package, which includes $1,400 checks for many Americans and increased funding for vaccines, also holds the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA), an update to the Butch Lewis Act....

March 2, 2021
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02Mar

South Africa proposes easing infrastructure limits for retirement plans

South Africa's National Treasury wants to make it easier for the country's retirement plans to invest in infrastructure. The Treasury proposed amendments to Regulation 28 of the country's Pension Funds Act, which reduces excessive and concentration risk to assets and limits the extent to which plans can invest in a particular asset or asset class. The proposed changes, which were made in response to calls for increased investment in infrastructure given the low economic growth environment in South Africa, would introduce...

March 2, 2021
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February 2021
18Feb

South Africa. Cosatu Welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Signing of the Historic Pic Amendment Act Into Law

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa's signing of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) Amendment Act and its immediate enactment into law. This is long overdue. The PIC Amendment Act was drafted by Parliament's Finance Committees in close collaboration with COSATU. This was necessitated by the revelation of rampant looting and the mismanagement of PIC funds by many in the PIC and those companies who have benefited from its investments and loans. The Amendment Act...

February 18, 2021
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