September 2021

German parties vague on pension plans as they court older voters

The churned-up garden of the clubhouse for pensioners is preoccupying Peter Klotsche. “It’s the raccoons,” he says. “They come at night and toss up the earth looking for worms and we really don’t know how best to stop it.” The clubhouse, Stille Strasse, in northern Berlin, is abuzz with members wanting to put questions to local politicians before Sunday’s elections. The raccoons are a central talking point, as well as affordable housing and, not least, the future of the club...

UK. The Pensions Regulator’s new criminal powers – how worried should companies and pension scheme trustees be?

The Pension Schemes Act 2021 (Act), which came into force on 11 February 2021, introduced new criminal offences to bolster the Pensions Regulator's moral hazard regime. Most notably, it will now be a criminal offence to engage in activity that has a materially detrimental impact on scheme benefits. The offence is punishable by an unlimited fine and up to seven years in jail. This offence operates alongside a civil penalty of up to £1 million. In this article, we take...

Puerto Rico House to Unveil Bond-Cutting Bill Next Week: Speaker

Puerto Rico lawmakers plan to file legislation next week that allows the commonwealth to sell new bonds to replace existing debt, a necessary step to help finalize the island’s record bankruptcy. The commonwealth’s House of Representatives is set to file the bill as soon as Monday, Rafael “Tatito” Hernandez, speaker of the House, said in a telephone interview. The legislature plans to pass a debt-restructuring bill by Oct. 4 for Governor Pedro Pierluisi to consider, Hernandez said. “We need to fix...

US. SEC Is Exploring Reforms Regarding Private Fund Disclosure Of Conflicts Of Interest And Fees and Expenses

On September 14, 2021, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. During his testimony, he stated that the SEC is exploring “potential reforms” regarding investment funds and managers. Chair Gensler explained that one of the potential reforms under consideration by the SEC was ways to enhance disclosures by private fund managers regarding conflicts of interest and allocation of fees and expenses. He stated that he believed the...

UK. Guy Opperman reappointed as pensions minister

Guy Opperman has been reappointed as pensions and financial inclusion minister after a reshuffle that saw the governmental pensions team largely unchanged. Minister since 2017, Opperman has spearheaded multiple pensions policy initiatives, including dashboards, collective defined contribution, superfunds, and simpler statements. Writing on Twitter yesterday (19 September), Opperman said: "Serving as a minister on behalf of the elected government, the prime minister and Her Majesty is a genuinely great honour and wonderfully challenging." He said he was "very proud of what we...

Singapore- Ministry of Manpower Sets up Advisory Committee to Protect GIG Economy Workers

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced the formation of the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers. The Committee aims to strengthen protections for self-employed persons who work for online platforms, specifically delivery persons, private-hire car drivers, and taxi drivers. Read also Uber to pay pensions to all its UK drivers, backdated to 2017 At its first meeting last week, the Advisory Committee noted the lack of basic job protections due to the nature of platform work, and decided on three priority areas to...

Japan’s older population hits record high

The estimated number of people aged 65 or older in Japan stood at a record high of 36.4 million as of Wednesday, an increase of 220,000 from a year before, the internal affairs ministry said Sunday. Read also Saving govt pensions by encouraging citizens’ savings The share of those aged adults in the nation’s total population rose to a record 29.1%, the highest among 201 countries and regions across the world. Read also Changing energy landscape fuels infrastructure investing Older men totaled 15.83...

UK. Dipping into pension could cost savers their benefits

People using pension freedoms to dip into their retirement pot at 55 could end up losing their benefits, Sir Steve Webb, partner at LCP and former pensions minister, has warned. According to Webb, as furlough schemes finish and the additional £20 on universal credit payments comes to an end, people who are over 55 and still working might become concerned about their jobs or might find themselves made redundant. This could put a strain on people's finances, and lead to them...

Changing energy landscape fuels infrastructure investing

Asset owners are pushing hard into renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure while still committing capital to other projects supporting the fossil-fuel energy segment, albeit at lower levels. Sustainability is a big theme right now as investors become more attuned to the risks and investment opportunities inherent in a changing energy environment. At the same time, they are attracted to infrastructure as a whole to shield their portfolios from inflation threats and potential increases in interest rates. As a result, infrastructure fundraising...

Saving govt pensions by encouraging citizens’ savings

All Arab countries, except for three, have deficits in their pension funds exceeding 50%. As for the three countries, two recapitalize its fund early last decade. Likewise, these three countries are not immune from deficits of similar proportions during the next to decades if they end up doing the same thing. Up until now, there is one thing all Arab countries have in common in addition to the Arabic language, which is their so governments on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis....