November 2017

21Nov

Brazil house speaker says whipping votes for pension reform difficult, but urgent

The speaker of Brazil’s lower house said on Tuesday that it will not be easy to obtain the 308 votes needed to pass a much anticipated pension reform, but that doing so is “fundamental and urgent” for the country. In an interview with Brazil’s CBN radio, Maia said it was important that the government completed a reform to Brazil’s ministerial framework soon, so that it can advance in negotiations regarding pensions. Source Reuters

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

Mexico’s presidential front-runner vows stable economy; aide urges NAFTA delay

Mexico’s leftist presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed on Monday to boost infrastructure spending but guard economic stability, while his team reiterated that ongoing NAFTA talks should be put off until after next year’s election. Lopez Obrador, the front-runner in most polls ahead of the July vote, unveiled a platform that envisioned an austere government to root out corruption and redirect spending to public works and social programs without new taxes or raising the debt-to-GDP ratio. He rebutted claims he...

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

UK. May Wants Something in Return as Brexit Money Offer Set to Rise

Prime Minister Theresa May is ready to put more money on the table to settle the Brexit divorce bill -- but the Brits are plugging away at getting the European side to give her something in return. “We’re headed in the right direction and what matters now is that the U.K. and EU take a step forward together,” James Slack, May’s spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday in a sign that any improved offer on the bill must be matched with...

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

Bitcoin and Blockchain Aren’t Investible Yet, Canada Pension Says

Mark Machin, the head of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said he doesn’t think the bitcoin and blockchain space is “investible” yet, but the country’s largest pension fund is monitoring it with interest. "We’re watching it,” Machin said in a speech Monday. “I don’t think it’s institutionally investible yet. It’s really early days and there’s going to be lots of disruption." He said CPPIB has more than 100 people at its offices in Toronto watching the space carefully. Most investors are...

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

Iran’s Pension Funds: An Unfolding Crisis

Disputes over Iranian pension funds are coming to a boil, a former official with Social Security Organization in Legal and Parliamentary Affairs said. In a lecture titled “A Glance at the State of Pension Funds” at the Institute of Religion and Economic Studies in Tehran on Thursday, Mohsen Izadkhah also sought to scrutinize this unfolding crisis, the Persian daily Shargh reported. Excerpts of his speech follow: Iran’s social security system is built on the Iranian Constitution, the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25), “Law...

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

Italy. CGIL declares action over pensions

Susanna Camusso, the leader of Italy's biggest trade-union confederation, the leftwing CGIL, said Tuesday that the union will take action on December 2 due to the "great inadequacies" of the government's proposals on pensions and retirement. But the big three trade unions were split, with UIL and CISL expressing satisfaction after talks with Premier Paolo Gentiloni's government. CGIL wants an increase in the retirement age to 67, set to kick in in 2019, to be postponed, saying many people doing...

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

Canada Pension Plan is safe for generations, says CEO of investment board

In his travels to every province and one territory over the last 17 months, British-born Mark Machin was struck most by one thing about Canadians. “There’s still this myth that’s circulating that the Canada Pension Plan won’t be there when you retire,” said the CEO of the CPP Investment Board, the largest pension fund in the country that manages a $328-billion investment portfolio on behalf of 20 million Canadian workers and retirees. “You ask the average person — stop anyone on...

November 21, 2017
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20Nov

China taps state firms to buttress pensions as society ages

China on Saturday (Nov 18) announced a pilot programme to help pension schemes meet growing pressure from an ageing society by transferring shares of state-owned firms to social security funds. A document released by the country's State Council, or cabinet, said the programme would begin this year with shares of up to seven SOEs to be transferred. The plan is intended to help make up for shortfalls in the nation's pension schemes and will be expanded in 2018 to involve more...

November 20, 2017
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20Nov

How your mind hurts your saving habits: Nobel winner

Richard Thaler, professor of behavioural science and economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business last month won the 2017 Nobel prize in economic sciences. The branch of economics is, according to the business school, a “relatively new field that bridges the gap between economics and psychology”. “Thaler’s research investigates the implications of relaxing the standard economic assumption that everyone in the economy is rational and selfish, instead entertaining the possibility that some of the agents in the economy...

November 20, 2017
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20Nov

South Africa. SAA: no pension money for bail-out

The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) will go on a national strike if funds from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) are used to bail out the ailing SAA, parliament heard on Friday. The federation was presenting its submission to the Standing Committee on Appropriations, detailing its concerns about the airline and its 10 000 workers. Last month, the PIC said it was not ruling out the possibility of bailing out the embattled SAA, after it received cash injections from the...

November 20, 2017
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